Home Ec: How to Shop for Olive Oil

L'olio by Anek

When I was first learning how to cook, Chez Panisse held a contest, open to all employees, seeking a better (tastier? more clever? more original?) tomato sauce recipe (using canned tomatoes) for use through the winter months.  There weren't many rules beyond this: we were to use only ingredients that were readily available in the CP kitchen (i.e. local, seasonal and organic).

Having only just started to cook, I was too intimidated to enter myself and felt like I had too little authority to even try, but it felt like pretty much everyone else, from bussers and wine runners to porters and, of course, cooks, submitted a recipe.  The prize was $500 and having your name on the menu every time the sauce was featured, so people got really into it, as you might be able to imagine.

Entrants were instructed to bring in their sauces for a blind tasting on a weekday afternoon, and a team of impartial judges (a.k.a. the chefs and Alice) set about the arduous task of trying the veritable panoply of sauces. Some had seasoned their sauces with dried oregano, others fresh marjoram.  Some crushed their canned tomatoes by hand while others painstakingly seeded and diced them.  Others added chili flake while still yet others channeled their inner nonnas and pureed their sauces, pomorola-style.  It was tomato mayhem, and in the kitchen we were all atwitter, waiting to hear who the finalists were.

At one point, Russ came back into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and I'll never forget what he said when we asked him how things were going:

"There are a lot of great entries.  So many, in fact, that it's hard to narrow them down. But it's a shame that some of the particularly good recipes were made with bad olive oil."  

What they couldn't understand, and understandably so, was why all of the employees wouldn't have cooked with good olive oil, especially when it was always available to us to buy at cost through the restaurant.  

While some of the chefs were able to imagine cooking a sauce made with bad olive oil with better ingredients at the restaurant, Alice, he said, in particular, couldn't get past it, because her palate was so sensitive.  She couldn't separate the "what is" from the "what might be."

Never before had it occurred to me that olive oil, or any oil--the cooking medium itself--would have much effect on the flavor of a dish.  This was my first glimpse of understanding that not only did it have an effect, but that as the foundational ingredient, the flavor of olive oil pervades every single molecule of a dish.  So, in the same way that an onion cooked in butter tastes different than an onion cooked in olive oil, an onion cooked in good olive oil tastes different (and in this case, better) than one cooked in a lesser quality oil.

So, before considering even one of the many political/health/outside reasons for using a better olive oil in your cooking, know that the way your olive oil tastes is directly related to how your food will taste.

Choosing an olive oil can be a daunting task.  Just at my local food market, there are probably four dozen different brands of extra virgin olive oil on display.  Then, there are all of the virgin and pure oils.  If I hadn't had the good fortune of living in Italy, where I got to familiarize myself with some of the most talented oil producers throughout the country, I'd probably have adverse reactions to olive oil shopping, traceable back to the levels of stress they'd cause in my body.  I mean, virgin or extra virgin?  Italy or France?  Organic or not?  Is that olive oil on sale any good?  Why is some olive oil $30 for 750ml while another is $10 for a liter?  What is going on?  And how can you tell the difference?

I get it.  I mean, I usually know what I'm looking for and I still get an accelerated heartbeat every time I enter that aisle at Berkeley Bowl.  Sheesh.

It's why when Jen asked me to help her learn how to choose an oil, I figured there must be more folks out there wanting to know the same information, and I took the opportunity to dive headlong into answering the age-old question of how to know what olive oil to buy.

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How to Choose an Olive Oil

Photo of Tenuta di Capezzana in Tuscany by Ira Block for National Geographic. Image Source

Taste.  Taste.  Taste.  Taste, not price, is your best guide in choosing an olive oil.  This might require a leap of faith on your part if you don't know what you're tasting for.  All of those words, like fruity, pungent, spicy and bright might seem confounding if you've never considered that olive oil can taste like much of anything besides, well, oil, but it's true, a good olive oil has multiple dimensions.  The only way to familiarize yourself with them is by tasting, and paying attention to what you sense.  If you taste something expensive and don't like it, then it's not for you.  If you find a ten dollar bottle that's delicious, then you've scored!  In this way, olive oil shopping is much like wine shopping.

