ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Last week I mentioned the care package my parents sent us. Today we bring you a couple of items that were inside. I enjoy cooking quite a bit, but it can be a slight headache when your knife isn’t sharp enough to get through the tomato skin without spilling the insides of it. Before becoming a teacher in the U.S. I had a variety of small jobs like any regular college student. One of those jobs was selling cutlery, which is just a fancy way of saying knives. This job required me to travel regularly and without a car that meant 2-8 hours of travel time on public transportation each day. As a college student I simply did not have that kind of time. When I left the job I was able to purchase the set of knives I used for demonstrations with an 80% discount.

In America my mother did most of the cooking so it made sense for her to use my knives. Now that I am cooking in Japan I need my knives; so I asked my mother to send me a couple and for her to keep the ones she uses the most. The knives are really made to make your life easier. They make any task in the kitchen a snap. You do have to be very careful, because the knives are so sharp they can be very dangerous. Sadie accidentally ended up cutting a tendon on her hand. This required surgery and very painful therapy. If you have ever had to cut anything with greasy hands you know just how often knives tend to slip. Well with my knives I don’t have to worry about it. The special material used on the handle means they never slip with grease, water, soap, or anything for that matter. The blades or teeth, depending on the knife, are incredibly sharp. Even the steak knife is sharp! It makes it easy for people with bad arthritis to cut their own steak. Sadie has terribly weak joints and for her this knife is perfect. The best part is that they come with a lifetime guarantee. If I believe they aren’t as sharp as when I first got them I can send them back and have them resharpened. If they get really old, maybe 15 years from now, I can have them replaced with the newer models!

I must admit the one downside of the knives is that you can’t sharpen them yourself. For most chefs or cooking aficionados this is a deal breaker. In the past 5 years these knives have not needed any sort of sharpening so I am very happy with them.

Do you like cooking? How are your knives? Do you feel they are good enough or do you enjoy having higher quality tools for your trade?