DA IST SCHOEN or in this case, shun

“da ist schoen” is german for “that is great”, which is exactly what these knives are. my official knife supplier is my father. over the years he has given me an assortment of these irreplaceable tools that i proudly display and use in the kitchen. my first knife was a wusthof chef knife which has travelled with me from venice to florence and has seen many a sharpening by my local knife sharpening man. the latest addition to my collection comes from shun and is a santoku, or a japanese chef knife. now i really don’t know a lot about knives but i know what i like and what feels good in my hands. the first time i used my new shun was like using a new pair of fine leather gloves that you can’t even feel because they are so comfortable. when doing some research on the shun collection i discovered that 1. they come from seki city in japan which is famous for the production of samurai swords (so they gotta be good, right?!) and 2. alton brown (from the food network) created a collection with shun called “alton’s angles” where he modified the shun forms to make it easier to chop veggies without banging your knuckles on the cutting surface. these knives also have a very durable blade and are dishwasher safe. however, i could never bring myself to putting any of my knives in the dishwasher. according to the 1st golden rule in knife maintenance as per my father, my knives get hand washed!
last summer i worked in the kitchen of a restaurant that was set up for a local fair. the knives were so bad that we would go home at night with aching arms, throbbing hands and blisters! i do realize that i am spoiled by my coveted knife collection at home that has never caused me any pain but once you’ve tasted some of the best, it’s hard to go back!