The correct answer to the poll question on the right hand side of this page for the past month is $13.99. Just 9% of polled readers got it right, while most or over 75% thought it was more expensive than that. Many responses were for the highest price given at $34.99… So yes, it does pay to know where the wholesalers are, who also sell to folks like you and me. The next time you need to re-stock your everyday, non-branded kitchen knives, head to the restaurant supply stores in any major city and you will be surprised how much you can save… :)
8 Responses
whoah, am wrong…. lol! but learned a lot, better heads up to the restaurant supply store than any fancy looking store :)! thanks MM
sobra kuripot naman $9.99 pala. hahaha. but you know, i found a good one at an asian store for less than that. it’s brand is ‘cleverest son’s wife,’ and made in china. but yeah, at that price, next time i’ll try a japanese one from a restaurant supply store. thanks. my last one, the blade separated from the handle while crushing garlic.
Guessed 18.99, must have been thinking Canadian dollars with 15% harmonized sales tax.
A sharp knife is a cook’s most attentive assistant. Perhaps more important than the initial investment in a good chef’s knife is the provision for its maintenance. I observe that a cheap knife properly cared for and kept sharp gives a lot better service and joy to its owner over the course of its life than an expensive one that has been used and kept indifferently.
My first pasalubong for my mom, two sisters and a sister-in-law who all love to cook were 10” Henkel cook’s knives that I bought at the same time as mine. Over the intervening thirty years or so, they had their’s sharpened by the local vaciador while I, for the first ten years, took mine to the free Henkel sharpening clinics held twice a year in major cities in Canada. When Henkel discontinued that service, I acquired a Chef’s Choice 110 sharpening set and did the sharpening myself. The last time I saw their knives, each and everyone have been worn away and reduced to look like slender boning knives, almost like flattened icepicks, while mine still keeps its original wedge shape. You see, the trouble with traditional sharpening using a whetting wheel is that it takes away too much metal each time and if done by an incompetent, can actually take away the knife’s temper thereby making the blade metal softer.
Footloose, you are right, I remember my aunt and mom would stop this guy on a bike looking thing, na ginagamit niya pag-hahasa ng gunting kutsilyo, etc. As a kid, I will stare at what he was doing (most time naduduling na yata ako sa little light resulting from the friction of the blades) and I will tell myself na yung mga tumatalsik na little particles are the metal itself, kaya nga panipis ng panipis yung gunting namin.
We once owned a meat stall at Guadalupe, and I was my sister’s tindera, and yes a very sharp knife is a must. Twice a week we have to have our wares sharpened, and we have to choose this one guy who they say sharpen’s better than the rest – kasi nga raw iba ang pag-hahasa niya, hindi raw numinipis yung kutsilyo.
Thanks for the post MM, I will visit my nearby resto supply soon..kasi nagbibilin ng “itak” yung pinsan ko, pang-taga daw ng lechon.
Speaking of knife pasalubongs, did you know that it’s bad luck in Oriental culture to gift knives and other sharp objects (scissors, nail clippers, etc)?
It is said to ‘cut off’ good relations between the two parties. I do believe in this; someone gifted me with a nailclipper from the US once and things went kinda downhill after that.
The solution? Ask the recipient to ‘pay’ you a peso for each item. Technically, this makes it a ‘commercial sale’ rather than a gift.
The same goes with footwear (shoes, slippers, socks), timepieces, mirrors. Am I making anyone worried? Ha ha,
@Ebbablue, so you were a meat retailer. You must know then how they distinguish between male and female pork or beef.
@tenbreed, I avoid bad luck by simply consulting an augur and my haruspex.
KNIVES … VERY “PERSONAL” ITEMS … OFTEN UNDER LOCK AND KEY.
Where’s a good place to buy good value knives and pots and pans here in the philippines? also, im going to be using an electric stove can you recommend pots and pans i sjould be getting?