For thousands of years, any knife blade worth its salt has been forged from metal or steel, but Canadian design house Maison Milan has other ideas. It has crafted a wooden knife to carry out preparation duties in style, and can then be used to scoop up your chopped goods when you're done.
The implement consists of a solid walnut blade attached to a stumpy cast-iron handle, which enables it to stand upright without any support. Conceived by Maison Milan together with Taiwanese-born designer Chifen Cheng, the knife won an award in the "Objects and accessories, kitchen products" category at Grands Prix du Design earlier in the year.
Despite its unconventional, comparably dull blade, its creators claim the knife can cut through vegetables with ease and the accompanying video does appear to back up that claim. In it we see it slicin' and dicin' cauliflower, lettuce and onion, though we don't like its chances against an overcooked steak.
Conveniently, the butt of the hefty cast-iron handle can also be used as a pestle to grind salt, pepper, spices and nuts into dust. The designers say they have also optimized the width of the wooden blade to most efficiently scoop ingredients into the pan.
Simply called Knife, the stylish kitchen tool is also going to be a bit safer for kids than your run-of-the-mill steel blade. Priced at US$97, it is available now through Maison Milan's website. The promo video below shows it in action.
Source: Maison Milan