Before you bother with anything else, taste and trust yourself.  You have to taste, and ultimately, you have to let your own taste buds be the judge, because food is alive, and ever-changing, and inconsistent, and magical, and even an olive oil that I or another cook may rant or rave about is different from bottle to bottle, batch to batch.

I will say, though, that while it's harder for me to tell you what a "good" oil might taste like, it's fairly simple for me to describe a "bad" one.  There are several main reasons why I won't buy an olive oil, including: bitterness (to the point that I'm coughing or gagging), overwhelming spiciness, a "dirty" or "smelly" flavor, and rancidity.  These are all deal-breakers.  There's a place in my pantry for almost all other flavor-manifestations of olive oil.

Once you are comfortable with a brand and you are confident that you know what a "good" oil tastes like, then hopefully you'll feel empowered to take a risk and try a different oil, and over time you can familiarize yourself with the characteristics of different oils and different regions.  I've found that coastal olives produce milder, sweeter oils (like that Ligurian one below), and oils from the Tuscan hills are peppery, bright, and powerful.  But even within a region, oil can differ widely, so again, we return to the ultimate arbiter to help us judge: the palate.

Ay, there's the rub.  How can you taste an olive oil before you spend twenty bucks on a bottle?  Well, you can't.  So sometimes you have to take a blind leap.  Some markets might host tastings or let you try a product before purchasing.  Other markets will let you return items if you're not pleased with them.  And finally, by all means, before spending big bucks on a bulk tin of oil, buy a small bottle to experiment with.   If you don't go through olive oil quite as quickly as I might, it might be smarter to buy it in smaller amounts anyway (or to split a larger bottle or tin with a friend or two) so that you can use up the oil before it goes rancid.

For olive oil, unfortunately, the term "organic" is practically meaningless, since international regulation of organic standards is totally irregular.  Unless an olive oil is coming from an organic farmer or producer who you are already familiar with, don't let this be an indicator of whether or not to buy (though I will say that the organic Costco oil is tastier than the regular, and when buying oil from a producer of that size, I'd prefer something to nothing in terms of regulation).  Instead of "organic," there are a few other things to look for on the label of a bottle of olive oil that may suggest higher quality, including:

• A harvest date.  Olive oil is good for about a year--fourteen months max--before it goes rancid. If you're spending thirty bucks on a bottle of oil, make sure it's from the current press.  Olives are pressed in November, sometimes December, so the current press right now is 2011.  The harvest date is not the same as the "use by" or "sell by" date, so take a careful look.
• A dark green glass bottle or a stainless steel tin. Keeping olive oil out of direct sunlight, and purchasing olive oil that has been kept out of direct sunlight are of utmost importance since the light accelerates loss of nuanced flavor and leads to rancidity.  
• A DOP seal for European oils or a California Olive Oil Council (COOC) seal for California Oils.  A DOP is a Protected Denomination of Origin, which is a type of government-regulated quality control that actually means something.  Other examples of DOP (sometimes called AOC, DOC, DOCG, etc.) foods throughout Europe that you may be familiar with are Parmigiano-Reggiano, Chianti Classico, Jamón Serrano, and Prosciutto di Parma.  The California Olive Oil Council is a trade association with certified olive oil standards meant to help raise the quality of California oils on the shelves, promote producers, and protect customers.  
• A specific producer name and location.  Though the location can be hard to recognize if you're not a pro at reading Italian addresses and deciphering all of the insane two letter abbreviations (FI = Firenze, SI= Siena, etc.), it's worth it to try, and to at least be sure that the oil is made in a particular place in Italy (or Spain, or France).  As Tom Mueller writes, "Made in Italy" is not the same thing as "Product of Italy."  Most of the big olive oil brands, like Bertolli and Filippo Berio have admitted to buying olives from other countries (such as Tunisia, Greece, or Spain), importing them into Italy, and pressing the oil there only to sell it as "Made in Italy."  Though there isn't anything innately wrong with olives grown in any of those countries, since the fruit is picked and then transported over such great distances, it's safe to say that it's not at its peak when being pressed into oil (and imagine the fermentation happening on the bottom of those truckloads of olives!).  Most of the small olive oil producers, like Capezzana, who I visited when I lived in Italy had their own frantoios (or olive mills) on the premises, so that olives could be pressed within hours of picking.  Something like only four percent of olive oil exported from Italy is a made exclusively of Italian olives, so look for the name of the producer, the location, and/or the words "Product of Italy" to ensure you're getting the real thing.

