Back from oblivion - granny's Sabatier
Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:49 pm
Sometimes memories attached to specific items go way back, especially when connected to people you love.
My beloved was always very close with her grandmother. When visiting her as a child, they used to spend much time in grandma's kitchen, talking about everything and nothing.
When grandma worked in her kitchen, the knife she always seemed to use was an old wood handled chef's knife. It was «the knife that had always been there» and grandma kept using it until she got cancer and passed away at the age of 93. Then the knife was put away in a box along with other of her belongings. For several years the box received no attention, but then it sort of surfaced and her favorite grandchild once again stood there with the old knife in her hands .
I was told the story of the old knife and about all the old memories attached to it, and of course got interested.
At first inspection I could find no markings on it and believed it to be just a cheap no name knife.
It was very dull and with some small chippings in the edge. She asked me if I thought that it might be made usable again and I said that I would have another look at it.
First when I started sharpening the old knife, I detected a faint marking:
PROFESSIONAL
SABATIER
MADE IN FRANCE
STAINLESS
Sabatier! I do not know much about these knives, but I know that they are classical French kitchen knives, quite expensive and the preferred brand for many professional chefs.
I don't know how old this knife may be, but the grandparents married during WW2 and it may possibly be that old. More likely it it was purchased during the fifties.
The blade is quite scratched. The knife obviously has seen some sharpening attempts, but it does not show much blade wear for its age. My beloved remembers her grandfather using an old steel on the blade, but she also says that he probably did not have much sharpening skills. She can not remember him using knives at all other than a few times in the kitchen. He worked as an accountant and was no handy man. After he passed away she remembers her granny trying to use that same old steel on the knife.
The spine of the blade shows signs of hammering with a a hard object, but when and how this happened I do not know.
The old Sabatier is kept sharp now and once again it is serving in the kitchen. She believes that granny would have it no other way.
My beloved was always very close with her grandmother. When visiting her as a child, they used to spend much time in grandma's kitchen, talking about everything and nothing.
When grandma worked in her kitchen, the knife she always seemed to use was an old wood handled chef's knife. It was «the knife that had always been there» and grandma kept using it until she got cancer and passed away at the age of 93. Then the knife was put away in a box along with other of her belongings. For several years the box received no attention, but then it sort of surfaced and her favorite grandchild once again stood there with the old knife in her hands .
I was told the story of the old knife and about all the old memories attached to it, and of course got interested.
At first inspection I could find no markings on it and believed it to be just a cheap no name knife.
It was very dull and with some small chippings in the edge. She asked me if I thought that it might be made usable again and I said that I would have another look at it.
First when I started sharpening the old knife, I detected a faint marking:
PROFESSIONAL
SABATIER
MADE IN FRANCE
STAINLESS
Sabatier! I do not know much about these knives, but I know that they are classical French kitchen knives, quite expensive and the preferred brand for many professional chefs.
I don't know how old this knife may be, but the grandparents married during WW2 and it may possibly be that old. More likely it it was purchased during the fifties.
The blade is quite scratched. The knife obviously has seen some sharpening attempts, but it does not show much blade wear for its age. My beloved remembers her grandfather using an old steel on the blade, but she also says that he probably did not have much sharpening skills. She can not remember him using knives at all other than a few times in the kitchen. He worked as an accountant and was no handy man. After he passed away she remembers her granny trying to use that same old steel on the knife.
The spine of the blade shows signs of hammering with a a hard object, but when and how this happened I do not know.
The old Sabatier is kept sharp now and once again it is serving in the kitchen. She believes that granny would have it no other way.
