The and the Blade Bob Kramer’s Guide to and Life

A Book Proposal

Introduction

The American Bladesmith Society has awarded Master Bladesmith status to 115 makers since 1981. Bob Kramer is the only one to focus entirely on culinary knives from the beginning of his journey to today. He is a student of steel, and has a profound passion for excellence, craft, and contemplation. You see these attributes expressed in the custom kitchen knives he has been forging since 1997. These knives have become so popular that every-day home cooks have been willing to pay as much as $21,000 for a single chef’s knife on Ebay. Two high-end cutlery manufacturers, Shun and Zwilling JA Henkel, have each produced a Kramer brand line of knives, using Kramer designs and manufactured to Kramer specifications. Cooks willingly pay over $350 for a commercial chef’s knife with Kramer’s mark on the handle.

None of that happened over night. If there’s a core element that runs through this book, it’s Bob Kramer’s struggle to find what he wanted to make of himself and how that wanting drove him to master the art and craft of making knives. It’s a shout out to struggle, to trust your own gut, to persevere.

“My relationship to knives,” Kramer says, “has been a vehicle of self discovery and self discipline. It was a chance meeting in a sense, that I went from the professional kitchen to knife sharpening. But when I realized I wanted to master sharpening, not just get good at it, I had to know how a knife was made. And now I am a fully confident 21st century maker. But it took a lot of hard work, passion, and luck to get to that place – the things you don’t necessarily learn in school.”

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To mince onions, slice tomatoes or cut meat with a Kramer knife – or the right knife for you -- is to raise your kitchen consciousness to a new level. It’s Kramer’s own story that encourages you to take hold of that new sense of skill and possibility and learn to master what is in Kramer’s opinion the most important tool in the kitchen. Not only do Kramer’s knives please the eye, they fit the hand. They have an intelligence all their own. They seem to understand the work they’re meant to do, and help the novice reach the next level.

It takes Bob Kramer two days of focused work to make a custom knife, this after he’s done the fundamental design work and found the perfect recipe for the steel. As he cheerfully acknowledges, none of this would be possible without the work of thousands of master through history who laid down the foundation of knowledge that underlies his work. So perhaps it’s not surprising that using a Kramer knife invites a different kitchen pace, a different rhythm, an entirely new kitchen experience. It’s ok to slow down. It’s built in.

Properly cared for, a Kramer knife can last a cook’s lifetime, and then be passed along. It’s not a hurry-up tool, a get-there-fast convenience. It’s about going the distance and enjoying the journey. Processed foods will fall out of favor because working with fresh, local ingredients, in season and in place, becomes a fulfilling and pleasurable experience. Your knife can lead you there.

A graduate of clown school, former itinerant knife sharpener and one time chef-in- training, Bob Kramer is a showman as well as a craftsman. He has captured the imagination of the media, spawning profiles in the New Yorker and Saveur, as well as many other publications. He gained a loyal following when he was featured on CBS Sunday Morning. Kramer combines insatiable, childlike curiosity with an insistence on excellence and the conviction that the best education often does not happen in school.

He’s both an unlikely celebrity and a compelling role model, with a warm and humorous style. When he gives workshops for retailers like Sur La Table, followers come to learn about knives -and maybe a little about life. His is the voice of authority when he speaks about steel, about , about sharpening and care, about the nature of the edge, about knife technique in the kitchen, about the food on the table and the satisfaction with a job well done. His care and his joy are infectious.

This is his book. And it’s for everyone -- for newbies experiencing the first urge to cook; for those already-accomplished cooks who keep raising the bar in the kitchen; for those fellow travelers who are drawn by both the craft and the master craftsman.

The Bladesmith and the Blade 3

Description of the Book

This should be, first and foremost, a beautiful and useful book, produced with the same level of care and craft that sets Kramer knives apart from others. Like the overlapping layers of Damascus steel Kramer’s life story, his rise as a craftsman, his dedication to the cook’s knife, will overlay and interplay with his practical knowledge of what goes into a blade and how to use that blade. The narrative will draw on Kramer’s experience as a professional cook, a knife sharpener, and finally an initiate in the fraternity of blades. It will be a book with a personality and a point of view, a book with wit and wisdom as well as a store of expert information.

It will be Bob Kramer’s voice that speaks, and his knowledge that drives the project.

When it comes to knives and knife skills, pictures are the first and best teacher. This will be a picture book in the best sense, delivering the immediacy of a real human instructor and real hands using the . While the basic sections of the text – The Bladesmith and The Blade – are expressed separately for the purpose of this proposal, the design of the book should unite them on the page.

This book is 70% useful information from Bob Kramer about knives, knife skills, knife care and fabulous ways to use the ingredients you’ll be slicing and dicing for practice. And it’s 30% Bob Kramer telling his own story and talking about what he’s learned along the way—the secrets of steel, for sure, but also the edge as metaphor for mindful living and overcoming odds.