Things that aren't a necessarily indicator of quality:

• Color of the olive oil.  Light oils can be delicious.  Dark, green oils can be gross.  And vice versa.  Color, in and of iteself, doesn't matter, so don't make a decision based on it.
• Unfiltered vs. filtered.  Unfiltered olive oil is simply...unfiltered.  Not better, not worse, just unfiltered.  
• Single-varietals vs. blends.  As with wine, a blend can be truly delicious.  Just because an oil is made of a single cultivar of olive doesn't make it "better" in any way, so don't fall for that.  Let taste be your guide.

What to do with it after you bring it home:

• Keep your oil out of direct sunlight.  And don't store it above or too close to your stove, as temperature fluctuations will negatively affect flavor and encourage oxidation, which leads to rancidity.  

Glossary of terms
Extra-virgin--this is the highest quality (and usually most expensive) oil derived from olives.  Extra-virgin is always made by pressing raw olives soon after they are harvested.  It's low in acid, and often offers the widest range of flavors, so it's best used unadulterated, in things like salads and condiments, since heating it up will change its chemical makeup and diminish its delicate flavors.

Virgin--this is also a high-quality oil, which is produced by the same exact methods as extra virgin.  The only difference is that it tests at a higher acidity level so it cannot technically be called extra virgin.  Virgin oils are also good for salad dressings, mayonnaises, condiments and light cooking.

(Pure) Olive oil--When a label reads "pure olive oil," or simply "olive oil," it usually means that the bottle consists mostly of refined oil, which has been treated with heat and/or chemicals to balance out the flaws and neutralize flavors, with a small percentage of virgin or extra virgin oil added back in for flavor. It's usually pretty light in color.  Since it doesn't have much going on, flavor-wise, this oil is great for browning meats for braises and making anything long-cooked.  I also sometimes use it as a base for mayonnaise and then go back and add good oil to finish.  It's a great, affordable, neutral cooking oil.

Extra light olive oil--Similar to pure, but without any good oil added back in for flavor.  This means that this oil is totally refined and basically void of any of the characteristics that make olive oil olive oil.  It's not bad, just not really anything special.  Would be good for browning meats for braises or slow-roasted anything.  The "extra light" doesn't denote that it has any less caloric value--it's just as fattening as regular old olive oil.

Cold pressed--the olives and oil were not heated above a certain point during processing, resulting in an oil with more integrity of flavor and nutrients.

First pressed--the oil is the product of the first press of the olives.  Sometimes olives are pressed a second time, and the resultant oil is of lesser quality (a second press will usually yield "pure" or "extra light" oil).

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What & Where to Buy

Image Source

What I use at home:

I'm always changing things up, based on availability, curiosity, the current state of my finances, and of course whim.  But the one constant is taste--I won't buy crappy olive oil.  These are all great olive oils that I rotate through the kitchen.  I usually have a few on hand, but for most home cooks who don't toe the line of insanity like I do, one cooking oil and one fancy oil are enough.

