A few months ago, I was craving a piña colada. I like to
make them with fresh pineapple and young Thai coconut. Delicious!
Getting into a young Thai coconut is not the easiest task in the world. The last couple times I tried it, I had great success with an oh-so-elegant process that involved removing the white part and then hacking away at the hard brown part on the top until I eventually got into the coconut.
This time, though, it didn't work. Not only that, I managed to destroy my favorite chef's knife in the process.
I felt sick to my stomach when I saw the damage. This was the knife I got during culinary school. It served me so well, helping me prepare not only some of the finest meals I've ever served, but also the casual dinners that no one remembers. Tons of onions, carrots, and potatoes. Countless cloves of garlic. It was a real workhorse of a knife, and it felt good in my hand. It was an extension of my hand!
Sure, I have other knives. Some of them are even sharper than this one, but they're not quite right. They're either too big for my creepy doll fingers, don't have a good weight, or have some other flaw. I can tell you this much: no matter which knife becomes my official replacement, I will take much better care of it.
...
These days, I go a little more primal on my coconuts -- it works great. I remove the white part and
then smash the top as hard as I can against a
cement step we have outside. It's really fun, but sometimes I wonder what the neighbors think....
R.I.P., chef's knife. You will be missed.
