Fragrant Knives Blog

Sean visits the workshop in Yangjiang where the high-carbon blades and carved rosewood handles of our Chinese Chef's Knife are expertly made, and talks about the origins of his idea to bring his vision to Western kitchens.

You may see other articles refer to Chinese chef’s knives - 菜刀 (pronounced caidao/choidou in Mandarin and Cantonese respectively) - as Chinese cleavers. Here at Fragrant Knives, we feel that the association of the word ‘cleaver’ with meat cleavers in English leads to a misunderstanding of what the knife is truly for.

Yangjiang really has no right to be as beautiful as it is. It’s a tier-four city of a few million people set in the countryside a couple of hours from its provincial capital, an old city but never one of particular cultural significance. Within China, people might know it for fermented black beans, or blade production, which it’s been the centre of for hundreds of years. Either way, it’s not a place that tourists often visit.