The best kitchen knives make light work of chopping veggies, slicing meats, and mincing garlic. And while many are sold in sets, which include paring, boning, and utility knives, you can usually get away with having one solid kitchen knife to handle the lot. But which is the best? According to chef Anthony Bourdain, a chef’s knife from Japanese brand Global is the one he used in his home kitchen and the one he recommended to readers of his bestselling 2020 memoir “Kitchen Confidential.”
“Please believe me, here’s all you will ever need in the knife department: ONE good chef’s knife, as large as is comfortable for your hand,” explained Bourdain before giving his seal of approval to “lightweight, easy-to-sharpen and relatively inexpensive vanadium steel Global knives, a very good Japanese product which has — in addition to its many other fine qualities — the added attraction of looking really cool.”
Available on Amazon, a Global Chef’s knife has a dimpled handle for a safer grip and is lauded for its multi-purpose blade that can slice, dice, and chop. Bourdain explained that this single knife is perfect for slicing through everything from a shallot to a sirloin strip depending on how you wield it. For example, you use the tip to prep smaller ingredients and the heel to chop larger items. This is because Global knives are shaped like Japanese Gyuto knives, which are curved at the front half for precision work and flatter towards the heel for chopping.
A Global chef’s knife is versatile and affordable
Made in Japan, a Global chef’s knife is cheaper and lighter than other professional European knife brands, such as Henkel or Wusthof, that could set you back almost $300. While these knives can make a fantastic investment if you’re a professional cook, they take more looking after, are heavier, and require regular sharpening. Instead, select an affordable knife that’s just as versatile and spend your time honing your basic knife skills and techniques so you can use it correctly. Having said that, there’s nothing low-quality about Global’s knives. What sets them apart from Western knives is their acute, rather than bevelled, edge, which keeps them sharper for longer. Each knife is sharpened by hand in a factory in Niigata, Japan, and the handles are weighted with sand until they are perfectly balanced.
If you want to add more kitchen knives to your arsenal, Bourdain also recommends investing in a flexible boning knife for filleting fish, a paring knife to flute vegetables, and an offset serrated knife for slicing bread and tomatoes. Other tools that this world-renowned chef used in professional kitchens included a plastic squeeze bottle for plating sauces and a mandoline to make julienned vegetables and thinly sliced dauphinoise potatoes.
