View Point

A tool with an edge

Taranpal Singh Bhatia of Remington Steel Arts speaks about how technology is helping to improve the quality of knives by not only making them last longer but also by creating innovative style and designs

Food preparation is considered to be an art form, but any art form cannot achieve the desired objective without the right tools. A knife for a chef is what a pen is for a writer. So the importance of knives in a chef's career is immense.

The market for knives has come a long way in defining a chef's imagination. The increase in popularity of various cuisines and the cooking they require is also a reason why the demand for knives has gone up. There has also been an increase in the kinds of knives available in the market. There is another fear in the market that international hotel brands will only look out for foreign brands of steel products like knives.

But there is a lot of potential for Indian players since investing in knives has increased in the last couple of years. Moreover, there are cases of some hotels starting to use Indian products as they are available easily and quickly.

Owing to the demand and its relevance in industrial kitchens, various kinds of knives are being produced, the common ones being the chef's knives, paring knives, choppers, vegetable knives and turning knives. There are some knives that are for specific kitchens - for the bakery kitchen which uses pallette knives and bread knives, for the butchery section that requires butchers knives, boning knives, heavy choppers and cleavers.

Technology leads the way

Quality guides the trends in the hospitality industry for knife sets. Some are also going for colour-coded knives that differentiates the knives through the colour of the handles. For instance, white is for the bakery kitchen, yellow is for poultry, blue is for sea food, red for meat, green for vegetables and brown for cooked food.

Technology is helping in the development of knives in a big way since a good knife has to be forged and properly heat-treated. Durability of knives is an issue with the chefs. The lifespan of a good knife depends on its usage. Normally, a good knife should last till there is blade on the knife as the blade can be reshaped and re-sharpened.

Technology also ensures that the quality of the product improves. When it comes to quality of knives, there is an invariable comparison between Indian and foreign brands. Indian knives, with the best of technological support, are not only living up to a reputation desired by hotel companies but are also much economical as compared to the international ones. They also offer more than 1,000 designs in various shapes and sizes.

Indian companies are actually doing well and are already giving tough competition to international brands. The advantage with the Indian brands lay in being easily available in India, as we can get the same delivered in any part of India within the stipulated time. The success of the brands would be determined by how well the industry is served with innovative choices and customised products according to their requirements.

As told to Sanjeev Bhar