Words by Erwan Heussaff

Men will talk about their grills, underground wine cellars and high performance kitchen tools, just as they would speak about their huge LED screens. Each time someone brags to me about their new toys it really doesn’t affect me because I know in their immaculate image of themselves they haven’t realised that there is something so much better than a smokeless stove and a powerful exhaust systems: Hand Made Knives. I have 9 Japanese kitchen knives, all handmade blades, expertly carved handles and created with utmost precision. They are so sharp I can cut, butcher and debone one handed; that’s how much control they grant me. When I’m behind the counter murdering some vegetables or slicing my meat, I am the modern day samurai, wielding a sword, that has been forged in tradition and that will probably out live me.

If you still don’t understand my obsession with knives (I promise I’m sane), check out the following videos:

Made by Hand / No 2 The Knife Maker from Made by Hand on Vimeo.

Courtesy of

http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2009/10/videos-japanese-style-knife-sk.html

From CBSNews.com

If you’re interested, I bought all of mine online from http://japanesechefsknife.com/products.html

They have some seriously good steel.

Follow Erwan on Twitter: @erwanheussaff  ///  The November issue of Esquire Philippines  is out now