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Coltellerie Berti

1. OLTELLERIE BERII The splendor of more than one hundred years of History Genuine Tradition since 1895 COLTELLER E BERTI Handmade Made in Italy Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 BERTI MADE IN ITALY AS A S C Ca DR M S Alessio Santoni Cristian Carraro Daniele Rogai Massimiliano Santoni A V C D l GB CS Andrea Vannini Claudio Donigaglia Giorgio Berti Sandra Corsini The work of a sole craftsman Signed with his initials Confirming his craft and its value At Coltellerie Berti each knife is the finished work of a sole craftsman Whoever starts the work takes it right through to the finishing touches This is the essence of the craftsman s tradition held in the Berti family since 1895 which to this day keeps up the age old tradition of joy in possessing a handmade knife fruit of a genuine craft And from today this tradition will proudly state that each and every knife at Berti will bear the initials of the craftsman who made it A bold declaration of quality and personal craft which varies from craftsman to craftsman No two knives are the same or are made in the same time At Coltellerie Berti we are trying to keep up our age old tradition Because no one can live without tradition Andrea Berti gh vi k A long history ty 7 of iron of fire bA 1895 i 1995 David Berti and of skilled hands
2. e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 COLTELLERIE BERII GENUINE TRADITION Mozzetta David Berti 1935 lt gt A long history of iron of fire 5 1995 David Berti and of skilled hands Andrea Berti Coltellerie Berti handcrafted since 1895 1895 Coltellerie Berti S r l Via della Resistenza 12 50038 Scarperia Firenze Italia Tel 39 055 84 69 903 Fax 39 055 84 68 014 e mail info coltellerieberti it web www coltellerieberti it ne A 7 en ey RI O TAO W Dror RA aK abeti Oa A e AR ee 4 ea i ie x 9 P ee X 2 EM 7 ork LTELLERIE BERII How to choose Knives Upstream and downstream of good cooking there is always a good knife Every day we use many objects without knowing their intimate nature and without knowing which phenomena and undisputable physical laws determine their operation and usefulness for us However understanding such matters is impossible considering the vast amount of knowledge it would require These few pages which make no claim to covering everything will give you the opportunity of getting to know something more about knife making so you can use your knives better and get more satisfaction out of them Handmade Made in Italy Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Choosing a knife for home How to choose Is it normal to use saw blades to cut food other than bread focaccia and products out of the oven
3. Ship using Poste Italiane if you don t have a contract with a professional courier The provide excellent service at a reasonable price e Wrap each knife one by one with newspaper or polybag enough layers to prevent blows falling or the knives rubbing against each other inside the package Protect the point of each knife with a reinforcement made of cardboard or a very thick layer of paper so it does not break through rubbing inside the package during travel as it could injure those who handle tt e If you don t have a suitable container to ship in use the cardboard boxes which you can buy at the Post office and which have proven to be strong enough e Don t forget to clearly write your address a phone number and an email e Don t specify delivery hours you have to provide the address of a place where somebody will be ready to receive the package throughout office hours However you can exclude specific days because the office will be closed or you expect to be absent and you can also specify whether you prefer to receive the package in the morning or the afternoon To spread out shipping costs send several knives at a time Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Knife left to drain pas VIENI q Handle shrunk due to high temperature off after washing i s over 60 C Blade broken because it was forced by using it as a lever Horn knife
4. e rr MERA o Ne R Knife for half solid cheese Knife for hard cheese Knife for soft cheese Trapeze for high bowed cheese Wide spreader Bow for soft cheese gt Knife for compact cheese 0 0 0 6 e eee GS eee eee G SG e Ss G 6 S 0 6 GS S e S Ss Ss e S e e s 6 e e e e e e 0 e e e e e e e e 0 e Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Pastry Knives Ly pn ay oo T Tart Knife Sacher Cake Knife Cake Slice z a Millefoglie Knife Mousse Knife Mignon Pastry Slice x me sz Chocolate Knife Chocolate Hammer lt gt Na Handmade Made in Italy 0 0 0 e 0 e G e 6 S Ss s G GS e Ss 0 GS 6 S 0 e S GS S 0 e 6 e Ss e SG e e s 6 e 6 e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 0 e COLTELLERIE BERII GENUINE TRADITION Mozzetta David Berti 1935 lt gt A long history of iron of fire 5 1995 David Berti and of skilled hands Andrea Berti Coltellerie Berti handcrafted since 1895 1895 Coltellerie Berti S r l Via della Resistenza 12 50038 Scarperia Firenze Italia Tel 39 055 84 69 903 Fax 39 055 84 68 014 e mail info coltellerieberti it web www coltellerieberti it LIP EASE TS gt 0 WIT gh ali et i f RA Ga ICP p Saa Vr i ia roi La AA E e 4 P 4 gt EATA L
5. of the homonym painter Valdichiana the steak knife dedicated to the Chianina HQ ty az ee l 9 7 IT O Di How are the Berti Traditions respected at Coltellerie Berti By passing down and innovating the great storehouse of the knife collection work methods and crafting skills which have been generated and conserved for over a century within the Berti family Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 What are the craftsman s materials and methods that form part of the Berti Tradition Steel for the blades while Ox horn Stag horn Buffalo horn and bosso wood are used for the knife handles And the most im portant method our Tradition requires is that each knife is the complete work of a sole craftsman In other words the hands that begin the work finish it The work is not divided among different phases and then passed from worker to worker Our method means that each and every knife crafted is appreciated for the uniqueness of its character given by the harmony of its form and the minute detail bestowed by its craftsman making it a testimony to the Berti Tradition A warehouse of tradition that turns a simple hand crafted knife into a genu ine Berti knife The craftsmanship tradition at Berti means that in each of our knives there is the thought the hand and the presence of a unique person The family Tradition brings the work experience in to what is truly a human dimension rather
6. 0 eee eee eee eee 6 SG e e 0 G 6 S 0 e 6 e S e S SG Ss e e S e e e Ss 6 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Coltellerie Berti industry or craftsmanship Our choices in this direction are the outcome of an un derlying philosophy which has led Coltellerie Berti to face the challenge of providing high quality work in Italy a heavily industrialized country with high labour costs not by using technology but by applying a pro duct culture based on tradition and manual skills in other words craftsmanship handed down from genera tion to generation In these days when the word Craftsman is being de spoiled of its true and original meaning Coltellerie Ber ti is a Craftsmanship company because everybody working there 1s a Craftsman being craftsmen 1s sub stance and not form This attitude has led us to abolish division of labour so that each of our knives is made by a single person Craftsman in very small quantities The person who begins a knife therefore finishes it by himself making it a unique item Even though our in tention would be to make knives according to the purest knife making tradition of the Berti family it has been necessary to mechanise each working step in order to avoid loss of quality in the finished product or offset from traditional types This way we have managed to produce high quality knives at acceptabl
7. Carving fork a complement to the slicing knife it keeps what you are slicing in place LD 7 Tomato Knife when cutting tomatoes you can break the rule which says you must use only smooth blades in the kitchen by using this knife which with its teeth helps to make incisions in the film covering tomatoes 0 0 0 0 0 e 0 e se 0 e 6 e e 6 e e 0 e 0 6 e e 0 e e e e e e e e e 0 e 0 e e e Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 The table set Table Knife only with smooth blade to prevent squeezing and defibring what is cut Thanks to the ease with which they are manufactured and hence their low cost they have imposed saw shaped blades on every table but if you want to get the full flavour of your kitchen preparations the only knives you should put on the table must have smooth blades Coltellerie Berti offers a wide range ag T a lt a Convivio Nuovo Intero Plenum Duemiladodici Valdichiana ey er _ __9 _ 8 qn a a Compendio Gualtiero Marchesi Posate del Marchesino 500 Italia Beyond the ideal knife set Once you have got the 12 knives needed to make precise and sure cuts you can choose according to your personal taste some of many kinds of knives to round off your set Kitchen Knives ma SL PD Cleaver Salmon Knife Boning knife 13 cm long EEE lt e lt Pasta Knife Fillet Knife Filleting Knife Wh TD Carving knife 22 cm long Paring knife Citrus Knife Cheese cutting Knives
8. Andrea Berti Coltellerie Berti handcrafted since 1895 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 eee 6 GS eee s G S Ss e 0 G 6 S 0 e 6 e S 6 e S GS Ss e SG e Ss Ss 6 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 We cannot live without Tradition In these changing times and customs each of us needs tangible evidence true authentic and unchanging of our past and History Because it is this evidence which allows each of us to remember the world we come from and the values which generated it This need in its turn reflects a deeper one that of achieving recognition of our own and specific way of being in the world as something unique and unrepeatable and therefore worthy of respect Many call it Material Culture we prefer to think that this is simply the way to say that each Man is the fruit of a thought of God Andrea Berti UA Handmade Made in Italy BERTI E gt 1895 David Berti Shee ENI a v 1923 Severino Berti i amp 0 AU o n Da t 1945 Andrea Berti RAREN EAA n Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 2005 What is the Coltellerie Berti The Coltellerie Berti began crafting knives in 1895 Founded by David Berti for four generations the family has been pro ducing handcrafted knives without interruption Starting with the hands of David Berti his skills were passed on to his son S
