Sharp: The Definitive Introduction to Knives, Sharpening, and Cutting Techniques, with Recipes from Great Chefs

by Josh Donald, Molly DeCoudreaux (Photographer)

Sharp is a knife skills class in book form and an introduction to the best knives you can buy from all over the world. From a premier knife purveyor and go-to knives expert, this comprehensive guide details the elements of buying and caring for good knives, including sharpening and knife skills. Step-by-step instructions and photography cover a range of techniques with 15 recipes from great chefs—including Stuart Brioza of State Bird Provisions and Melissa Perello of Frances—which feature all the cuts that mark an accomplished cook. Sharply packaged with a textured cover, a foil spine, and more than 150 striking photographs of knifemakers, coveted knives, and beautiful food, this is the cookbook, handbook, and visual journey for anyone wanting to hone their skills in the kitchen.

Genres: Cooking, Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Reference

398 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 5, 2018

Reviews

[Ben Reay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting history of the differences in western and Japanese cooking knives, including how they are made and sharpening techniques........ gotta admit I missed most of the recipe detail as my brain was overloaded with sharpening stuff. Maybe I'll go back to it once I have more sharpening skills and try and improve my cooking too 😉

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book at the library, but I don't think this was it. Part history book, part instruction manual, part recipe book. Ultimately, it tried to cover a bit too much ground.

[jason callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book, loved the diagrams

[Isaiah Saluta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that will help you appreciate the finest details of arguably the most important kitchen tool. Josh Donald writes with so much respect and appreciation of knives and the artistry that goes into making, maintaining, and using them.

The book involves the history of metalworking, knives of different styles (Western vs. Japanese), basic knife sharpening, knife terminology, and recipes utilizing knife cuts as the first step of “seasoning” in a dish. Written parts are followed by gorgeous picture diagrams.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have a continued appreciation of kitchen knives and their details. I initially picked it up as a guide for sharpening my knives, and it definitely reminded me of some important bits that I could add to my technique, but was by no means comprehensive. Additionally, the only real reason I have it at four stars as opposed to five is because it’s a bit confusing to separate the text from the pictures. As a visual learner, I found myself flipping back and forth between text description and picture to try and learn better.

I would most certainly recommend this book to any knife enthusiast or kitchen gadget connoisseur.

[MeePok · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sharp" is one of the best recent books on well made Japanese and Japanese inspired kitchen knives, by a respected US retailer. Everyone should have a well made kitchen knife and they need to know why. The book starts with interesting history about ubiquitous knives. Did you know that Japanese did not eat meat until a little over a century ago, due to a longstanding Buddhist edict? This meant they did not have knives for cutting meat and hastily copied European chef's knives that arrived in Japan through newly reopened trade routes. Today, these European-inspired Japanese knives set the trends for kitchen knives globally. The book goes through other fascinating tidbits, from the backgrounds of famous knifemakers in Japan patronized by the author to recipes chosen to practice specific knife techniques. If you enjoy books that educate you on a topic you know nothing about and never thought could be fascinating, try this one.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contextualizes cooking knives excellently, and is borderline must-have for those wanting to properly care for and use a high-end cooking knife without scouring the internet and sorting through countless pages of bad information. Josh Donald delivers information directly and coherently and puts pretty much all you need to know for the entry to intermediate level. The history and metallurgy aspects are fascinating and I highly recommend the reader doesn't skim them. While I have not made many of the recipes they contain extremely useful information about ingredient preparation for very commonly used ingredients, and advanced techniques for more niche skills like boning a fish. My only complaints are with some mild editing issues: photo-text correlation not being entirely clear, the rare mixed-up sentence, but these are not impactful on the greater quality of the book as a whole. I highly recommend.

[Jeff Heuer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice chef-oriented primer on knives: part history, part survey, part sharpening guide, part cookbook. Does a nice job of explaining how cutting and knife dynamics impact flavor and texture. Contrasts what qualities professional chefs would be looking for in a knife and edge vs home cooks. I appreciated the author’s acknowledgment that sharper is not always strictly better, depending on one’s specific needs. Perhaps specific to the kindle edition I read, but the many Japanese terms, detailed knife anatomy references, sharpening instructions, etc. would have been well served by some nice diagrams and further use of photographs.

[E. Kahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very sketchy overview of kitchen knives that tries to cover history and modern makers of (West) European knives (and doesn't even mention eg Toledo, tsk) and Japanese knives (but focuses 100% on the Westernized general purpose santoku and gyuto knives, without even a mention of traditional and specialist knives that Japanese cutlers are justly famous for). China, the Balkans, etc, all with their own traditional and very unique styles of kitchen knives just... don't exist in this book.

Proposal; Rewrite this thing from the ground up, throw out the random recipes and weird hagiographies and use that space to talk about all the knives that aren't included here.

[Yaaresse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that is impressive only if you're really interested in geeking out on a subject, but I found it fascinating and learned a lot about the history of smithing and sharpening knives.

I'd love to say that I'll now religiously sharpen all my knives by hand as a meditation rather than a chore, but who am I kidding?

[Julianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems like this guy really enjoyed making this, but unless you want a doctorate level history of knives, this isn’t for you. Despite the description on the front of the book, this is not for someone just interested in knowing how to take care of their knives well, instead of being able to regale anyone they meet at a party with the history of knives from Stone Age to the present.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like this book could have been half the length it was. I was looking for a practical guide on knife use and maintenance, and while that information is buried in the middle of this book, most of this features about small knife producers around the world and a bunch of recipes. It felt like a bit of a vanity project, frankly. Definitely not the practical guide I was looking for.

[Eileen Zhou · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Nice

Am afraid, I am not into knives. For me it's multi purpose knives, to cut bread, meat and veges that's it. If you are into knives this is a good book. I love the recipes though. At £1.99 this book is a steal.

[James]

Loved this book, especially the history parts. Pictures were nice too. The part about sharpening was helpful, but hard to follow along since the pictures weren't well connected to the text. Beautiful pictures throughout.

[Alex Xu · Rating 3 out of 5]

闲书

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book.

[Rogier · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a number of excellent and inspiring books about knives, but if you can get only one, this is the one to get, hands down. It is a priceless work of art and a powerful source of information, not only about knives and maintaining them, but also how to use them.

Given that I am a whole foods, plant-based cook, my interest tends to go to the vegetable knives, and I go lightly about the parts about the meat and fish knives. Still, the information in this book makes many important points. It is very illuminating to reflect on the fact that for the most part the typical chef knife we all think is the quintessential kitchen knife, is a quintessential all-purpose instrument, both for meat and for vegetables, where as in Japan these functions were always separated.

Along with this realization, there is the other powerful insight that in Japan, cutting is really part of cooking, not just preparation for cooking. Not only that the book makes you aware in several instances that how you cut makes a great deal of difference in the kind of taste experience you will have.
The recipes are also very interesting and worthwhile.
So, if you are really into enjoying yourself in the kitchen, this book is indispensable. Run don't walk to the store to get one, or order it on-line.