International Knives

[raksasa]

Hi everyone, was encouraged to share these from local and reddit knife communities as I do want to increase general awareness for other food cultures around the world

I've been traveling internationally more seriously since 2018 to get to know each countries' people, food, and culture. On each trip, I seek out at least 1 iconic knife from the country to bring back, currently up to 8 out of a planned set of 12. After, I'm currently working with the knife maker Henry Hyde based out of Baltimore to make recreations of each to use while keeping the originals for preservation.

From left to right:
Aguzzeria del Cavallo 9" coltellina per tagliatelle from Antica Aguzzeria del Cavallo, Bologna with info from Muzio, Rome, Italy 2022
Wittaranyik 7" mid pungtor/pangtx from Khlong Toei Market, Bangkok, Thailand 2021
Kasim Usta 12" zirh bicak from Kalite Bicak, Istanbul, Turkey 2020
Chan Chi Kee 8" sangdao caidao from Chan Chi Kee Cutlery, Hong Kong, China 2019
E.Dehillerin 10" sabatier eminceur from E.Dehillerin, Paris, France 2019
Zarate Ugalde 8" hacha taquera from Mercado de la Merced, Mexico City, Mexico 2018
Russell Green River 5" hunter skinner knife from Amazon with info from Seasoned, New Orleans and District Cutlery, Washington DC, United States 2022
SNA 5" pisau cap garpu from Pasar Raya, Padang with info from Pasar Senen, Jakarta, Indonesia 2022

All recreations made by HB Hyde based out of Baltimore, Maryland
Standardized purpleheart handles with ferrules referencing the original handle material (when practical)
(Roman) numerals denoting the knives and personally representing certain virtues
And, (rounded) latitude coordinates of their city/country of origin
I 1095 sangdao
II 26C3 sabatier
III 26C3 zirh/cimeter hybrid

More to come including spines, choils, weights, etc

 

[BillHanna]

I was wondering about those numbers. I saw these on his Instagram.

 

[raksasa]

Might as well start with the pictures of the first replica set. Need to get new pictures of everything soon

Bonus picture compared to both the original and a Victorinox Cimeter

 

[Pisau]

SNA 5" pisau cap garpu from Pasar Raya, Padang with info from Pasar Senen, Jakarta, Indonesia 2022

Cap garpu means fork brand: An allusion to F. Herder (cheap replica). Online sources seem only return that info and the brand's synonymy with criminal misuse by Sumatran thugs.

Excellent post. Thanks for sharing mate.

 

[blokey]

Good collection and nice knives by Hyde, I'm on my way to collect knives from all continents.

 

[stringer]

Nice collection. Great idea. Thanks for sharing.

 

[raksasa]

Starting with the most familiar one. Everyone knows what a French Chef is. If anyone is in Paris, highly suggest the store this knife is from, E.Dehillerin. Was apparently Julia Child's favorite store.

(Stupid bolster)

 

[raksasa]

The storefront, a chungus pan, and original shot. Will reorder future posts

 

[raksasa]

Funny story with this one. So they didn't have the carbon steel version I wanted the day I visited so had to settle for a stainless steel one. But then that one was confiscated when taking the rail up to Sichuan. So I call the lady back in Hong Kong to sell and ship me another, and here we are.

RIP first knife

 

[raksasa]

And Henry Hyde was mildly confused/concerned that the original wasn't actually a rectangle

 

[raksasa]

Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the store front of Kalite Bicak back in Istanbul. Also picked up an actual Cimeter on top of the Zirh which was the smallest(?) size they had before you get into the miniature ones like in the window in the 2nd picture

 

[raksasa]

Hyde's hybrid Zirh. Nice weight. Didn't go for the full original height because of material cost

 

[Naftoor]

Really awesome project, love the coordinates on the recreations. Makes for great stories when people are over =D

 

[raksasa]

Been thinking about which order to post the remaining knives but this was the first one, and first of the next set to be recreated. Also, the chungus is generally a popular one. Also Also, there's probably more recognition now after more Netflix series dropped about Philadelphia

I was young and dumb for forgetting to take a picture of the shop/cart but here's one of the middle of Mercado Merced

Thiccc

 

[raksasa]

Would recommend one of these for anyone who likes Kiwis and thinner Caidaos. Still forgot to take pictures of the shop (booth) front but did take ones of the other 2 notable knives though I ended up not getting them. Mildly regret it

The main one is an all rounder cleaver knife who's function differs based on spine thickness. This one might still be more of a slicer than a chopper though pronounced in Thai as a Mid Phanx but more colloquially known as a Pungtor. The other two are a Mid Lae Mu or pig knife, but sometimes called a moon knife. And, a Mid Etoh or coconut knife/machete

 

[raksasa]

Remembered to take plenty of pictures that time. Originally planned on getting one of these at Muzio in Rome but they were apparently out of stock. With my itinerary taking me to Bologna, the owners at Muzio refered me to another shop Antica Aguzzeria. Picked up a cute little parmesan knife from the prior on top of the main one from the latter

 

[raksasa]

Vadakkan 8.5" vettu kathi / felling knife/ coconut cleaver / machete / koduval

Ordered during a trip to Delhi, India

Sadly couldn't get one in person because they're apparently only physically available in the southern states around Kerala. But some Knife dealers in the Chandi Chowk area of Old Delhi where I previously got the hacksaw blade knives gave me some info to find them online on Desertcart. Otherwise, they were also on Amazon India, Indiamart, and Yellow Cassia

Also saw some folks using the other other famous Indian stationary knife called a both, but those don't travel or hang well :/

Also also bonus Indian hacksaw knives like from street food videos. The real ones from southern India are apparently called urukku kathi

Obligatory specs and updated family shots