9. Nuo vo is made from this ultra modern material and can be washed in the dishwasher something that is regarded very useful in day to day life Yet however modern this material may be with all its technical characteristics we still boil it in hot water to stabilise it and then work it by hand meticulously as we would Ox horn The reason why we chose to introduce Lucite plexiglas was not to reduce production costs but rather it was to give a simple yet precious advantage to the Convivio Nuovo dishwasher proof for daily use What does innovation not mean at Coltellerie Berti It means not giving in to fashion trends and the passing fads of what is very often called the cutting edge of progress knowing how to recognise and develop only those ideas which are born to last and bring about a genuine inspirational chan ge But above all innovation does not mean betraying tradition by adopting industrial methods in search of greater profit gain through higher sales obtained from low cost production methods and the use of materials of inferior quality All of which would mean abandoning either in part or even definitively our Tradition of craftsmanship Why will the production at Coltellerie Berti always remain in Italy The Berti family and our craftsmen live in Italy and we intend to remain there The only reason why either the family or the craftsmen would consider moving would be if Italy no longer of fered the cond
10. fact and from what cause soever The flamy heat with awful crack and roar Had there devoured to their deepest roots The forest trees and baked the earth with fire Then from the boiling veins began to ooze O rivulets of silver and of gold Of lead and copper too collecting soon Into the hollow places of the ground And when men saw the cooled lumps anon To shine with splendour sheen upon the ground Much taken with that lustrous smooth delight They gan to pry them out and saw how each Had got a sha pe like to its earthy mould Then would it enter their heads how these same lumps If melted by heat could into any form Or figure of things be run and how again If hammered out they could be nicely drawn To sharpest points or finest edge and thus Yield to the forgers tools and give them power To chop the forest down to hew the logs To shave the beams and planks besides to bore And punch and drill And men began 0 0 0 0 0 0 e G e eee e e Gs e e e e e e e e s e e e e 0 e e e so such work At first as much with tools of silver and gold As with the impetuous strength of the stout copper But vainly since their over mastered power Would soon give way unable to endure Like copper such hard labour In those days Copper it was that was the thing of price And gold lay useless blunted with dull edge Now lies the copper low and gold hath come Unto the loftiest honours Thus it is That rolling ages change the t
11. handle washed in a wa shing machine or left wet Fallen knife Coltellerie Berti will bill you different prices for maintenance services depending on the length of the blade and the job you need Current prices are e Blade sharpening and satin finish in short sandblasting 3 00 euros up to 12 cm blade short blade 3 50 euros 13 cm to 18 cm blade medium blade 4 50 euros 18 cm or longer blade long blade e Ordinary maintenance sharpening ground and satin finished in short sandblasting of the blade taping and polishing of the handle 8 50 euros up to 12 cm blade short blade 9 50 euros 13 cm to 18 cm blade medium blade 11 00 euros 18 cm or longer blade long blade e Non routine maintenance 40 00 euros replacing full handle any material 45 00 euros replacing pocket knife handle any material 35 00 euros replacing pocket knife spring 20 00 euros replacing whole handle tang of kitchen knives any material 12 50 euros replacing whole handle tang of table knives any material 15 00 euros replacing broken or blunted blades or which are missing some pieces etc e Cost for shipping back to you after Maintenance 10 00 euros shipping back inside Italy By cost shipping back abroad depending on the country of destination Free 1f you have your own courier e Payment exclusively e Cash on delivery to courier within Italy only Advance payment Money transfer by PayP
12. metres altogether with a full tip measuring 20 to 30 centimetres thus allowing us to obtain the best quality of horn without any direct or further sacrifice of animals Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Boxwood Always used to make the simplest country knives although one sometimes finds ones with carved or sculpted handles Today it is used in sophistica ted production for people looking for a knife of their own which 1s poetic humble yet very beautiful in its elegant simplicity with an ancient look yet incredibly useful in modern contexts An extra touch which makes this material fascinating is how it changes colour naturally through time going from an early yellow orange to an ever more intense and warmer hazel Due to the scarcity of available material and the small size of box trees only a very small amount of small handled knives can be made Boxwood also comes in large boards which however belong to species different from the very beautiful Italian Buxus Sempervirens for example Buxus Balea rica which grows in the Spanish peninsula but its appearance colour and grain has little in common with our Buxus Especially boxwood growing on the Apennines between Tuscany and Emilia have a yellow orange hue with hazel spots knots and small cracks which are unequalled by any other kind of Boxwood Larger handles need Brazilian boxwood the appearance of which resembles that of the Italian kind Ebony is a hard and compact kind o
13. stay separate the outcome will be a mild material which cannot cut properly To be hardened a blade must therefore be heated to the temperature of maximum carbon solubilization austenitic phase In the case of the steel we use this means kee ping it for 15 minutes at 1055 C This phase with supersaturation of carbon in the iron mesh does not survive in equilibrium at room temperature the austenite is structurally frozen by sudden cooling of the blade 50 C in 60 se conds martensitic phase This provides a hard and strong blade with much internal stress which makes it fragile 2nd Cycle Sub freezing This is a kind of treatment which is not yet widely used by knife makers Many speak of cryogenic treatment but in the case of knife blades it is better to speak of sub freezing which means bringing the blades to temperatures between 40 C and 120 C In our case they reach 80 C which are sufficient to turn all the austenite left over after the hardening into martensite Sub freezing is carried out immediately after hardening is cooled in order to prevent the left over austenite from stabilizing excessively Sub freezing too produces stress inside the blades which adds to that already produced when stopping hardening This treatment not yet much used in the making of pocket and kitchen knives is important since sub frozen blades have a stronger edge 2 to 4 times stronger and the absence of non solubilized carbon increases t
14. sub stance and not form This attitude has led us to abolish division of labour so that each of our knives is made by a single person Craftsman in very small quantities The person who begins a knife therefore finishes it by himself making it a unique item Even though our in tention would be to make knives according to the purest knife making tradition of the Berti family it has been necessary to mechanise each working step in order to avoid loss of quality in the finished product or offset from traditional types This way we have managed to produce high quality knives at acceptable prices The different work stages which can be mechanised wi thout leaving any trace on the final product are those involving preparation of the metal pieces including the first rough work on the blades Whereas each knife is mounted and finished without any division of labour and using totally manual procedures The value of a knife does not come only from its indi spensable capacity to cut but also from the pleasure for touch and sight which comes from how surfaces have been worked and the materials which have been used Many industrially manufactured knives cut very well but often their shapes and the materials used to make them are chosen more because of the need to cut co sts use machinery and facilitate everyday use than to the need to make their use enjoyable Coltellerie Berti knives with their functional limits which oblige us to prefer
15. 5 1995 The Berti family has been producing knives for over 100 years since 1895 when David Berti opened his shop in via dell Oche in the town of Scarperia We ve been producing knives ever since David was followed by Severino then Alvaro and now Andrea in this splendid family tradition Because to be the rightful heirs to this tradition simply producing knives in Scarperia is not enough knife making takes time even a century Andrea Berti Tradition has a secret Craftsmanship How have the Berti s traditional knives managed to survive largeindustrial development There is a secret Over four generations of craftsmen we have developed a peculiar production process economizing to the full the use of materials at the time the most costly resource and taken advantage of a heritage of human resources experience In the past working with horn was a real industrial secret An extremely laborious complex job it endowed the knives with handles of great strength and lightness Work of this kind was uneconomical and could in no way be achieved through automated production Hand crafting knives according to tradition has been passed down through the generations unchanged This is the cutler s great secret of the Berti s family Handmade Made in Italy 0 0 0 6 0 0 s G 6 GS eee s G 6 SG e e 0 G 6 S 0 e 6 e S e S SG Ss e e S e e e Ss 6 e e e e
16. Is it really parsimonious to spend less for a knife that cuts badly and that you later have to throw away Is it really an idea of the past to have high quality blades sharpened ever now and then so you can still count on an excellent cutting tool through time Is it a luxury to cut meat at the table with a hand made smooth bladed knife having a handle made of horn We think not This is why we feel it our duty to illustrate the essential cutting requirements with good knives to all those who want to choose a knife set from our Collections You can choose among preparation serving and table knives with Stainless steel blades with a high degree of carbon to ensure a long lasting cut Handles made of horn or quality wood for those who want the most Hand processed plastic blades good for washing also in the washing machine To provide every kind of cut you may want 0 0 0 6 0 0 s GS eee eee G S e Ss 0 G 6 S 0 ee e S S e Ss e e S e e S 6 e e S e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Basic information To cut large slices of meat you can grasp the handle in the palm of your hand and let the blade slide through its whole length To cut cheese grasp the handle in the palm of your hand put your other hand near the tip and then sway a little to push the blade into the cheese without letting it slide To apply greater f