The goal? Better cooks. More joy. Embracing the journey in the kitchen. The recipe is here.

What other books are out there? Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use, Techniques & Care Zwilling J.A. Henckels 2010 Jeffrey Elliot and James P. DeWan This book aims at the novice kitchen professional and recapitulates the French culinary skills one might learn at chef’s school. While the photos are good, it’s overkill for the home cook and rather transparently urges the reader to invest in Zwilling knives.

Mastering Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen Norman Weinstein, photos by Mark Thomas Stewart, Tabori, Chang 2008 Written by a chef instructor, this book simplifies the professional curriculum for the home cook. It uses good studio photography to show knife positions and the resultant cuts and comes with a DVD of demos you can watch while you practice

The Bladesmith and the Blade 4 your kitchen techniques.

Knife Skills Illustrated: A User’s Manual Peter Hertzman, illos by Alan Witschonke Illustrations Norton 2007 Hertzman teaches knife skills classes at Sur la Table, and his book is straight forward and useful instruction for the home cook. He identifies techniques according to the shape and density of what’s being cut, includes an index, and presents a lot of solid information through good line drawings.

An Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives Chad Ward, photos by Bryan Reagan Morrow 2008 This folksy book is about 1/3 devoted to talking about what knives are, about 1/3 to an insert of color photos demonstrating knife skills, and the remainder to a good discussion of sharpening and maintenance. Chef written for the home cook.

Knives Cooks Love: Selection, Care, Techniques, Recipes Sur la Table, with Sarah Jay McMeel 2008 What knives are, what steels are, how to shop for cutlery, plus recipes using what you cut. The scope of the book is too broad for what it delivers, and the section on sharpening includes tools one should never use on a good custom blade.

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Table of Contents

The Bladesmith THE MAKING OF A CRAFTSMAN • The gift of dyslexia • The school of ‘hands on’ • The road unexpected • Old techniques, modern shop • The pleasure of old machines • Building in the slow

PASSION •Going down the rabbit hole of curiosity •Always a new mystery to be solved

LUCK • The lady you always want to meet, and you just hope you’re wearing the right pants.

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THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE • Just don’t stop. • Be humble. • Listen to your gut

The Blade ANATOMY OF A KNIFE • Basic outline of how a knife is constructed

SECRETS OF STEEL • Stainless -process, pro / con • Straight Carbon - process, pro / con • Damascus - process, pro/con

CHOOSING THE RIGHT KNIFE •Different Tasks for Different Blades

IF YOU COULD ONLY CHOOSE ONE •What goes into the ideal

EAST IS WEST OF HERE •Differences between Asian and Western blades/styles

USING THE KNIFE • A reflection on safety •Do no harm – paying attention •Get a Grip – how to hold and basic motions •Never ever – what not to do

EXERCISING YOUR KNIVES • The details on all the basic cuts, step by step • What it takes to achieve a higher skill level

CARING FOR YOUR KNIVES •What is sharp and how do I get there? •Edge maintenance •Cutting surfaces •Cleaning and storing

ENJOYING THE RIDE

• Where good work, good food, and good life all come together

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STUFF WE LIKE • The recipes

Table of Contents - Detailed Overview

The Bladesmith

THE MAKING OF A CRAFTSMAN The gift of dyslexia. Traditional schooling is not the best path for everyone. A dyslexic Bob Kramer struggled to learn in the classroom, wrestled his sense of failure to the mat, and finally gave himself permission to look elsewhere for his path to mastery. The school of ‘hands on’. Apprenticeship is an ancient and honorable way to learn, too often discredited by today’s one size fits all education factories. Hands on is about a physical way of learning where the hands engage the brain, not vice versa. The road unexpected. What becomes of an individual who is flexible and fluid in life when the road unexpected crosses his path? He can end up in a great and unexpected place. “Proceed as the way opens” is the only path to follow for Kramer. Old techniques, modern shop. Addresses the craftsman’s position in the world – standing on the shoulders of all who have come before while contributing to those yet to appear. The pleasure of old machines. Old machines, solidly built and simply constructed, are the work horses of the shop. They also have their own pace and intelligence. They stand as an example of craftsmanship that doesn’t go out of style. The past is sometimes our present and future. Building in the slow. There’s nothing slow about how Zwilling manufactures a Kramer chef’s knife – but the slow is built into the thing itself. It’s almost defiantly intentional, which enforces its own pace. PASSION Down the rabbit hole. Passion is purpose with a turbocharger. But it’s curiosity that gets you there. For Bob Kramer, it started with knife sharpening, set him in search of teachers, and brought him to the forge, where the fire always burns. Hot. Always a new mystery. Once curiosity pairs up with passion, the hits just keep coming. Asking how to keep your knives sharp opens a lot of doors: to welding, metallurgy, design, manufacturing, business. And, of course, life. LUCK Luck is the lady you always want to meet... Kramer pushed his knife making skills to the point he was honored as a Master Bladesmith, no small accomplishment. But clients didn’t fall all over each other to buy his kitchen knives. His primary livelihood was sharpening, while he poured time and energy into making the best

