Old Hachoir / Mezzaluna four blades tell me about them.

[silverneedle]

Back when ebay still sold knives I got this big beast out of curiosity and with the idea that it might come in usefull in my kitchen job, but havent yet found a use for it. I believe it would only be usefull with a very large concave chopping board. Wikipedia says the multi blade ones were used on meat and had up to three blades which as you can see could only be partially right. All I have done to it so far is clean off some rust. The handlles are synthetic. The steel is carbon steel. Have you ever used one like this and what for? I always had the idea that it was used like a blender before electricity. What would you do with it?

 

[M1k3]

Chop or mince meat, herbs, parsley, cilantro, tortilla strips or equal slices of cold butter?

 

[Michi]

They were popular in Germany way back in my childhood. I'm not sure whether they are still being used a lot these days.

I remember watching professional cooks using them to mince herbs. I still have a Wüsthof mezzaluna knife that I got as a gift from my parents decades ago. I use it maybe once a year, mainly for amusement value. I find it's quicker and more practical to instead rock chop herbs with a knife that has a bit of belly.

 

[silverneedle]

Yeah I found that to be the case too. Cleaning it after thejob would be a pain. My new idea is to use it in the garden to chop up food waste before feeding it in to a worm bin. That will likely kill it with rust over time though which seems a shame.