17. U a 7 i ole r a f LA g POME Ye y te LLERIE CUT AND TASTE Upstream and downstream of good cooking there is always a good knife Every day we use many objects without knowing their intimate nature and without knowing which phenomena and undisputable physical laws determine their operation and usefulness for us However understanding such matters is impossible considering the vast amount of knowledge it would require These few pages which make no claim to covering everything will give you the opportunity of getting to know something more about knife making so you can use your knives better and get more satisfaction out of them Handmade Made in Italy Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Book V Verses 1240 1295 Lucretius Ist century BC De Rerum Natura Now for the rest copper and gold and iron Discove red were and with them silver s weight And power of lead when with prodigious heat The conflagrations burned the forest trees Among the mighty mountains by a bolt Of lightning from the sky or else because Men warring in the woodlands on their foes Had hurled fire to frighten and dismay Or yet because by goodness of the soil Invited men desired to clear rich fields And turn the countryside to pasture lands Or slay the wild and thrive upon the spoils For hunting by pit fall and by fire arose Before the art of hedging the covert round With net or stirring it with dogs of chase How so the
18. al to info emporioberti it By bank transfer to Banca del Mugello Credito Cooperativo Ag Scarperia IBAN IT 81 L 08325 38090 000 000 0 62582 BIC ICRAIT 3F910 Purchasing the sharpening or maintenance service on the website www emporioberti it in the Service Maintenance area COLTELLERIE BERII GENUINE TRADITION Mozzetta David Berti 1935 lt gt A long history of iron of fire 5 1995 David Berti and of skilled hands Andrea Berti Coltellerie Berti handcrafted since 1895 1895 Coltellerie Berti S r l Via della Resistenza 12 50038 Scarperia Firenze Italia Tel 39 055 84 69 903 Fax 39 055 84 68 014 e mail info coltellerieberti it web www coltellerieberti it COLTELLERIE BERII See yourself in the splendour of over a hundred years of History TRUE TRADITION Materials and Manufacturing Process Handmade Made in Italy Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 We use AISI 420 stainless steel which affords the advantage of being espe cially rich in carbon gt 0 53 and of having molybdenum and vanadium joints which make it an excellent cutting steel for knives for what we may call normal use that is everyday use in the kitchen at the table and in other cutting actions requiring pocket knives This kind of steel has a hardness up to 55 57 HRC and a very fine granu lometry which make fo
19. ality they should be used only to cut food which is not too hard and has no bones making cuts which do not require the slightest bending or twisting of the blade There must never be falls or blows Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 The art use and tradition of Italian knives The good user of knives Before giving specific instructions on how to choose the right knives for your needs we can draw up seven points on basic behaviour and notions which will help you to become a good knife user 1 Don t deceive yourself no knife exists which can cut everything and it would be sad too imagine 1f the re were only one kind of wine no knife exists which can do without sharpening no knife exists which 1s indestructible 2 To cut pleasantly and get good results you must know your knives and what use they were designed for Upstream and downstream from a good kitchen there is always an excellent knife and its proper use 3 A knife must never be used for wrong purposes screwdriver can opener cutting deep frozen products or breaking bones etc as this is the surest way to ruin the knife and hurt yourself 4 Keeping knives perfectly sharp makes them less dangerous no need to force a cut dangerously 5 Use them on firm surfaces and always put them away in safe places never throwing them in with all the other kitchen accessories 6 Nearly all knives today are made of stainless ste el so you can wash th
20. andy Irvine the climbers who contrary to popular belief probably conquered Everest already in 1924 These results showed that the woollen gabardine cotton and silk clothes worn by the two climbers offered extremely good protection from the cold even better protection than modern hi tech materials We re sure it s true In fact in many cases industrialization produces products of a lower quality than their pre industrial equivalent and this 1s why we are still making our knives in the same way we did in 1895 This has always been something of a fixation for us we could say a mainstay of our work moderation In other words not adding anything or inventing strange novelties without attempting to embellish something which al ready has its own precise value from the day it was first made Some however may see our products as something of a luxury As if cutting meat with the straight edge of a handmade knife holding the horn handle in your hand was a luxury We on the other hand have always considered this as the way things should be or should be once more normal daily life But if some wish to consider it normal to use serrated edge blades to cut anything other than bread to believe it is cheaper to spend less on a knife that doesn t cut well and must soon be thrown away considering sharpening blades a thing of the past that is none of our business Andrea Berti A Handmade Made in Italy 0 0 0 6 0
21. apes Thickness of the blade knives must be as thick as necessary for what they are cutting For kitchen use thin blades will cut and penetrate better but will be delicate so they must be used for food fish and vege tables which have easily cut fibres and which could be damaged by rougher cuts Medium thick blades will be used for meat and thick ones to break bones Size don t be afraid to buy big knives it is a good rule to use a knife twice as long as what you want to cut Forged blades these are the most prestigious and beautiful Obtained by forging today using a mallet not by hand they once ensured better cutting quality since forging gave a uniform and fine grain which im proved the cutting capacity and duration of the knife Mallet blows break up and give order to the steel mo lecules Be careful when choosing such knives fake ones exist stamped with a fake knot added only for reasons of appearance Generally forged knives are more expensive Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Stamped or laser cut originally designed to save money and make for easier production they were once thought to be of poor quality however today they have acquired a different esteem since technological pro gress has made it possible to use steel alloys to make stamped knives which give a very high blade quality fine and orderly granulometry without forging It is in any case hard to choose a knife of the right quali
22. ay this tradition will proudly state that each and every knife at Berti will bear the initials of the craftsman who made it A bold declaration of quality and personal craft which varies from craftsman to craftsman No two knives are the same or are made in the same time At Coltellerie Berti we are trying to keep up our age old tradition Because no one can live without tradition Andrea Berti gh vi k A long history ty 7 of iron of fire bA 1895 i 1995 David Berti and of skilled hands Andrea Berti Coltellerie Berti handcrafted since 1895 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 eee 6 GS eee s G S Ss e 0 G 6 S 0 e 6 e S 6 e S GS Ss e SG e Ss Ss 6 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Coltellerie Berti industry or craftsmanship Our choices in this direction are the outcome of an un derlying philosophy which has led Coltellerie Berti to face the challenge of providing high quality work in Italy a heavily industrialized country with high labour costs not by using technology but by applying a pro duct culture based on tradition and manual skills in other words craftsmanship handed down from genera tion to generation In these days when the word Craftsman is being de spoiled of its true and original meaning Coltellerie Ber ti is a Craftsmanship company because everybody working there 1s a Craftsman being craftsmen 1s
23. dely used today exist They are nearly always polycarbonates cheap and strong but which age quickly and only come in opaque and dark colours Polymethyl acrylate is less used because it costs more and is harder to work on but it provides lively and brilliant colour with a nice glossy appearance which lasts a long a time and stands up well to washing A plastic handle makes washing by hand easier but also using a washing machine however if you want to keep the blade of your knife both efficient and pretty for a long time it is always better to wash by hand Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Instructions To get the best out of your knives Using a knife of quality is essential for the best cuts but it s also important to follow some simple instructions Low quality knives are best suited to withstanding poor cutting techniques and lack of maintenance Every knife should be used for the purpose it was intended for The shape the thickness and the steel the knife is made of make them unsuitable for using as levers never try to pry open jars or remove crown stoppers or put a sideways force on a knife to try and break apart what you re cutting you can t cut a whole mature cheese with a paring knife There are short bladed knives with suitably dimensioned handles designed for this sort of thing A knife can only be used to cut food by sliding the blade across it while a