Take a look at these oils, and if one seems to catch your interest, familiarize yourself with its label and maybe you'll find it on the shelf of your local natural or specialty foods store.  If you trust me and my taste buds, spend the money, buy the oil, and bring it home to taste and cook with.

Where to buy olive oil:
Many of these olive oil producers sell to distributors who import throughout the US, so most of these are going to be somewhat easy to find in a shop like Bi-Rite, The Pasta Shop, Dean & Deluca, or Zingermans.  In the Bay Area, local grocery stores like Rainbow, Berkeley Bowl, and Monterey Market have great selections of olive oil, as does Genova Delicatessen.

Even though I've noticed that Whole Foods has a huge selection of high quality olive oils, I wouldn't buy fancy oil there unless pressed to, because I think most of those bottles just sit on the shelves for a really long time, aging and creeping ever-closer to rancidity, which is inevitable in olive oil around the 14 month mark.  Since you're paying a premium for good oil, it's worth it to make sure you're buying from a retailer with quick turnover.

I have my own issues with and try not to shop at Trader Joe's because of their lack of transparency, and their behavior throughout the whole Immokalee situation (even though I suppose it's technically been resolved), but I totally get that for a lot of people it's the best or only option, or that they just plain like it.  The thing is, since most everything is a house brand there, there's no way of knowing what you're getting, really, until you buy it and taste.  But since things are pretty affordable there, it's an easy way to put your taste buds to the test.

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Olive Oils I Use & Love

California
Katz: Chef's pick is a fantastic deal and well-balanced.  I usually have a bottle of this around for both cooking and salads.
McEvoy Ranch
Yolo Press
O Olive Oil

Sardinia
San Giuliano Oils: Affordable and relatively mild, these oils have been the mainstay cooking oils in my kitchen for the past few years.  I like their pure and their extra virgin, as well as the delicious Cannonau red wine vinegar.  I use the neutral pure oil for browning roasts, all-purpose, and things like mayonnaise base that I then finish with better, more full-bodied oils.

Sicily
Mastri di San Basilio: I particularly like Due Sicilie and usually have a bottle of this soft-spoken, yet delicious oil on hand for salad dressings and salsas where I don't want the oil to have too much personality.
Olio Verde: one word--delicious

Tuscany
Stephen Singer Olio: This is the oil that has been at the base of CP cooking for decades, though now there is a lot of California oil in that kitchen as well.  My favorites here are the San Giusto and the flagship oil.
Badia a Coltibuono
Tenuta di Capezzana
Frantoio di Sommaia
Laudemio Frescobaldi
Tiger Brand: This is a pure olive oil I LOVE to use for cooking because it's so neutral and affordable.

Puglia
Francesco de Padova: The 5 Liter tin is a STEAL!  Howard Case has had a relationship with these Pugliese producers for years, and imports these oils and sells them himself, keeping costs relatively low.  I really like these oils--the pure is great for cooking and the extra virgin is a wonderful all-purpose oil.

Liguria
Costa dei Rosmarini: I went through a seriously obsessive phase with this olive oil in 2004 and it remains a favorite.

Spain
Siurana olive oil: This isn't a brand, but rather a DOP.  Kelly brought me some Siurana olive oil recently, and it's delicious.  I'm not really educated when it comes to olive oils from beyond the borders of Italy or California, so this was a really great introduction to high-quality Spanish oil.  Thank you, Kelly!

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Resources
California Olive Oil Council
8 Tips for Choosing and Using Olive Oil by David Lebovitz
Yolo County Olive Oils: I've heard that Yolo Press makes some excellent, affordable oil, but they are all worth tasting.
AmorOlio: Nancy Harmon Jenkins' Olive Oil Intensive in Tuscany
Olive Oil Source: lots of great information if you have the time to dig around

Articles & Books
Slippery Business by Tom Mueller in the New Yorker
Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil by Tom Mueller
Michael Pollan uses Organic Costco Extra Virgin Olive Oil for everyday cooking at home in an interview with Emily Thelin in the Wall Street Journal (I used to really raise my nose at this, but I have to say, for everyday olive oil, it's totally fine.)

