Take the fun of trying a new culinary item, multiply it until it fills a large hall, then add a MasterChef show. I found there was too much going on to actually concentrate on the live show, but in my quest for the hits, misses and maybes among the stands I could live with that.
My top find of the day wasn’t actually edible (or otherwise imbibable) but scores a perfect 10/10. Used to using cheap, bendy, cutting-at-bizarrely-unintended-angle type knives, I was keen to try out some knives that worked. Kin Knives (http://www.kinknives.com) had a stand, with their knives on display and a chance to put them through their paces. The geek streak in me had a dim recollection from chemistry levels about the use of carbon steel for sharp blades, so after a brief similarly geeky chat with the stall holder about laminated steels vs carbon steel vs other tech specs that I have forgotten, I tried out their carbon steel vegetable knife.
The knife felt amazingly well balanced in my hand, and I forced myself to stay objective to assess how well it cut. Having got half a tomato skin side up on a chopping board, I gave the edge of the blade the merest suggestion of pressure, and with none of the slippage or resistance usually experienced cutting tomatoes with a non-serrated knife, the blade whispered through the flesh of the tomato, and a small way into the chopping board too. Effortlessly perfect. If I can make a knive perform like that, I can only imagine what someone properly trained in knifemanship could do- dreams of silk scarves being thrown into the air and severed mid-flight with a flick of the wrist… In the interests of fairness, I also tried out some ceramic knives. They were good, exceptional even, but compared to the Kin knife they were like Ikea’s shoddiest.
Oh I was tempted to invest in that knife, and a beautiful stone on which to sharpen it. The thought of the practicalities of temporary accommodation intervened, but make no mistake, I have found my dream knife.
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