24. e blade slide along all its length Slicing Knife at least 22 cm long with straight spine and curved tip smooth cutting edge Grip the handle in the palm of your hand and let the blade slide along all its length Paring knife this is an all duty kitchen tool with a strictly smooth cutting blade at least 10 cm long with a centred tip This knife can be used to peel make incisions and small cuts Tomato and Citrus Knife normally saw edged must be at least 12 cm long Table Knife often the most neglected when choosing this must absolutely have a smo oth cutting edge so as not to break the fibres of the meat and not squeeze out its taste as happens with saw shaped blades In order to enjoy the full flavour of dishes use a soft yet determined cut Don t throw it away when it loses its cutting edge as happens with saw shaped blades which cannot be sharpened O Carving fork absolutely necessary if you don t want to use your hands to hold roast and other meat when cutting 0 0 0 0 0 Ss G eee eee G GS e Ss 0 G 6 S 0 eee GS S e ee GS Ss 0 e S e Ss s e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 e o Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 The ideal set Preparation Knives 1 Chef s Knife this knife is normally very large and is used to cut every kind of meat as well as cheese and vegetables 2 Fish Knife centred tip flexible very sharp for cutting
25. e first stainless steel in history However one has to wait until 1921 to see the first stainless steel knife made by in the US by the International Silver Company Actually this new material began to be used for cutting irons especially those used in surgery or for food consumption only in the 1950s just 70 years ago because of the diffi culty of achieving a kind of steel both rustproof and capable of cutting at the same time Even now though very sophisticated stainless steel which can cut well does exist but is not 100 rustproof many people still have an unfounded distrust of stainless steel Of course many other materials have been added over the last century to make cutting irons titanium special steels sintered steels even plastics etc etc which are very good but are meaningful only if used for special production requiring specific features A different matter is the use of ceramic to make kitchen knife blades the latest technological frontier in ki tchen cutlery during the last 30 years This uses zirco nium oxide powder pressed at 400 Tons and sintered at 1350 C providing a very hard blade very hard to model but when once made it cuts wonderfully The main limits of such knives lie in their fragility and in the impossibility of sharpening them again when inevitably they lose their cut after prolonged use Fa shionable today and highly praised by those who sell them apart from their undisputed qu
26. e prices The different work stages which can be mechanised wi thout leaving any trace on the final product are those involving preparation of the metal pieces including the first rough work on the blades Whereas each knife is mounted and finished without any division of labour and using totally manual procedures The value of a knife does not come only from its indi spensable capacity to cut but also from the pleasure for touch and sight which comes from how surfaces have been worked and the materials which have been used Many industrially manufactured knives cut very well but often their shapes and the materials used to make them are chosen more because of the need to cut co sts use machinery and facilitate everyday use than to the need to make their use enjoyable Coltellerie Berti knives with their functional limits which oblige us to prefer washing by hand to using machines and force us to devote a little of our time every now and then to caring for them designed so we can appreciate the cutting function they were made for give us back the pleasure of using an object which to be appreciated must also be seen as living evidence of the great Italian Knife Making Tradition Andrea Berti A Handmade Made in Italy 0 0 0 e e 0 eee eee e e eee e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e so Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 David Berti Severino Berti Alvaro Berti Andrea Berti 1895 1923 194
27. em but you must dry them off good stainless steel still has a rich carbon content and can occasionally stain 7 If you don t want to do without using a washing machine at least place them in such a way that they do not strike against each other or against other items which could compromise their sharpness during wa shing and dry them by hand when the wash finishes Knives too come in categories Knives have been with us since the dawn of civilisation and perhaps the naturalness with which we live with them leads us to underestimate them forgetting to try to understand how to use them really or the specific uses of the various kinds which manufacturers offer us On the other hand it is true that knives are hardly ever sold with a user manual as though manufacturers took it for granted that everybody knows how to use them properly Nothing could be farther from the truth Many people of every social class use a single knife 0 0 0 0 e 0 e e e eee e e e e e e e e e e e e s e e e e 0 e e es o to do everything in the kitchen they do not care about what they use to cut with at the table and they ine vitably end up by complaining about the poor results they get when cutting Actually every good cut begins with the choice of the right knife Without claiming to be exhaustive and being aware that we are neglecting many issues in order to put you in a condition to cho ose the knives you need in a si
28. ess This type of oxidation is easy to recognise as it actually eats away at the steel instead of just leaving surface stains Handmade Made in Italy 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 Ss GS 6 GS eee eee GS e Ss 0 G 6 S e 6 e S S e Ss 0 e S e Ss s 6 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 0 Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Knife which has been forced too much by twisting or bending A hammer was used on the back to cut something perhaps bone Blade broken because it was forced by using it as a lever Fallen knife Maintenance Service An after sales service just for purchasers of Berti knives If you feel the need to sharpen your Berti knives after prolonged use or if you have managed to get them into one of the states shown in the pictures above don t worry You can contact the exclusive maintenance service Coltellerie Berti offers its customers if you ship us your Berti knives they will be put through accurate main tenance and sent back to you like new of course the broken blades will be a bit smaller as they broken part will be missing The maintenance service is managed directly by Coltellerie Berti The address to ship your Berti knives to is Coltellerie Berti S r l Via della Resistenza 12 50038 Scarperia Fi Italy When you ship your knives to Coltellerie Berti be careful to
29. everino Severino s son Alvaro continued to handcraft fine knives Today Alvaro s son Andrea Berti continues the Berti family Tradition in the same place with the same almost reli gious observance of the craftsman art handed down from father to son for more than 100 years Why is the Berti Tradition important Because we cannot live without traditions In abstract terms it means that in the void of constantly changing times and cultures each one of us needs some tangible point of reference to his own past That being something authentic that has not changed and will not change in time This point of reference helps us remem ber the world we come from and the values it inspired What does the Berti Tradition mean in concrete terms In concrete terms the Berti Tradition reminds us that there still exist values that are different and more important than those offered by modern day consumerism such as the global mar kets low cost labour the lack and loss of interest in maintaining something precious the frantic acquisition and its inevitable di sposal Traditional values on the contrary are those that speak of quality and individuality such as a knife crafted for a specific job In the kitchen this speaks of the pleasure in cutting correct ly while at the same time respecting the ingredients dishes and preparation in the kitchen Traditions not only conserve the art of cutting but also give us interest and joy in ma
30. f wood which comes from over 250 dif ferent species of trees belonging to the Diospyros genus of the family of the Ebenaceae Diospyros are also much in favour as fruit trees persimmon and prunes The kind of ebony most highly appreciated in cabinetwork is uni form and black with a very fine grain being both beautiful and with phy sical features which make it suitable for making many kinds of items little statues cabinets piano keys flutes clarinets guitar fretboards and bridges knife handles At Coltellerie Berti we use ebony from Gabon Diospyros Crassiflora coming from African rainforests around the Gulf of Guinea Nigeria Cameroon and Gabon This kind of tree can grow up to 20 metres tall and has a diameter of 40 to 70 centimetres free of branches in its lower third part The only selection we make for our knife handles is taken from the duramen core of the trunk which is grey to very dark and has no stripes To get perfect black ebony needs to be oxidised by submitting it to slow aging This is made easier by cutting the duramen into small pieces sealing their heads and keeping them in a place with a stable temperature This kind of wood has noteworthy physical properties though hard and difficult to work on it stands up well to both blows and bending It is also very resistant to fungus insects and the weather Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Under conditions of heat cast Polymethyl Metacrylate PMMA has an isot
31. fetime As I see it modern consumer economy is based on the formula Ca Pxqxr P is the purchase price of a product q is the quantity of the product r is the number of times you have to purchase it again Ca is the annual cost incurred to enjoy the product From this point of view one can be fascinated by the low purchase cost and by freedom from maintenance costs but we soon realise that the real cost of the product Ca is considerably increased by the frequent repurchases we have to make after a short period of unsatisfactory use These formulae clearly show that Berti knives are by no means expensive since they are designed to last a lifetime with a little maintenance indeed their ambition is to be handed down to future generations with the added value not to be neglected of the Pleasure of Quality of the use of Excellent products instead of mediocre ones As our elders used to say Better buy goods stuff so Those who spend more spend less It is a completely different view of consumption of economy in sum of the world and of life Andrea Berti UA 0 0 0 0 0 0 eee eee eee eee GS e e 0 G 6 S 0 6 GS S 0 e 6 e Ss 0 e S e e e 6 e e e e e e 0 e e e e e e e e 0 e Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Nothing more nothing less Recently the newspapers published the results of a meticulous analysis on the equi pment used by George Mallory and S