California's Olive Oils Challenge Europe's: Julia Moskin's excellent piece on California Olive Oils in the New York Times

The Olive Oil Secret, a pretty good document with a thorough shopping and tasting guide
Olive Oil: From Tree to Table by Peggy Knickerbocker

Resource Guide for Home Ec: Understanding Salt

image source

A list of resources and links I find really informative:


Articles & Blogs
That's So Salty!  It's Not Salty Enough! by Jill Santopietro on Chow.com
In Salts, a Pinch of Bali or a Dash of Spain by Harold McGee in the New York Times
Salt of the Earth about Judy Rodgers by Russ Parsons in the LA Times
An Introduction to Gourmet Salt by Mark Bitterman (pdf version here)

Books
Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
Salted by Mark Bitterman
The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers
On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee

Purveyors
San Francisco
Little Vine
Bi-Rite Market
Boulette's Larder
Rainbow Grocery

East Bay
The Country Cheese Shop
The Pasta Shop
Berkeley Bowl
Monterey Market
The Spanish Table

Purchase Online
The Meadow: the Mecca of Salt, a shop in Portland, Oregon
SaltWorks: pretty much sells every kind of salt, ever
Celtic Sea Salt, aka sel gris: buy the big bag and use it for everything
Bulk Maldon Salt


and finally:

home ec: bean resources

"Maxibelle" Heirloom Beans Dried, a photo by Chiot's Run on Flickr.

in preparation for my pantry class at 18 reasons in a couple of weeks, i've been spending a lot more time than usual (which is already more than some might consider normal) thinking about beans.

beans, my favorite vegetable.  ok, legume.  but still, you know what i mean.

i am most adamantly not a vegetarian, but inadvertently, i pretty much am one at home, other than the occasional roast chicken and resulting stock.  oh, and fra'mani breakfast sausages (why are they so good?).

since beans, eggs, yogurt and cheese are my go-to daily sources of protein, i'm okay with spending a bit more for the really good stuff.  out of context, $6 or $7 for a dozen pastured eggs or half-pound of heirloom beans might seem exorbitant, but looking at an dinner built around vegetables, an artisan bread or whole grain, and some good beans and eggs tells a different version of the same story, one where a delicious, local, organic and balanced meal for four people can cost under ten dollars.

the deal with heirloom beans

here's the thing: non-heirloom dried beans are really, really good, too.  for me, spending the extra money makes sense because it brings me joy to get to know (a.k.a. totally geek out on) all of the different types of  beans out there, to see how pretty they are in jars on my shelves, and to watch them transform as they cook.  i also try to know where my food comes from, and to support people doing good work, so a couple bucks on fancy heirloom beans is money i'm glad to spend.

you can find great non-fancy beans at the market, too.  but try to look for beans that aren't super old and withery, so if the bulk section at your local shop looks like it hasn't been perused in a couple of years, maybe skip the bean bin.  the thing is, the fresher your dried beans, the more quickly and evenly they will cook, the creamier they'll be, and the better they will taste.  i try to buy and use all of my dried beans within two years of harvest, and knowing the people who grew the beans in the first place helps me meet that goal.

cooking beans is super-simple:

1. buy good beans.
2. cover with water and soak overnight, or at least 4 hours.
3. add an onion, some salt and any herbs you like.  a splash of olive oil won't hurt.
4. bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until tender.  this can take anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple of hours.  skim any foam that appears.  add water, if needed, to make sure they are always immersed. 
5. season and eat.  or refry.  or turn into soup, cassoulet, or any one of a million delicious things!
6. though i don't have a crock pot, i think one might be ideal for bean cookery.  i just use my old, rusty le creuset pot.  aaron is obsessed with using clay pots for his beans, in an effort to bring a little bit of the old country to cedar street, i guess.  really, anything will work.  

