My Cleaver
A cook came to work with us last summer and he was really experienced and really cool, and he did alot of his prep with a cleaver. He was the most laid back person I have ever met, he was on Garde Manger and he was fast! His brunoise and segments were perfect and he did it all with an $11 cleaver that he bought in China Town. He said it was super fun to prep with and he kept it razor sharp. He was a really positive team player type of guy, and he kept me going. Without him, and the conversations we would have, I wouldn’t have lasted as a cook through that summer. I decided I wanted to be like Eugene so I bought a cleaver as a symbol of solidarity. There we were chopping like mad, side by side, making salsa verde with our cleavers. Mine was $14 at Ming Wo, Eugene said I got ripped off.
I get so much use out of this cleaver. It’s good for using on the pig and for chopping nuts.
Is that Eugene formerly of Bin and Burrowing Owl?
Um, I don’t know. He worked at Lumiere for a hot minute. He was chefing in Mexico.
Ok, that’s a beginner question, but what’s the best way to sharpen one of those? -I got one and I can’t find a good way to keep it sharp-
By the way I love the “raw quality” of your blog, thanks for writing it.
It’s pretty soft metal, I just use a japanese water stone that is 2 sided 4000/1000 grit. Thats how I sharpen my Wusthof too but it is a harder metal so it takes a lot longer.