32. fish fillets 3 Crush Knife this is the best alternative to the mezzaluna to finely mince vegetables 4 Carving knife for vegetables smaller than the chef s knife but similar and mainly used for vegetables EEE ao e 5 Boning Knife sharp and stiff blade for removing bones and cleaning meat of whatever may be inedible lt p 6 Straight Sparing Knife the jack of all trades for the kitchen Strictly with a smooth blade and centred tip the ideal for small cuts and indispensable for preparing meat and vegetables I 7 Curved Sparing Knife if you don t have this you can t peel clean make inci sions or scrape Mainly for fruit and vegetables 0 0 0 e 0 e G e 6 S e e e G e e e e e e e 0 e s e e e e e e e e s o Serving Knives n 1 Ham Knife flexible and long blade indispensable for cutting ham cold cuts and roast beef which need to be cut in thin slices 2 Bread Knife this 1s the only one with a saw shaped blade One can also use it for dry fibre pastry such as pies 3 Carving knife for meat and cheese smaller than a chef s knife it is similar and mainly used for table service 4 Roast Knife the blade has a curved and cutting tip Great cutting capacity prevents breaking into crumbs or splitting the slices Saw blades are strictly forbidden r T a S Sharpener absolutely necessary to keep knives always in cutting shape aD 6
33. heir corrosion resistance 3rd Cycle Tempering This involves heating the blade at a temperature lower than the one at which the martensite began to be transfor med into austenite in our case 2 hours at 250 300 C to soften the inner stresses left by hardening and reach a proper compromise between hardness resistance and steel tenacity 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 e eee 6 GS eee G 6 GS e e 0 G 6 S 0 eee e S 6 SG Ss 0 e GS e e s 6 e e e e e e 0 e e e e e e e e 0 e Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Sharpening knives Normally knives made using industrial techniques or which are produ ced in large quantities come out of the factory with the edge only set or made using automatic sharpeners which ensure constant but not excellent quality The reason for this lies in the high cost of hand sharpening and in the difficulty of being able to count on a sufficient number of craftsmen able to sharpen a high number of knives properly and with constant qua lity Knife sharpening is certainly no exact science and it is not possible to turn it into something irrefutable In practice every knife maker has his own theory which is the result of direct experience of comparison with the experience of others and of monitoring his own results To see how difficult it is to measure the quality of sharpening one may note that there are machines which measure how long the blade keeps its cut b
34. ict of Tuscany was used and the poor economy of those days made it necessary to use every part of the horn valuable or not After WWII horns from Maremma were no longer available and knife makers began to use horns from Romagna In the early Sixties Mr Santandrea delivered us the last load of Romagnole which we still remember well Then the horns from Romagna met the same fate as those from Maremma every day they became smaller thinner and without a full tip until they quickly became impossible to use In the early Nineties we decided to use only tip horn the full end of an ox horn just removing parts of it without heating or crushing it so as to keep the fullest colour and structure of the horn Since it is by now impossible to receive Italian horn we only use imported horn the best ox horn comes from certain African plateaux with much grass and water where there are no endemic illnesses ud could compromise the quality of the horn Water buffalo horn must be purchased in India because it is the very best quality After it has been imported the horn whether ox or water buffalo must be slowly aged for at least 24 months in order to stabilize its humidity content To slow down aging and prevent splitting the heads of the tips are sealed with wax In any case the horn we use is always scrap from slaughter of animals who have finished their working lives in the fields 8 to 10 years enough to allow the horns to grow fully 1 2 1 8
35. imes of things What erst was of a price becomes at last A discard of no honour whilst another Succeeds to glory issuing from contempt And day by day is sought for more and more And when tis found doth flower in men s praise Objects of won drous honour Now Memmius how nature of iron di scovered was thou mayst Of thine own self divine Man s ancient arms Were hands and nails and teeth stones too and boughs Breakage of forest trees and flame and fire As soon as known Thereafter force of iron And copper discovered was and cop per s use Was known ere iron s since more tractable Its nature 1s and its abundance more With copper men to work the soil began With copper to rouse the hurly wa ves of war To straw the monstrous wounds and seize away Another s flocks and fields For unto them Thus armed all things naked of defence Readily yielded Then by slow degrees The sword of iron succeeded and the shape Of brazen sickle into scorn was turned With iron to cleave the soil of earth they gan And the contentions of uncertain war Were rendered equal Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Knives from earliest times to the present day According to the most recent theories the first fami lies of apes which had come down from trees and be gun to take a standing posture date back to five Some say 7 5 million years ago It was precisely this new posture which freed the upper limbs and especially the hands from ha
36. intaining a fine knife crafted to last And not just something to be thrown away after a brief period of unsatisfactory use Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 samm 2g aaa e ee RO na s C S a Ie ia l esca D lisie sie SS TE i m gt PE i m at a u E a pr lt ya f a TR _ dea _re n _ e u 6 ei 5 _ aa e at 5 ry me fn p e ___ as m m ry i r gg 4 ee pen lt e FRS OO n s FEER ae What is the Deposit of Models of Coltellerie Berti a i The Deposit of the Models of Coltellerie Berti forms a small A world and a great Collection the only one able to fully repre N sent the Tradition Italian Cutler with the 76 knives of the Italian j eq 2 Regional Collection and the other 600 inherited and servants LI g g q models in over one century of job among which we remember xa desk knives of the Collection Magnum Forged kitchen knives S gt With handle in boxwood or in horn service knives among whi itiiti ch Italian the seven essential knives for the correct cut of the Q over 365 types of Italian cheeses silver wares harvests in the Collections for the Table Berti tagliasigari dedicated to David Convivio Nuovo the smooth blade knife with plastic handle work to hand adopted by the best Italian and European restaurant Pontormo represented in Cena in Emmaus
37. is the Tradition sustained by Le Tradizioni Vanno ris a 3 y oe e w SAGA Coletllerie Berti aimed It s aimed at all of those who instinctively recognise from the heart the extreme beauty and brilliance of the Berti Tradition and at those who recognise the need for and great value of a knife crafted to cut not only with care and precision but also one which is capable of reminding us who we are and where we come from Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 For you and your children Articles made with dedication to quality that over the years become part of our life are worthy of infinite respect and loving care We shouldn t replace them with others of perhaps a lesser quality just for the sake of change buying something new on a spending spree or a whim When making our decisions we should think in the broader sense and not just on a personal level In this sense it s true that you won t find justification for purchasing our knives for merely pesonal gratification our knives are the epitome of exuberance They are more than just objects purchased on a whim for personal gratification and give you more than just one person could want intheir lifetime A pleasure that lasts longer than what we might imagine being the moment of the average thrill in other words the time for which we are excited about a new purcha se and see a certain product as new as something out of the usual from the every day objects in o
38. itions conducive to our way of working and conse quently our way of life The search for low cost production etc is fundamentally incompatible with our respect for Tradition and therefore inconceivable Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Why are the knives made at Berti more expensive than others Industrially manufactured knives are more economical than the knives produced by Berti for obvious reasons regarding the choi ce of materials range of models and the country of origin which may offer low production costs in comparison to the hands of experienced craftsmen working within a context that has absolute respect for dignity in the work ethic The knives at Coltellerie Berti may also cost more than knives produced by alternative artisan methods in so much as a strict observance of the Berti Tradition will not allow compromise or a reduction of production costs and consequently prices Is there a working example of this The Fiorentino from the Berti Regional Knife collection is a perfect example In addition to being produced 100 according to the Craftsman s Tradition the handle is crafted using only the tip of the Ox Horn rather than using the less expensive lower re gion of the horn Even though this means increasing production costs and therefore doubling its price in respect to similar ver sions made from the lower Ox horn the Fiorentino is the ma ximum expression of beauty and Tradition s To whom
39. ived in Italy in early 2013 Since we use horn at Coltellerie Berti only after having let it age for at least 18 months it was hard to make horn knives in 2013 since our stock had almost run out Driven by this emer gency we sought to identify a plastic material which could replace horn with similar beauty and a pleasant touch Cornotech may be put in the washing machine though taking the usual precautions involved in washing knives It is more fragile than other kinds of plastic so it can break if it falls T Handmade Made in Italy 0 0 0 6 0 eee GS eee eee G SG 0 e Ss GS 6 S e 6 GS S e S e Ss 6 e S e e Ss e e 6 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 BERTI MADE IN ITALY AS A S C Ca DR M S Alessio Santoni Cristian Carraro Daniele Rogai Massimiliano Santoni A V C D l GB CS Andrea Vannini Claudio Donigaglia Giorgio Berti Sandra Corsini The work of a sole craftsman Signed with his initials Confirming his craft and its value At Coltellerie Berti each knife is the finished work of a sole craftsman Whoever starts the work takes it right through to the finishing touches This is the essence of the craftsman s tradition held in the Berti family since 1895 which to this day keeps up the age old tradition of joy in possessing a handmade knife fruit of a genuine craft And from tod
