James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
Knives Cooks Love by Sarah Jay, Hardcover | Sur La Table Kitchen Knife Book w/ Practice Recipes
1 min read
This very thorough book — “Knives Cooks Love” by Sarah Jay — goes far beyond the world of recipes and fine cuisine with an equally in-depth look at knife history, knife manufacturers, and even knife steel. If cooking is your true interest, skip ahead to the second part of Jay’s book where you’ll find tips on the use of both familiar and unusual blade styles and the critical secrets of such important kitchen skills as filleting fish and de-boning turkey, butterfly-style.
Not just for the kitchen, ‘Knives Cooks Love” will look great on either desk or coffee table, with many well-done photographs of rare kitchen knives and antique cutlery with the blue patina of old carbon steel. Even if you love knives and leave the cooking to others, you’ll find this book of value, with technical advice on the comparative quality of modern and ancient steel and an interesting argument about the true benefits of “damascus-like” blades. In the author’s opinion, you may get more quality per dollar with solid modern alloys — logical but somewhat disappointing if, like me, you grew up wondering about that mysterious metal and only now might be able to afford a knife made from it. I’m just a little disappointed that the author’s view seems skewed in favor of new metal and modern manufacturing, giving the craftsmanship of older times only a glance.
Cooking gives many blade-fanciers the most opportunity to practice our knifework, and comments from many famous authors and chefs are scattered through the chapters to illustrate that we aren’t alone in that love of the cutting edge. The book has a good balance between technical information and artistic thought, also spending considerable space on knifework itself, blended with recipes for practice and demonstration of particular techniques. If you’re comfortable in your habits, you’ll be surprised at the things you can learn here. You might already know most of this, but here and there you’ll come across ways to do things better.
James grew up on an Ozarks farm where tools like axes and picks were still used in the daily routine and the blades of stockman's pocketknives served their original functions. Receiving his first pocketknife at age four he got it open by himself nearly a year later and spent his formative years wandering the woods with a succession of ever larger knives, a book of matches and a rifle.
A veteran of Vietnam, James also served in Alaska during a stint in the Army, receiving his first intensive culinary training by setting a record for extra KP at Ft. Richardson.
Settling in the Pacific Northwest after his discharge, James crewed on sailing yachts in local races, backpacked hundreds of miles of mountain trails in search of good trout fishing, and occasionally attended college.
His first serious job as a civilian resulted from answering a Seattle Post Intelligencer want ad requesting someone who could lift 120 pounds repeatedly and wasn't afraid of fire. James apprenticed to John Frazier -- the most knowledgeable traditional foundryman in North America at that time -- for the next six years.
Returning to the Ozarks James made his living by growing ginseng on a hand-terraced wooded hillside and selling handmade wood turnery, furniture, sculpture and architectural carvings. James harvested trees from his own land, processing logs into posts and beams and turnery billets with saws, axes, froes and planes. Since many tools he needed were no longer available, James built his own forge from a barbeque grill, a vacuum cleaner and a 55 gallon steel drum, found a chunk of railroad track for his first anvil, and taught himself blacksmithing -- creating his own knives and tools from scrap steel and sweat.
Changing economic pressures eventually forced James back to the restaurant industry in Branson, Missouri, and later to even more success as a maintenance engineer for one of Branson's largest condominium resorts. Finally escaping to Indiana, James now makes his living telling true stories as a freelance writer.
The Diamond Edge Pro knife and scissors sharpener from Smith Abrasives combines electric and manual sharpening systems for quick and accurate refurbishing of knives...
This very thorough book — “Knives Cooks Love” by Sarah Jay — goes far beyond the world of recipes and fine cuisine with an equally in-depth look at knife history, knife manufacturers, and even knife steel. If cooking is your true interest, skip ahead to the second part of Jay’s book where you’ll find tips on the use of both familiar and unusual blade styles and the critical secrets of such important kitchen skills as filleting fish and de-boning turkey, butterfly-style.