The Bladesmith and the Blade 8 chef’s knife he could imagine. When Saveur ran a story on him and his knives, the phone didn’t stop ringing, and in days he had two years of orders to fill. Because he was deeply engaged in his quest, he was ready to recognize and embrace his luck.

THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE Just don’t stop. Seeking excellence is a full time, life-long endeavor. And you just don’t stop. You know going in that you will never quite get there, but that’s not the point. It’s about respect for what you do, respect for the lessons in mistakes and respect for who you are. Be humble. This does not mean have no pride. It’s about self-awareness, about size, about place in the universe. Humility reflects strength of character. And strength of character is one of those things generated by passion. The life well-lived is something that happens in the moment, not at the end. Listen to your gut. No one knows better than you what’s right for you. Consider Kramer’s portfolio of well-intentioned but bad business advice, how he flew in the face of rational behavior and the perceived wisdom of the day to get to where he knew he needed to go. And he’s still going.

The Blade ANATOMY OF A KNIFE The Construction of a takes the reader through an easy to understand dissection of individual parts of a kitchen knife. In this dissection, the reader will also learn how Bob has chosen to do some things differently to enhance balance and comfort for the chef. Some of those innovations have actually been implemented industry-wide by kitchen knife manufacturers. Understanding the basic anatomy lays a foundation for the reader. As a consequence, choosing the right knife will be a lot easier. SECRETS OF STEEL There’s a Bronze Age and an Iron Age. But what about steel? Where did it come from, and when? What is it, anyway? Secrets of Steel will delve into the fascinating history of the metals that make up our most necessary tool. Here the reader learns the basics of steel and the variations we see in the kitchen knife marketplace – carbon, stainless, and Damascus. Starting with Damascus (the oldest), moving on to Straight Carbon, and then to Stainless, Kramer explores the composition and the pros and cons of each material. CHOOSING THE RIGHT KNIFE Now that the reader knows the components that make up a kitchen knife, and understands the differences in available steels it’s time to talk style. In Kramer’s experience, the ‘go to’ knife for a person is not only dictated by the task, but very much dictated by the individuality of the person.

This chapter is all Kramer, informed by his total knife experience—chef, sharpener,

The Bladesmith and the Blade 9 metallurgist and all round regular guy who loves to cook and eat. Whether you’re an amateur or a kitchen pro, there’s something here for you. IF YOU COULD ONLY CHOOSE ONE An opportunity to explore the ideal – the kind of steel, the shape of the blade, the length, the balance, the weight, the handle – all the elements that make up the best blade. It also helps you decide which knife would be the most versatile for your specific kitchen needs. After that, you need to decide what is the best knife for you. Are you petite and a 6” chef’s is perfect? Are you 6’2” and need a 10” chef’s blade? Or vice versa?

Letting the task define the blade suggests there is probably more than one knife in your future. For example, if you serve heavy crusted loaves of bread you do not want to be slicing with your chef’s knife You should have a dedicated bread knife. If carving at the table is something you intend to master and perform, a slicing knife is in order, as well as an appropriate fork. Chef knives come in various sizes and one probably doesn’t fit all. The same can be true of paring knives. But ultimately it comes back to the basic tasks you encounter in the kitchen as you prep bulk ingredients, be that chopping onions or breaking down chickens.

EAST IS WEST OF HERE Looks at the blades and metals common to Asian cooking. It reinforces the notion that task meets blade, and vice versa. It will be important to note that the Asian blade tends to be better matched to those with a higher level of skill, while the Western style is much more user-friendly for those of varying skill levels.

USING THE KNIFE Opens with safety rather than treating this issue as an afterthought. Every move Bob Kramer makes in his shop is based on industrial level safety considerations. A good blade brings the same consciousness into the home kitchen. It is absolutely true that a dull knife is dangerous – you tend to force it to do the job, which sets you up to slip. But knives as sharp as the knives Kramer makes and uses have a danger potential all their own. A meditation on safety belongs up front.

Do no harm is about paying attention to what you are doing and how you are doing it, and it’s about slowing down. And that’s part of the life lessons of the book right there – paying attention within the moment and slowing down. It also helps you avoid some of the grisly kitchen mishaps which, yes, we mention here.