bean resources

how to cook dried beans
a basic recipe
bean myths, dispelled (i LOVE this page for so many reasons!)
heidi swanson's cover of nopa's delicious wood-oven baked rancho gordo beans (three favorites in one!)
laurence jossel's black bean burger (perhaps i should be embarrassed, but i am a little obsessed with homemade bean and veggie burgers)
lori de mori's great article on mangia-fagioli, or bean-eaters, the derogatory nickname for tuscans.

where to buy great heirloom beans

online
rancho gordo
phipps country store
zürsun heirloom beans

in the bay area
bi-rite market
berkeley bowl
avedano's
the pasta shop
annabelle
dirty girl produce
phipps country store
rancho gordo
toby's feed barn
rainbow grocery has bulk rancho gordo beans!  wahoo!

grow your own heirloom beans
seeds savers
baker creek heirloom seeds
native seeds

Home Ec: A Guide to the Knives You (Actually) Need

photo courtesy of Andrea Gentl / Gentl and Hyers Photography/ Hungry Ghost Food + Travel

Let's talk knives for a moment.

I'm thinking about the knife skills class I'll be teaching as part of the Home Ec series at 18 Reasons next month, putting together a list for my students.

Over the years as I've guided plenty of professional and amateur cooks toward cutlery purchases, it's come to my attention levels of insanity at the knife shop can seem, at times, to be directly correlated to testosterone levels and the amount of food television watched.

Ahem.

All I'm saying is that some of the best chefs and cooks I know have some of the humblest knives.  A fancy, long, expensive Japanese knife does not necessarily a good cook make. 

Tamar's book has done a lot to remind me of the value of amateurism.  So many of the problems that home cooks face result from a cultural tendency to conflate what is appropriate and/or necessary in a professional kitchen with what is appropriate and/or necessary in a home kitchen.  That conflation, or confusion, really, is actually just a terrible story being told to us by the people who want to sell us more crap and make us think that we can't cook, and cook well, without every single doohickey they're trying to get us to buy.

However, having the proper tools on hand definitely makes things smoother, easier, and more comfortable.  And frankly, you waste a lot less when you use the right, sharp knife for a task.

For most home cooks, three, maybe four knives are plenty.  When I'm too lazy to unpack my knife roll at home, I often get away with just a chef's knife and a bread knife.

Knife blocks are a waste of space, and sort of silly, if you ask me.  Knife sets are just ways to get you to spend way more money than necessary.  Expensive German and Japanese knives are nice, and can definitely feel really luxurious, but I tend to think of them more as fancy cars than workhorses.

I've done my best to put together a no-nonsense knife shopping resource for you.  I hope it explains what needs to be explained and guides you toward purchases that make sense for you, and most importantly, help you feel at home in the kitchen.

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illustration from MarshallMatlock.com

Glossary

Forged Blade: A blade shaped by pounding a single, thick piece of heated steel under extreme pressure using a hammer and die.
Tang: The part of the knife that extends into the handle.  On a typical wooden handled knife, you can check the length of its tang by looking at the top of the knife handle and seeing how far the metal extends.
Stamped Blade: A knife blade that's stamped from a piece of steel, much like how a cookie cutter stamps cookies out from dough.
Bolster: The knob of steel located at the back of the blade, where it meets the handle.  Typically, forged knives have bolsters while stamped knives do not.
Carbon Steel: The metal of choice back in the day.  It can get really, really sharp, but dulls quickly and rusts, so most knife makers have abandoned it in favor of stainless steel.
Stainless Steel: The metal of choice these days, because it doesn't corrode or rust, but the average stainless steel blade can't get as sharp as its carbon steel counterpart.  However, the higher quality the steel, the fancier and more expensive the knife.  Some Japanese knives are made with extremely fancy stainless steel that can actually get sharper than carbon steel, and hold an edge for even longer, too.
Sharpening: Redefining the edge of a knife's blade by using a sharpener or whetstone.  Sharpening a knife blade actually whittles away a fine layer of its metal, giving it a completely new edge that's ideally set at an angle that will allow you to cut thinly, quickly, and easily.  A well-set edge will last several weeks to several months, depending on how much you use your knife, how well you take care of it, and what material it's made of.
Honing: Running a knife blade across a honing steel to realign all of the little metal teeth that get all mixed up each time you use a knife.  Honing does not actually sharpen a knife, extending the lifespan of a sharpened blade instead.

