A tale of two fish knives

I have a fetish.

Kitchen knives. It's a common affliction that infects many of us who don clogs and white coats for a living. Just as there is, I am told, the perfect purse for every outfit, we knife queens* have to have the right knife for every job.

The morning of my last day in Barcelona in July, my wife called me from New York. "Have you found the fish knives yet?"

She was referring to her fish knives, those offspring of a butter knife and a spatula that have a notch in their palettes, causing their dull-edged blades to resemble a woman's lips in a Picasso painting. During our previous trip to Spain the year before, she (and, admittedly, I) became smitten with these knives which are provided at even the humblest beachside fish shack in Spain, but are virtually extinct on the tables of America. In N's mind, procuring a set of these fish knives was one of the primary goals of my trip.

I, on the other hand, had a different kind of fish knife on my mind. Getting my hands on one of my kind of fish knife was my latest obsession and my sole objective for my last day in Spain. I had to have a fish machete.

I still don't know the proper term for the enormous knives wielded by the brassy fishmongers (all women!) of la Boqueria. These hatchets resemble Chinese cleavers, but the blade curves sharply, like the Grim Reaper's scythe turned inside out. Whenever I visited a market in Catalonia or Valencia, I invariably found myself awestruck as I watched the strong, though often petite, women deftly fillet a small sole or thinly slice through a whole merluza (hake) with a knife the size of an axe.**

I answered my wife's inquiry nervously. "No, no fish knives yet, honey."

As N knows, when I travel, I am an eater, not a shopper. By the end of a trip, my suitcases are bursting with almonds, chocolate, olive oil, wine and illicit pork products. Aside from an embarrassing number of Spanish and Catalan cookbooks, there are no non-edible items, not even a pair of Campers.

I told N of my fruitless search for fish knives (both kinds) in all the wrong places, including stores one would have thought appropriate, like housewares stores and even knife shops (cuchillerías).

She listened patiently, aware that her husband's shopping I.Q. is zero and his Spanish only marginally better. "Go to El Corte Inglés. They'll have them there."

I did as instructed and, sure enough, this Spanish equivalent to Macy's was a treasure trove full of her kind of fish knives. I snapped up a dozen, with an equal number of matching fish forks (I suppose that now makes me a flatware queen, too). The true object of my desire, my fish machete, was sadly nowhere to be found.

Dejected, I returned to my vacation rental and desperately poured through the Barcelona yellow pages one page at a time, having no idea how a Spaniard would categorize what we call "restaurant supply stores." My eyes popped wide open when, like a dumb mule, I stumbled across the category "maquinaria alimentación y hostelería."

With stores about to close, I raced to my savior, Celaya, a restaurant equipment store oddly named after a famous twentieth century poet. I happily handed over 40 Euros for my prize and paid little attention to the nervous glances cast my way as I maneuvered through crowded Barcelona streets, my shiny new fish machete clutched tightly in my hands.

*I hope I have not offended anyone with my use of the word "queen" here. I lifted it from Guy Trebay's humorous article that appeared in the New York Times a month ago, where he described "dish queens" in the food industry, a group which includes Thomas Keller. To quote from his article: "From the term 'dish queen,' nothing is meant to be inferred about a person's sexual tastes. A dish queen, broadly speaking, is a person belonging to a rarefied and sometimes loopy group for whom food is infinitely more appetizing when beautifully framed." In the same vein, the degree of my ridiculous obsession with finding the perfect knife is equal to that of the socalled dish queens.

**Keiko of Nordljus recently captured beautiful images of my favorite fishmongers at la Boqueria. Check out her photos here.

Food|and Drink|Spain|Fish|Knives

Comments

[shuna]

Virtually extinct on American tables. Not in the restaurants I've worked in!

I love sauce spoons for the very same reason... that cute little dimple it demurely displays.

Congrats on yer really big knife. I used to work with a line cook who did everything with his gigantic chef's knife!

[haddock]

Wow, I've heard size doesn't matter, I've heard size does matter...

I hope you didn't try to bring that in your carry-on.

[mona]

hey you're it! check out my post from 12/10 for the details. have fun!

[Rachael]

My heart just skipped a beat...that is a fantasmagorical knife. Sigh.
Now what have you cut up with it so far?

[Brett]

Shuna, it's not extinct where you've worked, because you hang out with the elite of our industry, like TK at the French Laundry. What amazed me in Spain, was the fact that I would get one of the cute little knives even at a tapas bar with an order of fried anchovies.

Haddock, if I had tried to bring that monster knife in my carry on, I'd still be in Barcelona...locked up in a prison somewhere.

Mona, thanks! What a fun meme! I'll try to find time to do it soon, but there are some exciting changes going on with this site for the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

Rachael, since I'm not in a restaurant too often right now, I have only used my machete a few times! It worked like a charm cutting whole salmon off the bone and cutting a whole ling cod into steaks for fish stew.

[Gia]

I just ran across your blog name and wanted to comment. I miss my Chinese cleaver that I left in the states and have been trying to find a replacement for months, with no success.

[Julie]

I recently stayed at a Hilton Hotel here in the US, where the fish knives were placed on the side plates. My husband laughed when I used the knife to cut my fish, and he and the waiter both informed me that the knife I was using was a butter knife. Vindicated! You'd think the Hilton would know better, wouldn't you?

[javi]

hi, the fish knives are actually called " Pala " o "Paleta de Pescado "
the big clever is called "Media-luna " wich means " Half Moon.

Nice blog btw

[Mannie Lionni]

But what is the purpose of the notch in the fish knife and fish spoon ? Where did it originate ?
Mannie Lionni

[Venkatesh Iyer]

Really the knife looks very sharp. I have seen cooks using big sharp knives which really look dangerous.

[Knife Guy]

Ah, Spain. Went there when I was on deployment in the Navy. The food and lifestyle is unreal. The different knives that you will find for every use imaginable is staggering!

[Pixos]

Did think of testing a few brands of knives? Henckels and Wüsthof, R.H. Forshner / Victorinox, Kershaw Shun, Cutco, MAC, Tojiro, Nenox, Kyocera, Fiskars, etc. It would be interesting to try this.

[BarcelonaFan]

Barcelona the best place for a citytrip in the world.

[Restaurants Marbella]

Thanks for some really great information. I visit a lot of restaurants for my work but is still difficult to get good opinions in certain regions. Sarah M.

[Dr C. V. Budden.]

It now generally considered improper to use fish knives within the higher end dining establishments. This state of affairs has arisen due to current trends towards the correct cooking of fish which would prohibit the use of a blunt edged utensil. In short fish knives are only suitable for over-cooked fish.

[Chef Knives]

Oooh Corte Ingles... that place really *does* have everything! Thanks for the fun post.

[Vakantie Links]

Interesting post.

[Angela]

Only suitable for over-cooked fish? Really a knife can help?