If you've been a long-standing follower of mine, you will know that I'm a bit of a foodie. In fact, both my partner and I are. We not only enjoy eating out, especially new spots in and around London, but we also love to cook at home. We've both enjoyed cooking for a number of years now, but never more so than over the past 2 years. I think the turning point was a mixture of both having a child and going through a pandemic. We were unable to eat out as often as we used to, so instead we'd sit down together and meal plan for the week ahead.

We try to eat vegetarian or vegan at home as much as possible, choosing to only eat meat and fish when out and when we know where it's been sourced. This has made us invest in a few staple recipe books from some favourite chefs, like Anna Jones and Ottolenghi. But I also still like to find recipes online. Whether it's Pinterest or a simple Google. I tend to start with an ingredient and go from there.

Over the past few years as we've got into cooking more, we've also began to invest in our utensils. None more so than our collection of knives. We have owned our trusty knife block for some years now, and whilst the odd knife does a quick job, there's a few I actively avoid. They're blunt, they're worn, they're tired, and to be honest, they were probably never that great even when we first bought them!

Katto Knives

For Christmas last year, I saved up to buy my partner his first 'proper' knife. A knife produced in the UK with a Japanese blade. Since then, we haven't looked back and our goal is to slowly replace all of our knives with this same standard. Recently, I was contacted by the wonderful guys at Katto, offering a knife of my choice in return for a review.

I had seen Katto on Instagram and my partner had actually mentioned them before, when we were discussing our next knife of choice. It wasn't until I clicked through to their profile that I realised a number of our friends follow them. So I reached out to see if they owned one, and if so, would they recommend. They did indeed own one! And they did indeed recommend them.

Chefs Knives

In fact, they couldn't rave about Katto enough. So that sealed the deal for us. I immediately responded, hoping they'd be happy to send the Olivia. The Olivia is part of their Chefs Knives collection. Every kitchen should have a good chefs knife. They can be used for a range of different jobs and can pretty much chop through anything with ease. We particularly liked the Olivia design for its beautiful dark wood handle and stainless steel blade. It's well crafted and really looks the part - a knife you want to have on show in your kitchen.

After ordering, I read up a bit more on the brand. Started in 2018 by Josh and Thomas, all of their knives are made in the UK by hand. Not only does this mean that Katto knives are well designed, strong and beautiful, it also means that no two are exactly the same. By buying one, you're really investing in a one of a kind piece. The Japanese steel blades are made first to their exact specifications, and then the handles are carved here in the UK before assembling everything together.

Katto Collections

Chefs knives aren't all that Katto sell. They also design Santoku, utility and bread knives, and they even offer knife sets, which would make an incredible gift. Prices start at just £100, which given the quality and the fact they're all handmade here in the UK, is really very reasonable.

As a first test, I used our Olivia knife to make lunch this weekend - simply chopping vegetables and halloumi for a quick salad. I can't describe how easy the blade sliced through everything, gliding effortlessly. I didn't have to place any sort of pressure onto the knife. It just simply slid through. Not only did this speed up the chopping process, but it also made it a lot more enjoyable. You have no idea how long I would spend chopping veg with our old blunt knife - practically carving through onions and peppers, and don't get me started on butternut squash!

I can't wait to use our Katto knife more. We're making a fennel pasta dish for dinner and I'm already looking forward to knowing what light work it'll make of thinly slicing fennel!

*I was gifted the Olivia knife by Katto plus a sharpening stone in exchange for this review - totalling £150.

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