It might be a bit of an understatement to say that we have a bit of an obsession with knives here in the FAB South kitchen. Of course the FAB North kitchen has a similar obsession, except that ours is based on getting the best for cheap. Either way, we all love the pointy type kitchen tools.
Here in the south kitchen, our obsession has grown to include the wonderfully crafted knives from the French company Laguiole. You may have seen them, they are the ones with the little bee on the back of the knife. Typically they are hopelessly expensive, but thanks to Homesense they can often be found for insanely deep discounts. While researching tonight’s post, I found out how insane these discounts can be.
Last Christmas (or maybe my birthday, or maybe it was Father’s Day), Sandy found the most wonderful Laguiole corkscrew for 5 bucks. Naturally, as we are hard core winos around here, she had to pick it up. I loved it immediately and have intended to write about it, but just didn’t get around to it.
It may be the nicest opener I’ve ever seen. The attention to detail in the metal work is stunning, while the wood inlays (rosewood I think) in the handle are beautifully shaped and finished. The balance and weighting are just about perfect and the screw is sturdy without being too stiff. Truly a usable work of art.
As I’m poking about the Laguiole web site, I’m truly blown away by the absolutely incredible tools they create. Have an aviation buff in the family? No problem, just pick up a letter or wine opener that is made from pieces of the Concorde! Not French enough for you? How about openers with wood salvaged from the gardens at the Chateau de Versailles. Not cool enough? Then choose the exact type of wood, where it was and how old it is. Try an opener with wood from a 224 year old piece of Yew from Marie Antoinette’s garden!
So…how great a deal was this 5 dollar opener? Well, the our exact model is no longer listed on the Laguiole site, but the least expensive model is shown at 128 euro, which works out to $203 Canadian!
Now, hustle your bum out to Homesense and begin your own collection of knives with the little bee.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Wow, that is beautiful. That is the Ferrari to my Volvo (Screwpull) corkscrew. I’ll definitely keep my eyes peeled for one of these…there’s something about using an ‘old school’ waiter’s corkscrew at the table.
I don’t know if I’d call the Screwpull a “Volvo”, but I do agree that I really appreciate the mechanics of a good waiter’s corkscrew. I’ll be checking out “the little bee” at my earliest opportunity!