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Forged versus Stamped Blades

Let me break things down for you.  Basically, there are two methods for constructing knife blades: stamping and forging.  Generally, stamped blades are considered to be of lesser quality and forged blades of higher quality.

A stamped blade is cut, or stamped, out of a roll of steel, and then handles are attached.  Since there is no bolster, and since stamped blades tend to be on the thinner side, a stamped knife is typically lighter and less expensive than its forged counterpart.

Though stamped knives are often considered, and often are, inferior to their forged brethren, there are some great knives with stamped blades out there, appropriate for both professional and home cooks.  Global knives, omnipresent in restaurant kitchens and on cooking shows, are among the highest quality (and most expensive) stamped knives out there, though I don't much care for them myself.

I'm a huge fan of Victorinox-Swiss Army (formerly Forschner Victorinox) knives with rosewood handles.  I can't tell you how many of these knives I have owned, given away, and recommended over the years.  Made in Switzerland by the same folks who've been making Swiss Army knives since the 1880s, this line of stamped knives is well-constructed, durable, and completely reasonably priced.  The wooden handles are attached with rivets, and the tang, while not full, reaches deep into the handle so there is little risk of the blade snapping off.

Forging a blade is a more complicated process which requires a more skilled hand, resulting in a better crafted, more expensive knife.  In the process of forging a thick, hot piece of steel is shaped by pounding it with a forging hammer and die (think Hephaestus).  Forged knives are also given bolsters, or thick pieces of metal where the blade meets the handle that can serve to protect straying fingers and offer balance between the blade and handle.  Because of the bolster, and the thicker steel, forged knives are often substantially heavier than stamped knives, which can be useful for chopping, but which can also lead to fatigue more quickly.  Forged knives often, but not always, have a full tang, which means that the knife is made from a single piece of steel from the tip of the blade all the way to the end of the handle.  Besides being sturdier than a partial tang, a full tang will make a knife better balanced, which in turn can make it easier to use.

A lot of people, myself included at times, are really into Japanese forged knives, which can offer the best of both worlds--an extremely well-crafted yet light, thin bladed knife with superior design.  Some of my favorite Japanese knives combine carbon steel, which can get really sharp, with stainless steel, which does not rust, for blades that sort of do it all.  The thing is, Japanese knives can get really expensive really quickly.  Does the average home cook need a fancy Japanese knife?  No.  Will it make you a better cook?  No.  Will having one make certain tasks much more enjoyable?  Definitely.

The most important thing to consider when buying a knife (assuming you've already checked to make sure that it's not serrated or micro-serrated, like a Ginsu) is how it feels in your hand--that's why I highly recommend going to a cutlery shop in person to try out knives before purchasing them.  We all have different body types, hand shapes, and likes and dislikes, so different knives of equal quality will be preferable to each of us.  That being said, the Victorinox Rosewood line is a great place for almost everyone to start--those knives are well-priced and well-made, not too heavy, not too light.

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The Three (or Four) Knives Every Home Cook Needs

An 8-inch or 10-inch chef's knife.  If you prefer, you can choose a Japanese santoku knife instead, but since santoku blades are rarely longer than seven inches, this could prove frustrating when chopping large amounts of herbs, vegetables or greens.  Since this Hiromoto 2800 santoku is relatively inexpensive (and really awesome), it might be the ideal gift to request for your birthday in a year!