40. k on the steel Water with a high iron content leaves deposits Knives that don t have natural handles can also be washed in the dishwasher taking care to position them so they can t knock against each other and using a short delicate wash cycle max 60 C 140 F but you should also bear in mind the possible consequences dishwashing makes the objects washed in the machine age qui ckly the higher the quality of a steel blade the less stainless the steel will be so the blade can become stained with small reddish or large bluish marks Always dry your knives by hand because dishwasher s drying creates an environment saturated with aggressive vapours which in some cases can produce stains These may be caused by contamination during the wash or in the worst cases by an actual attack on the steel itself A good quality blade will never be completely stainless to cut well a blade must have a high carbon content rather than chromium so if a quality blade comes into contact with substances such as acetic acid hydrogen sulphide and citric acid found in many foods fruit vegetables and meat the steel may reach its limits of resi stance to aggressive environments Inexpensive knives are not affected this way because they contain very little or no carbon but they can t cut properly and can t be sharpened It s your choice In rare cases the oxidation of a knife blade is caused by low quality steel or an incorrect tempering proc
41. lds of those days show that it was not so It seems that the Wootz technique had been refined so as to absorb carbon especially on the edges of the sword Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Acciaio ricco di carbonio Acciaio povero di carbonio while keeping the core relatively mild This afforded a sword which was flexible enough to stand up against blows without breaking while providing a very sharp blade which kept a cutting edge for a long time The difference in carbon content between the edge and the core of the sword created a pretty wavy pattern on the surface hence the term damasqued So we may say that techniques used to make steel for cutting irons were developed introduced and sometimes lost in dif ferent places and at different times but in Europe steel having a good and stable quality has been avai lable only since 1740 Since 1740 steel production has been perfected making it possible to produce high quality steel with a controllable carbon content and which can easily be worked The kind of steel we have been talking about so far is what is called carbon ste el which rusts and which if brought to the lips has a strongly citrous flavour which it also passes on to food which it comes into contact with It was only in 1913 that Harry Brearley in Sheffield discovered that a steel sample with little carbon but with an addi tion of 13 14 chromium did not rust when exposed to the atmosphere it was th
42. may have the unwanted surprise of finding annoying red spots or dark marks on it not actual rust but oxidation of some superficial carbides Never let a knife drain off after washing it by hand this will certainly give rise to more or less extensive stains It may be contamination which took place during wa shing or in more serious cases a real attack on the metal Iron rich water leaves deposits Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Steel used in Coltellerie Berti 1s a kind made in Europe for high quality cutlery It is purchased at the steel mill in a condition of mild steel which can undergo mechanical and plastic processing needed to cut it or forge it until it becomes a blade Once the blade has been given the right geome try for cutting 1t must undergo Heat Treatment a succession of control led temperature changes In Coltellerie Berti in order to get the greatest hardness and tenacity the finest microstructure the best workability and rustproofness from our blades we have decided to put them through three different temperature cycles scelto di sottoporle a tre distinti cicli termici Ist Cycle Hardening The cutting steel is an Iron Carbon alloy where Carbon if rendered properly soluble in iron confers hardness and strength which translate into cutting capacity Hardening is carried out to obtain a steel which at room tempe rature can afford maximum solubilization of carbon in the iron mesh since if both elements
43. mple way but knowing what you are doing we can start by distinguishing the main features of Table and Kitchen knives Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Making knives with a saw blade for Table and Kitchen use is a relatively recent custom Saw blades have be come widespread only because they are cheaper being made in great quantity with totally automatic proces ses When cutting food one can see that a smooth edge is more pleasant and cleaner when cutting thou gh this means it will be more costly to buy and maybe need to be sharpened a little more often It may seem a bit intellectual to feel uncomfortable when using one s teeth to rip the food we are going to eat on the plate submitting it to a further useless sacrifice before it came to our dish it was an animal or a vegetable whi ch sacrificed its life to nourish us but it is surely more immediate to note that when we cut meat vegetables and cheese using serrated knives fluids come out whi ch contain a major part of the flavour and nourishment which instead of being eaten will stay in the dish Cs ee GUERRE ne He mee Serrated blade purchase these only to cut bread or any other dry fibre oven product They are not suitable for any other kind of cut since the saw blade tends to break fibres and let fluids out from the food we are going to cook or eat leading to a loss of flavour and nourishing substances Serration also has the unple asant effect of leaving ugly claw ma
44. nstead of being eaten will stay in the dish Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 TERRI the cutting edge I can reveal two great secrets on how to do this A Use the knife only for the kind of cuts it was designed for and avoid any improper use B Sharpen the edge before the knife has lost it completely The ideal tool to use for this is a good stone but it may be easier to use a sharpener To sharpen the cut of a knife using a sharpener place the blade on it at an angle of about 20 and holding down the sharpener let the blade slide Start by placing the edge of the blade near the handle onto the tip of the sharpener and move on letting it slide throughout its length until the tip of the blade approaches the handle of the sharpener Repeat the operation several times alter nating between the sides of the blade you are working on Make a final energetic pass with the sharpener under the blade to break the burr To get a good result one must keep the sharpener eS and knives clean and free from grease at all times and apply less and less pressure at each pas sage Careful when you sharpen a knife it is very easy to cut yourself especially when after you have overcome the first difficulties you feel you know how to do it and pay less attention When you are no longer able to sharpen the cut you must go to the knife grinder or directly to Coltellerie Berti f Horn Throughout the 1940s horn from the Maremma distr
45. orce with less effort when cutting you can grasp the blade where it enters the handle using in dex finger and thumb Finally a Carving Knife may be used for mincing by grasping the handle in the palm of your hand and re sting your other hand on the tip so as to make it easier for the blade to sway on the cutting board Material for the handle natural materials horn or wood are beautiful but the inevitably age soon There are many qualities of plastic polycarbonates economical and sturdy age more quickly than polymethyl acrylate plexiglas which is more expensive but better looking and longer lasting Plastics can be washed in a washing machine though this is never advisable for a knife Material for the blade the most commonly used is stainless steel which came into massive use over fifty years ago to solve the problem of rusting and the lemon flavour which old carbon knives used to leave in food To en sure cutting capacity and long lasting sharpness you must choose stainless steel knives with a high percentage of carbon over 0 40 however the higher the carbon percentage the less it will prevent rusting Avoid 100 rust proof knives since their steel is not suitable for cutting The surface may be either mirror polished or satinated Mirror polish is prettier when new but it ages quickly whereas satinated polish preserves its initial appearance longer and ensures that what is cut sticks less to the blade Recently knive
46. ow to shape them by striking them with another stone knap ping them until they could fit into wooden handles Our hominid thus fashioned the first lasting handmade object the first product of craftsmanship in history the knife it might be more accurate to say a piercing and cutting tool but please allow me this exaggera tion As beautiful as modern sculptures they were also suited to the purposes for which they had been designed The so called age of polished stone was the first great technological revolution of all time the first step towards the affirmation of homo sapiens The re followed a crescendo not only in the technique of knapping but also in that of polishing The latter ope ration was carried out by rubbing providing the knap ped stone with a sharp end or spears and arrows with pointed tips awls and scrapers were made to work on leather drilled axes clubs hand axes Skilful knap ping experience built up through time increasingly improved the tool our hominid after having disco vered the best way to work stored these procedures in his expanding brain and tried to repeat such daily actions improving them and handing down know how to his descendants The stone age came to an end in different times and places due to strictly local tech Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 nological improvements but also to the availability of special stones such as flint present in France and Britain or obsidian a f
