This site has now been retired. I've moved to my new site Silverknife, where you'll find new blog posts and all my latest projects and photos. These pages will remain for at least a while, as I know some of you are still looking through the archives, but I'm reposting my travel journals and many other articles on the new site. Come and check it out.
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First, a bunch of small updates and odd bits of news.
On the recommendation of a friend (who is also a Santa) I'm currently getting hooked up with a wonderful network called Servas. It's a network of people (over 13,000 right now) who aim to promote understanding and global peace by sharing experiences and learning more about other cultures. To this end, people can sign up as either travellers or hosts. They are vetted in an interview by Servas representatives, and then added to the network's contact lists. Hosts, who are represented in pretty much every country in the world, take in travellers for stays of up to 2 days, or just for a short visit and support. It's a really beautiful idea, and I'm excited about being a part of it. I contacted them a couple of weeks ago, and I've just been sent the details for my local reps in order to arrange in interview - hopefully soon I'll be signed up as a traveller!
Thanks to another Santa I'm also looking into the WWOOF (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms) network. It's an organisation which brings together organic farms which take in volunteer work, often providing bed and board to the workers. Again there are many branches of the network in different countries, and this may be another valuable source of support as well as great experiences. My Santa friend apparently spent 4 months goat-herding in Portugal through the network!
Physical training has begun in earnest - I've augmented my recent walking enthusiasm with some jogging, and been quite surprised at how my stamina has increased lately. On good days I'm going to work in some cycling too. I've considered going back to my weights, but I think it would be a sidestep really. Better to focus on my lower body, aerobic work and weight loss for now. And I'm down another 0.5Kg!
I'm still working on my equipment lists and juggling items around, trying to figure out how little I can take. The Things to Take page continues to grow and change. I've replaced my cheap survival knife (after concluding that it was never going to take a proper sharp edge) with this little beauty, which is much better steel. It should be arriving tomorrow.
No further news on the Mission Game today. If I get the time I'm going to knock up some printed cards today or tomorrow, and I'll add them to the page when they've been hidden.
Onto the meat of today's post. Today is my monthly knife sharpening day, when all my blades get the treatment on my Japanese waterstone (right), and while I'm at it I'm going to put an edge on the hatchet blade of my camping multitool. It's time-consuming but strangely satisfying, particularly with some good music on and real concentration. Basically, if you're willing to pay out for a good quality non-serrated kitchen knife, you should also be willing to pay out for the means to keep it sharp. Knives are not self-maintaining, a good quality blade needs regular attention to keep that lovely razor-sharp edge on it (and that edge is absolutely essential if you're going to cook at a high level).
I spent £45 on my Global chef's knife (If I'd gone in the following week I would have paid nearly £100), and never regretted it. I spent £60 on my sharpening stone, and only regretted it briefly. The first time I put my blade on it and turned it back to that cut-anything edge I knew it was worthwhile. Particularly since I'd previously ruined a good paring knife on one of those cheap "easy sharpen" gadgets - it left sizeable grooves all the way along the edge of the blade. With patient work on and off, after about 6 months that knife is finally coming back to being excellent again. The easy sharpen bastard gadget went right in the bin. Not worth the saving.
The following applies to straight-bladed kitchen knives, penknives, camping knives and pretty much anything with an edge.
A good wetstone - and the Japanese ones are pretty much the best - should actually be two stones in a sandwich. On mine the rough side is 240 grade and the fine side is 1000. The stone must be soaked in water for at least 10 minutes to lubricate the action of metal on stone. Then you rest the blade against the top surface of the stone, starting on the rough side, and move it back and forth. The angle is vitally important - it must rest on the stone at the angle of the edge. In the case of a Global knife the blade curves toward the edge, making this harder to judge. On most knives the edge is a bevel, with a distinct angle which makes it easier to pick out, but it's still hard to judge when you rest it against the stone. Fortunately there's an easy way out - most good kitchen shops should be able to sell you a little clipon guide which keeps the knife at just the right angle.
Once you've got the angle right, there's the action. There is a hell of a lot of debate about this issue, whether you should make vertical or horizontal strokes, pull or push, away from or toward the edge. I went with long strokes for a good while, but recently I found a great article from Cook's Illustrated where they'd done some real research on the different methods. They reckoned that actually, the easiest method is also the best - continuous circular motions. You keep the blade moving round and round in small circles on the stone, and slowly move up and down the length of the edge. Just continue this for a minute or so on one side, then flip to the other. Once both sides are done, switch to the fine side of the stone and repeat the action - it doesn't need as long on the fine side as you're just smoothing off the rought bits left by the first side. And that's it!
When you're done, test the blade to make sure it's up to scratch. Hold a piece of paper up by one end, and use the knife to cut a strip off it from top to bottom, moving the knife back and forth in a slicing motion. It should slide cleanly through, without catching or tearing. If it doesn't, back to the stone.
Many people advise stropping the knife after sharpening on a steel or a leather strip - it's supposed to make the edge more durable. I have to say I've never gotten round to obtaining either, and my knives hold up okay. But it might be something to try.
Loose's Cookshop, a UK online seller who have pretty much the whole range of Global knives and sharpeners at what looks to me like a pretty competitive price, proposed we do a link swap so we can share hits, and I can't see why not. Here's the link to their page: Looses Cookshop are suppliers of the global knife sharpener in the UK.
My current weight: 93.5Kg (finally remembered I was going to post this every day!)
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