A paring knife.  I prefer bird's beak paring knives because they offer greater mobility and are really
useful for trimming vegetables and other tasks that require a delicate, precise touch.

A serrated knife for slicing bread and tomatoes.

A boning knife with a thin, flexible blade is extremely useful for butchering and slicing raw and cooked meat.  Anyone who plans to cook fish, chicken, or other meat at home should invest in one of these.  I also LOVE this one with the granton, or dimpled, edge.

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Basic Accessories

photo from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Honing Steel. Rather than sharpening a knife, a few swipes across a steel simply realign, or hone, the tiny metal teeth along the edge of the blade.  These teeth get out of whack each time you use the knife, and regular honing will extend the lifespan of a sharp blade, prolonging the time between each sharpening.  Using a steel is not a replacement for sharpening your knife!

I love this black ceramic steel because I can use it with my Japanese knives as well as my Euro-style knives.  It's also really sturdy, unlike most ceramic steels that will snap in two if you just look at them the wrong way.  

Vegetable Peeler.  These inexpensive Swiss vegetable peelers are the best, and their ergonomic design allows you to swiftly peel a pile of carrots without straining your wrist.  I basically can't use any other peeler.

photo from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Sharpener or Whetstone.  Learning how to use a whetstone to sharpen knives is an invaluable skill that takes a bit of trial and error and a good dose of patience to master.  But, in the long run, it's totally worth it because having sharp knives will become the rule instead of the exception in your kitchen, and sharp knives are not only more pleasurable, but also safer, to use.

If a whetstone just isn't your cup of tea, then consider getting a sharpener or commit to taking your knives to a local sharpener at least twice a year.  

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Getting Fancy

Fujitake, Misono and Hiromoto are three of my favorite Japanese knife makers.  All of them make well-constructed, gorgeous knives that are a pleasure to use.  I have a Fujitake 240mm and Hiromoto 180mm that use all of the time.

Mac Knives are sorta hip these days.  I've been through three of these over the years (between losing them and just sharpening them down to nothing)....they are invaluable for fine slicing and dicing if you find yourself doing that kind of thing.

Cut Brooklyn.  Simply beautiful.  A total luxury.

Cleaver.  I have and love an older version of this cleaver from Due Cigni.  If you plan to buy whole chickens, ducks, or work with any other meat bones, a cleaver is handy.  I was taught never to use a knife to cut through bone, and grimace every time I see someone do it.

Saladini knives.  Scarperia is a medieval hamlet in the Tuscan foothills with a rich history of ironworking and knife-making.  In the fifteeth and sixteenth centuries, knives from Scarperia were unparalleled in quality, and by the late 1800s, the town had become recognized throughout the country as the home of Italy's most skilled knife-making artisans.  As a result of industrialization and the passage of laws prohibiting the production of certain types of knives in Italy, only a few knife makers remain in Scarperia today, down from something like 80.  Saladini is by far my favorite.  I spent some time in their workshop when I lived in Tuscany when I chose each and every handle for the steak knives we used at Eccolo.  The level of craftsmanship is extraordinary, and all of the horns the handles are carved from are naturally shed.

Vintage Sabatier Carbon Steel Knives.  I'm obsessed with these beauties.

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Knife Shopping Resources

In the East Bay
Hida Tool
Tokyo Fish Market
East Bay Restaurant Supply

In San Francisco
Bernal Cutlery
Columbus Cutlery
North Beach Cutlery
Economy Restaurant Fixtures
Town Cutler

Online
My Guide to Basic Knives for the Home Cook on Amazon
Cut Brooklyn: Gorgeous artisan knives.  Made by hand in Brookyln, NY.
Korin Japanese Knife Shop

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And finally, here is a gorgeous video profile of Joel Bukiewicz of Cut Brooklyn, with shots of him working on the knives, at various points in the forging process.