The Handy Ulu Knife

Every kitchen needs to have a good set of knives in your collection of essential equipment. The two knives that most chefs find essential is a good chef knife and a good paring knife. There are a couple of other knives that we find easy to use and one of them is the ulu knife or the mezzaluna knife. In Alaska it is called the Ulu knife and in Italy it is the Mezzaluna or Half Moon knife.

A number of years ago my parents went up to Alaska and they brought me back this little ulu knife that sits in a handy wooden stand. I keep it on the window sill where it is in sight and quick to grab. The beauty of this little kitchen tool is that you do not need a large space to chop up herbs or nuts. I find that using my chef knife for chopping herbs or nuts I end up making a mess of things and they spill off the chopping board. The ulu knife allows you to do quick chopping in a limited space and it saves a lot of mess. At least in my case this is so!

This morning I was making up a batch of granola and the pecans needed to be chopped. I was able to put a handful on my little cutting board, quickly roll the ulu knife back and forth over them and the nuts were the right size and ready to add to the rest of the ingredients in not time at all.

Once the spring comes and my herbs are back and ready to use I will be able to add them fresh to various dishes. The handy ulu knife allows me to quickly and cleanly chop up the rosemary, parsley, sage, thyme or chives. Not only do I love the feel of these beautiful fresh living herbs as I sprinkle them into a dish, but the cutting process releases their fragrant aroma and you see the beautiful rich variations of green colour.

This little knife is a great addition to your everyday knife collection in the kitchen.

Thanks Mom and Dad for this gift of a very useful and long lasting tool for my culinary crafting.