Das Messer

One of the things that has been has been vexing me since arriving in Germany is my lack of access to good knives.  My hopes were raised in the first apartment that we stayed in because the kitchen draw was full of large purposeful looking knives.  They came crashing down when I found out that every single knife had an edge on it that would have difficulty cutting through butter.  For me there is nothing more frustrating than trying to cut food with a blunt knife.  Some people love blunt knives, arguing that there is less chance of cutting yourself with a blunt knife.  I think these people are demented.

Next came a very dark period in our German adventure.  The "Fortnight of Frustration".  We moved into our new apartment, unfortunately our belongings had not arrived yet so we had retrieved Annikas' knives from her days living in Ulm.  These knives, whilst once of holders of fine edges, were now no better than those used to spread patê.  The evenings meal preparations were invariably punctuated by profanities and curses as I vented my frustration on the inability of these knives to perform the function they were conceived to do.

Providence smiled upon me and the Gods of all things right and pure decreed that the REWE supermarket chain would hold a promotion where the just could collect stamps for every 5€ spent and ultimately buy a knife at a price affordable to those no longer working in the Oil and Gas Industry.  A knife forged by one of Germany's finest knife artisans no less.  Needless to say the stamps were collected and a 20cm Chef's knife was brought with great ceremony into our kitchen.  Barely had the knife been unpacked before I inadvertently attempted to cut off a finger but so sharp and pure was it that the wound healed before my very eyes.  Upon reading the instructions I found that this blade was not too dissimilar from the famous Kurki of the Gurhkas which cannot, once drawn, be sheathed without drawing human blood.  It is but a small price to pay for having a sharp knife.