Get a Grip is where Bob Kramer talks about how to hold the knife. He has designed his blades for comfort with any grip, be that a chef’s knife or a paring knife. The other issue is what to do with the other hand, the one that’s holding what you are cutting, the one with the most potential to get in the way of the blade. Here he talks about the basic motions—slicing, chopping, filleting. Details follow on, a never ever

The Bladesmith and the Blade 10 sidebar. EXERCISING YOUR KNIVES Walks the reader visually through all the basic cuts. There are books out there for all the granular mise en place prep work, how to progress, say, from large to medium to small dice, then from brunoise to fine brunoise. This is not that book. “Basic” means that chopping is coarse and mincing is fine. Shredding can be coarse or fine (chiffonade). At a certain point sticks become julienne. Dice will always be cubed, and they can be as large or as small as you like. You can slice rings, rounds or ovals, but the motion is pretty much the same all around. There’s coring to consider, peeling, trimming. You can slice the white pith off a lemon skin leaving behind near translucent zest, or filet a fish – the motion is pretty much the same. Working with meat, be that poultry, red meat, or fish in the round has its own demands and challenges.

What changes is the size of what you confront, a Spanish red onion or a clove of garlic, a whole daikon or a baby carrot, a Cornish game hen or a turkey. So Exercising Your Knives will address how to break down a variety of bulk products and the variations in motion and product control. Slicing an onion and mincing garlic are two different things. Descriptions will be spare and pointed, and each primary element will be carefully illustrated, either with photos or line drawings. Maximum care will go in to avoiding repetition. If you can bone a chicken, you can bone a duck and a turkey just as well – which takes you to the famous Turducken©, a place you may or may not want to venture.

Achieving basic knife skills – the block on which all else builds in the kitchen – takes time, focus, and practice. It requires the desire to master a skill, the desire to do something the best you can. Best doesn’t necessarily mean faster – stress is where the home kitchen and the restaurant kitchen part ways. It does mean attention to detail. It does mean being present in the moment (that’s a sharp knife in your hand, after all). It does mean knowing where you are headed and how to get there. Exercising Your Knives is the section that’s most like a mirror of the consciousness Kramer brings to learning any new skill - that anything is possible

CARING FOR YOUR KNIVES Can best be summed up as what sharp is, how to get there, and how to stay there. And there is no better authority in North America right now than Bob Kramer. There may be other sharpening gurus who can help you achieve the perfect edge on a plane iron or a skew chisel, but none of them are forging custom kitchen knives. Bob Kramer will demystify the nature of sharp, and then simplify sharpening. He will explain how maintaining the edge of your knives is as important as the basic knife skills you are mastering. He will look at available cutting boards and tell you what he believes, and show you how to stabilize them on your counter. And then cleaning your knives and safely storing them – these are simple things, but essential.

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ENJOYING THE RIDE Where Bob Kramer meets up with food, knife in hand. He was set to be a chef before his true calling nabbed him, so he does have some ideas about what makes a meal. Here’s a master bladesmith who could be forging any kind of blade but has chosen kitchen cutlery on purpose. It’s part of who he is, and that carries over to the table. Good work. Good food. Good life.

“We've gone from being a society that works with our hands to a society that puts much of our energy into creating intellectual property. But even if you're someone who spends your work time on long term projects building toward distant results, you can still come home and make an awesome meal. At the end of my day I am hammered, no pun intended, and yet the food on the table completes the circle.” --Bob Kramer

STUFF WE LIKE • Recipe List

Biographies: The Team

Bob Kramer is the voice and genius of the work. To learn more about Bob Kramer, visit www.kramerknives.com.

Schuyler Ingle is a respected writer about agriculture and food, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Harpers, Gourmet, Sunset, the Los Angeles Times, Epicurious.com and other venues. His profile of Bob Kramer in Saveur Magazine first brought the knife maker to national attention. Schuyler is the co-author of the popular cookbook, Northwest Bounty and has edited a number of other food related volumes and websites. Ingle is a principal at the marketing services boutique, Launchismo.

Joyce Thompson is a fiction writer with ten published works to her credit. A master interviewer, she created “in their own words” profiles of 19 world class musicians like BB King, Debby Harry and Philip Glass for MSN’s interactive music show, Riff. Thompson is president of the marketing boutique, Launchismo.

Michael Matisse is a professional photographer with 20 years’ experience, a deep

The Bladesmith and the Blade 12 portfolio and a passion for people, light and food. He has frequently photographed Bob Kramer at work, capturing the sights as well as the spirit of the bladesmith.

Support from Sur La Table and Zwilling In addition to active marketing, events and point-of-sale support, both the prominent chain Sur la Table and knife manufacturer Zwilling have agreed to order and sell 2500 copies of this book, meaning that it comes to press with a minimum advance order of 5000 copies.

The Bladesmith and the Blade