47. points exist basically because a blade has to finish somewhere only in some cases does it have to do with some spe cific task 1t usually simply sets the appearance the style of the knife In this case too I would distrust eso teric looking tips and for my kitchen I would choose among the following Centred point ideal for paring knives used to pre pare meat and have specific functions which call for piercing They are also ideal for carving knives Scimitar point with straight spine the ideal for cutting large slices of raw or cooked meat when one needs to slide forward while cutting and entering hel ping oneself with the point Round or square point the ideal for raw or cooked meat knives where one does not have to enter first 0 0 0 0 e e 0 e G e 6 e e e eee e e e e e 0 e s e e e e e e e es o using the point and one wants to get slices by sliding forward Or else in the case of cheese which 1s cut only by pressing and not by sliding Or for certain ways of cutting vegetables and fruit Handle this decides how comfortable the cut will be so it must fill your hand well and allow you to grasp it an easy and sure way so the knife will never slip from your hands In the case of handles too sober shapes are a synonym of functional efficiency 1f we are lo oking for beauty it is better to choose nice looking materials horn wood special plastic rather than look for amazing sh
48. pplying pressure from above If you find yoursel ves using force to cut you re using the knife in the wrong way and may end up breaking it or even hurting yourselves Don t throw your knives in a drawer with a thousand other things if you want to keep them in good shape and as sharp as they should be There are special drawers designed for knives but if you don t have one get a Block Washing the knife by hand after use and drying it carefully after washing are the secrets to keeping your knives in top form for a long time use warm water 40 C a non aggressive detergent and dry the knife imm ediately after washing it If you don t wash a knife after using it leaving food residues on the blade until the next day you may be in for an unpleasant surprise and find unsightly reddish stains and black marks on it which while not exactly rust are nonetheless still produced by carbides forming on the surface 0 0 0 6 0 0 s GS eee e s G 6 GS e e 0 G 6 S 0 0 6 GS S S e Ss 0 e SG e e e 6 e 6 e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 e Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Never leave your knives to drip dry after washing this is one sure way to stain them with marks over some or most of the surface These marks may be caused by contamination during the wash or in the worst cases by an actual attac
49. r a long lasting and easily maintained cutting edge Some of our blades are obtained by shearing while others are forged but in any case the distinguishing element is the cutting edge made through three entirely manual steps which confer the absolutely best geometry on the cut ting edge for knives assigned to normal use as described above The cut is soft and not aggressive and food under the blade seems to break up sponta neously Furthermore the edge wears out following a definite geometry so one can continue to cut for a long time and in the most enjoyable way Krupp Steelmills European Standard gt EN 10088 ASTM Chemical Composition Steel No Name C Si Mn Pmax Smax Cr Ni Mo Ti v Martensitic 420 045 14 00 0 50 0 10 Rustproofness A good blade is never absolutely rustproof to cut you need a good carbon content and not too much chrome so if it comes into contact with sub stances like acetic acid hydrogen sulphide or citric acid which are to be found in abundance in many kinds of food fruit vegetables and meat it may come up against its own limits in addressing aggressive environments Cheap knives do not show this behaviour because they contain little or even no carbon they do not cut and cannot be sharpened but they don t rust The choice is up to you If you do not wash a knife after using it may be forgetting it until the next day with leftover food on it you
50. ragile but hard glassy pebble of volcanic origin to be found exclusively on the islands of Lipari Pantelleria Sardinia on the Aegean island of Melos in Anatolia Armenia and in the Carpa thians It is curious to note that some of these simple tools were found in places where the raw material does not exist this means that there was trade between far away tribes Many years would still elapse about one million before the discovery of metals casting of copper about 8000 years ago permitted a technologi cal leap forward in making weapons and cutting tools With bronze an alloy of tin and copper first about 5500 years ago and then with iron when progress in metallurgy about 3200 years ago made a kind of iron available which could compete with bronze it beca me possible to make weapons and knives having spe cialised shapes according to their use and fitted with comfortable and strong handles which ensured their prolonged use Bronze and iron are soft metals not especially suited for making weapons and knives whi ch have to suffer blows and go on cutting as long as possible however they continued to be used for many centuries since it was Impossible to replace them with better materials Though cast iron an iron carbon al loy with a high carbon content was already known 3000 years ago because it came naturally from ca sting iron contaminated by the carbon present in the coal used to melt the mineral and wa
51. reserve structure and taste Costa Anima Faccia Taglio 1 Wedgeshaped body and convex edge 2 Rectangular body and double wedge edge 3 Wedge shaped body and simple wedge edge Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 We suggest you don t let yourself be amazed by special effects purchasing knives with original and strange blades and edges If you really want to enjoy the sati sfaction of purchasing a knife which is guaranteed to be just right for a specific use do it only after you have bought the full set of knives which are indispensable for your kitchen this way you can be sure to make good cuts The surfaces of the blades give a nice appearance to the knife and choosing sober and effective working ensures the results will be good Therefore you can choose knives among those which have the following kinds of blade surfaces Satin finish these are the most common today due to the need to simplify the manufacturing process They were also successful because their surface aging is less than those of mirror polished blades It makes it harder for cut food to stick to the blade Mirror polished blades these look very beautiful they increase rustproofing but they are easily scra tched when they touch each other and during cutting During cutting food tends to stick to the blade causing unpleasant and sometimes dangerous deformations on what you are cutting Point It may seem strange but knife
52. rks on what it cuts Smooth blade the only kind suited to cut meat fish vegetables fruit and cheese A smooth bladed knife cuts softly with the greatest respect for what is sup posed to nourish us preserving every touch of flavour and nourishing capacity 0 0 0 e e 0 e e e 6 eee e e eee e e e e e 0 e e e e e e e e e e so In the kitchen once we know that a saw blade knife is needed to cut bread we must distinguish smooth bla ded knives according to their body and the geometry of their edge the final cutting part of the blade Wedge shaped body and convex edge this is the most ancient and common shape for a blade and its edge but it is also the most versatile Knives with this kind of edge ensure long lasting cut and easy shar pening They are suited for cutting raw and cooked meat fish cheese and vegetables This kind of sharpe ning can be done only by hand Rectangular body and double wedge edge this is the feature of knives which are not very flexible but are strong and are suited to withstand the blows typi cally incurred by bone breakers Wedge shaped body and simple wedge edge this is the feature of knives which cut very sharply and are flexible The limits of such blades are that the cut is short lasting and they are fragile making them suited for cutting filleting fish and vegetables food without a strong body where cutting must be made in a very delicate manner in order to p
53. ropic behaviour with a maximum contraction of 2 in every direction whereas extruded its contraction varies depending on thickness and di rection of extrusion This sentence which may seem cryptic to many explains why Coltellerie Berti chose a Polymethyl Metacrylate to make its knife handles After a negative experience we gave up using extruded PMMA that is the kind obtained by injecting molten grains into moulds at high temperature though economically advantageous more finished han dles at every moulding it inevitable breaks when put in the washing ma chine because its behaviour when heated is uncontrollable We therefore chose cast PMMA more expensive and difficult to work with obtained by adding a cold catalyst to a sirupy resin polymethyl acrylate transparent and strong smelling The liquid coming from this blend may be coloured by incorporating a colouring substance before the catalyst This makes a material with steady properties through time which does not turn yellow or age and keeps an unchanged shine Poured into formwork after plastifi cation generation of long chains of macro molecules it become a stiff and glossy slab with slightly irregular thickness which can be processed and modelled by hand through removal applying the manner and form of the typical Berti Method for traditional materials Finally in order to control inevitable shrinking Coltellerie Berti has invented an exclusive stabilising proce
54. s harder than iron it was impossible to use because of its being so fragile and hard to work that it was called ferraccio or worthless iron in Italy Already some 1700 or according to some 2200 years ago there existed in India the technique of enriching iron with carbon in a crucible to obtain the alloy known as Wootz steel but this technique came to the West so slowly that it appeared in Europe only in the 18th century just 300 years ago Until then in Europe the only technique known to improve the quality of cutting iron was to use pure iron in order to make welded Damascus ste el employing cast iron with a higher carbon content this was an extremely costly method and did not al low for making very large pieces at the most as large as a sword blade This technique could therefore be used only for making important weapons and not for everyday tools which continued to be made using iron with more or less carbon content on the forge depending on the skill of the master knife maker The technique for producing welded Damascus steel was mysteriously forgotten in Europe between the 5th and 16th centuries and was discovered again during the Renaissance when the myth spread that swords held by the Saracens in Damascus and seen by the Crusaders had marvellous properties because they were made using welded Damascus steel Actually an analysis of the weapons which have survived from the battlefie
