What is a chef without their knife and really, what is a knife without its chef?  The knife is one of the most critical cooking implements that can be found in the kitchen.  Without heat you cannot cook, without spice you cannot season, but without a knife you truly cannot prepare a meal.

The knife has a history dating back to early man, probably over two million years ago as part of the tool culture that formed and became necessary for survival within the ranks of the direct ancestors of Homo erectus.  Because of this early association with knives in general, the knife has a special and spiritual significance in many cultures around the world for both their use to prepare sustenance and also to prepare war.

As a chef, this knife is really the natural endpoint of what the old butcher knife used to be.  Usage in the kitchen varies across myriad tasks from cutting bone, making fine slices, chopping vegetables, slicing thick cuts of beef or tiny potatoes, or fish and boning chickens.  The chef knife is typically constructed of either carbon steel, stainless steel, laminated (a mixture of steel), and ceramic.  The edges may also be developed in different ways depending on application:  V-shape, beveled, or hollow-ground.  The chef knife is usually produced in two ways:  hot forged or stamped.  The forged knives hark back to the earlier days and require a laborer to produce the blade whereas the stamped knife is produced simply from a sheet of steel.