Arcos (Spanish) vanadium stainless steel knives are great value and they've
got a great range, I recommend a 12" (30cm) ...you'll need a big chopping
board of course....

http://www.davidshuttle.com/acatalog...ml&CatalogBody

http://www.arcos.es/

http://www.stephensons.com/index.php.../8_146_483_606

http://casa21.co.uk/acatalog/Casa21_...ssories_2.html


I sharpen mine on a japanese whetstone, then a standard steel, then diamond
encrusted steel! not joking.

winston

www.cooksbooks.info




"Barry" > wrote in message
...
> Way back in September 2000, my Company H.J.Heinz decided to close the
> London factory.
> The choice was simple, re-locate,early retirement or take redundancy. I
was
> fortunate in that being 54 years of age and at the time with 30 years
> service, I could take both early retirement and take redundancy, which
meant
> I could take a pension and also commute the pension, and take a redundancy
> deal.
> I thought I would take a long holiday then get a little job, to pay the
> bills, as they say.
> Having been the London factory's I.T manager, I thought I would go self
> employed as a home I.T trainer or even a grunt on a systems help desk. As
I
> am sure most of the retirees here will know, that didn't happen. It is so
> easy to get lazy.
> Over the next few years I thrashed my hobbies and interests to death and
> lost interest. Having nothing in my life other than my Wife and my son, I
> followed a well trodden path and had an encounter with "The Black Dog"..
> depression. Which then leads to the torture of my wife and son. I
> whinge,growl,moan and creep away into a corner, it's strange, you know
what
> you are doing but you don't care, you are the Prime, no-one else takes
> priority over you you you !
> Breakdown followed, a big hello to anxiety, and panic attacks. Many months
> and drugs later you get out of the hole, and then you search for something
> to fill the gap,I found nothing that I cared about and although I never
said
> it, I knew the day may come when I would hurt my family as never before. I
> spent many many nights in debate with myself, should it be: Steely Dan's,
> "Peg",or Little Feat's, "Rock'n'Roll Doctor", or maybe a Richard Pryor
> monologue or a Spike Milligan poem or better still the end of the "Life of
> Brian" slung up on a big screen, the whole congregation of mourners
singing
> along to "Always Look on the Bright Side Of Life".
> The only thing I know is that when I get that final act performed, I want
> you to be dancing or laughing your arse off to whether it should after
many
> months of looking for that new hobby it dawned on me why I was watching.
> Now I know some would say I should apologise for the previous part of this
> email, "It's a cooking newsgroup" many will shout; well that isn't going
to
> happen. I thought I would like to fill in some blanks, sort of give an
> outline of me at present, I have read through the posts in this newsgroup
> for the last few months and I only see like minded people, sometimes the
> passion bleeds right out of the monitor and hits you in the heart.
> As the New Year began so did I, I realised that my fascination for
watching
> TV Cookery programmes for the last 18 months or so had to be taken a bit
> further, doing, instead of JUST watching was the thing I needed to do. And
I
> set off on my journey.
> To bring us up to the present day. I have bought decent cookware, decent
> knives, lots of spices and oils and 18 cookbooks all in the last three
> months. Some of the books are only OK, some are amazing! Nigel Slater's
"The
> Kitchen Diaries" and "Real Food" would top my list at the moment.
> I cook meals for three; (Wife, Son and myself) but Wife and Son are the
> judges, I watch them eat, I watch them trying to take the glaze off the
> plate. I feel so good. This is what is all about. Watching your food make
> someone ecstatic.
> I have never felt more content as when I prep all my ingredients, whether
it
> be thirty minutes or two hours.
> Never thought I would pause the latest series of 24, so I could flip
through
> my cookbooks to see if anyone has tried to bake plump vine tomatoes with a
> garlic and honey topping; I couldn't find anyone who had so I tried.
> My son ate all three tomatoes before eating the Chicken Thighs and the
> Cheese and Chive Garlic mash. His only comment was "Nice One".
> There can be no more pleasure than spending time cooking a dish, and be
> rewarded by plates that are clean enough to be put straight back on the
> shelf !; (no I don't!, but you know what I mean).
> I find it amazing that I now see dozens of recipes that I am excited about
> cooking, and with the knowledge that dozens will become hundreds and maybe
> thousands.
> So at last we come to my question (all who have persevered this far,
exhale
> deeply and say "About ****ing time", (if my use of the F word offends
please
> say), I like it, the second most powerful word in the English language. (C
> word No 1)
> I have dozens of questions, but I will Google away and see what I can
glean,
> but when the glean has lost its lustre then I will come back to this group
> of fellow fans, I was going to type fanatics but I would guess you are not
> all as disturbingly obsessive as me.
>
> Help on Knives
> I bought a 5 piece knife set knowing that my xmas gift from 10 years ago
was
> rubbish. The present to myself was a set of V-Sabatier knives, I know
they
> are not the real thing, only produced under license, but they are quite
> nice. However the "Cooks Knife" was only 6 inches. It is Ok as a knife,
but
> it isn't what I want from My knife. I want a Cooks knife that is at least
9
> inches, it must have a "good" weight, "good" is a bit ambiguous, I think I
> mean heavy with balance, but I'm not sure. I just know that some knives I
> have feel good and some do not. "Money is not an object" is a bit strong,
> but I am willing to pay around £100 for that one knife. Will it be Steel
or
> Ceramic, anyone using Zirconia knives, do tell.
> I would like some input with regards to what you consider to be the best
> knives on the planet, and how to sharpen would be a nice extra.
>
> I only intended to ask one question, but I will add this as a second:-
> Freezing Fresh Veg
> Can you do it and retain the flavour? I have no doubt that frozen peas are
> the best you can get, but I know that they are the best you can get unless
> you have your own garden. Can I buy "fresh" supermarket veg, (supermarket
> definition of fresh is in my opinion "Not Frozen".
>
> If you have read this far, thank you.
> hope to see some answers
> BT
>
>