55. s have been introduced with ceramic blades which put an end to rust problems once and for all and guarantee long term sharpness but they are fragile and inevitably will cease to cut in the end as sharpening is not easy Size of knives one must not be afraid of purchasing large knives As a general rule a knife should be twice as long as whatever one wants to cut Maintenance knives do not require much maintenance If you use them properly it will be enough to sharpen them after several years use Remember that it is preferable to wash them by hand but in any case they must be immediately dried Their shape thickness and the steel they are made from do not allow them to be used as levers to open tins or in any case for any use other than cutting food 0 0 0 e 0 e GS eee ee s G GS e Ss 0 G 6 S 0 0 6 GS S e S Ss Ss 0 e SG e e s e e 6 e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 0 0 Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 The indispensable set Carving knife this is normally the most frequently used one It is best to have two one at least 15 cm long for vegetables and fish and one at least 20 cm long for meat and cheese Carving knives should be grasped in different ways depending on the cut one needs to make Bread Knife at least 20 cm long with straight spine and cutting edge the only one with saw cut Grip the handle in the palm of your hand and let th
56. ss to prevent breakage in the washing machine Cornotech Cornotech is the brand name chosen by Coltellerie Berti for a special kind of orthophthalic polyester resin used since January 2013 to make a new line of knives This resin poured into aluminium cylinders thanks to its consi derable viscosity seals colours without spreading them throughout the mass This way one gets sticks which are then worked by hand using a specific procedure to make handles which look and feel very much like horn This is a high quality flexible and workable resin which stands up to washing machines and light is steady through time does not turn yellow nor age and keeps an unchanged gloss Many other materials which imitate horn exist including materials which can be extruded that are melted at high temperature and injected into special moulds to make handles ready to use The manufacturing process is cheap but the aesthetic quality is very poor and handles made this way definitely look fake The quest for this material arose from scarcity of true horn since it became impossible in 2012 to find horn due to a sickness which struck cattle in the area from which our best horn comes making 1t impossible to slaughter them for food Since we did not want to buy horn of lesser quality we decided to wait till the situation came back to normal In late 2012 once the sanitary emergency had passed horn at last began to be harvested again and arr
57. than a narrow vision that is coldly technological economic and definitively dehumanising What does passing down the Berti Tradition mean for Coltellerie Berti It means continuing despite the immense difficulties it may pre sent to produce the complete traditional knife collection which forms the so called storehouse as Andrea prefers and fur thermore it means continuing to produce it using only the best of the craftsman s materials and methods conserved and passed down by the family since the 19th century What does innovating the Berti Tradition mean for Coltellerie Berti It means the enrichment of our warehouse with new mate rials and new forms while at the same time maintaining and re specting Berti s tradition of craftsmanship and more importantly bring in new ideas only if they are quite clearly destined to stand the test of time and in turn become new Traditions This how our Tradition was born through a slow and patiently tried and tested selection of innovations which have brought progress and created lasting values for our people And this 1s how the Berti Tradition aims to continue Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 Does an actual example of innovation according to the Berti Tradition exist Lucite plexiglas a very modern plastic material used to make some handles represents an excellent example of innovation ac cording to the Berti Tradition The handle of the Convivio
58. ty among stamped ones we suggest you refer to a reliable dealer The fact that it is easier to make knives this way has led to a wide range of productions unhardened blades pre hardened pre conified etc the quality of which is very dubious Material of the blade the most widely used 1s stainless steel which came massively into use over 50 years ago to solve the problem of ru sting and the citrous flavour left on food by old carbon knives To get the right cutting capacity and make sharpness last you should choo se stainless steel knives with a high percentage of carbon more than 0 50 however the higher the percentage of carbon the less rustproof it will be Don t trust 100 rustproof knives because their steel will not be suitable for cutting The surface may be either mirror polished or satin finished mirror po lish is prettier when new but it ages quicker whereas satin finish preser ves its initial appearance longer and prevents cut material from sticking to the blade Recently knives have appeared with ceramic blades which finally solve the problem of oxidation and ensure long lasting sharpness but are fragile and when they will inevitably cease to cut they will be hard to sharpen Material of the handle natural materials horn or wood are pretty and nice to touch but inevitably they age quickly require care when being used and make it necessary to wash them delicately and by hand Many qualities of plastic wi
59. ur life And even in the case of a person who never tires of quality our knives last more than a lifetime Therefore our knives should be purchased as part of one s long term personal stra tegy It s our pleasure to say they become a family heirloom So our knives are for those who buy them and surely for those who will inherit them But they are desi ened and made to be handed down through the family generations In a word they are for you but also for your children Andrea Berti AI Handmade Made in Italy 0 0 0 6 0 0 eee eee eee eee 6 SG e e 0 G 6 S 0 e 6 e S e S SG Ss e e S e e e Ss 6 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0 Coltellerie Berti dal 1895 The Economy of Excellence In a world which actually only recently has become full of things to use and throw away a kind of behaviour which is different from strict consumerism is beginning to take hold It is a return to what I like to call the Economy of Excellence represented by this formula Ca PxqxM P is the purchase price of a product q is the quantity of the product M is the maintenance cost for each product unit purchased Ca is the annual cost incurred to enjoy the product This means that the real cost of a product Ca is not simply given by its purchase price but by the product of such a price multiplied by the times you need to replace and provide it with maintenance during its li
60. ut none that provide information on how enjoyable the cut is At Coltellerie Berti we are sure of the quality of our sharpening which we make in three totally manually steps in order to provide a softly convex geometry to the cutting edge This sharpening makes a cut which 1s apparently not very ag gressive but is long lasting and pleasant food which undergoes this soft cutting seems to break up spontaneously without suffering the violence of a blade The edge also wears out according to a geometry which allows it to go on cutting for a long time Filo cuneato Filo convesso taglio aggressivo consumo rapido taglio dolce consumo lento Smooth or saw edge Making knives with serration is a rather recent custom especially in the ma nufacture of kitchen and table knives When cutting food one can see that a smooth edge is more pleasant and cleaner when cutting though this will mean it is more costly to buy and maybe needs to be sharpened a little more often It may seem a bit intellectual to feel uncomfortable when using one s teeth to rip the food we are going to eat on the plate submitting it to a fur ther useless sacrifice before it came to our dish it was an animal or a vege table which sacrificed its life to nourish us but it is surely more immediate to note that when we cut meat vegetables and cheese using serrated knives fluids come out which contain a major part of the flavour and nourishment which i
61. ving to contribute to locomotion which opened up the way for transforming a not yet anthropomorphous ape into a hominid Our ancestors took several million years to specialise making hea dway by trying again and again to create tools using materials easy to work and to find such as bone and wood Only two million years ago did they develop the skills for using stones to make tools which thanks to their nature have survived until the present day providing us evidence of the existence of a great many kinds and shapes The most ancient tools were quite simple roughly made and used for defence or attack against animals or also against fellow human beings in order to gain control over territory During this pe riod human beings acquired the ability to make tools to satisfy their needs Tools which though knapped on one face only during the following half million years progressively became more precise and sym metrical revealing skill and creativeness Already 1 5 million years ago items tools existed which differed according to their use and in the following 500 000 years people began producing tools which were bet ter worked and knapped and could simplify everyday operations especially involving hunting cutting slices of meat making rudimentary spears able to strike ani mals from far away About one million years ago our ancestors had not only learned how to identify suitable flint for making tools they had also learned h
62. washing by hand to using machines and force us to devote a little of our time every now and then to caring for them designed so we can appreciate the cutting function they were made for give us back the pleasure of using an object which to be appreciated must also be seen as living evidence of the great Italian Knife Making Tradition Andrea Berti A Handmade Made in Italy 0 0 0 e e 0 eee eee e e eee e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e so COLTELLERIE BERII GENUINE TRADITION Mozzetta David Berti 1935 lt gt A long history of iron of fire 5 1995 David Berti and of skilled hands Andrea Berti Coltellerie Berti handcrafted since 1895 1895 Coltellerie Berti S r l Via della Resistenza 12 50038 Scarperia Firenze Italia Tel 39 055 84 69 903 Fax 39 055 84 68 014 e mail info coltellerieberti it web www coltellerieberti it

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