Henri Gordon Lee

From the beginning, I was a different sort of lad.  My parents were chinese restaurant owners and as a child, I was given a wooden spoon and a pair of chopsticks to to play with.  As I grew, I realized, that it was given to me as learning tools. Most kids my age were told stay out of the kitchen, I was told to dont stop sitrring!

As I grew, my father taught me all he knew about chinese cuisine.  The first real knife I ever used was a chinese cleaver – it was the only knife I owned until I began at a real culinary school in my 20’s.

I was an F.Dick man for many years while I was training as a chef.  They were great! Easy to sharpen, forgiving and comfortable to handle.  I still have them to this day –somewhere.

One day I saw the shun blades – they were these beautiful sleek knives, with a demascus finish, highly polished handles and f’n sharp! I used my first santoku classic shun for the very first time that day – OMG! I was hooked!  Shun are by far, one of the most elegant, precise, sharp, funtional tools I have ever used! Did I mention sharp? They are a seemless addtion to your hand and are extremely comfortable for extended periods of use.

I prefer the newer series –Shun Premiere – they are the awsome! Incredibly hard core steel, hammered damascus finish and a unisex walnut lacquered handle, well balanced  – WOW! Being a left hander, I have experienced a bit of trouble with handling certain knives, but the premiere seems to be created for either a lefty or wrong, I mean right handed person.

Shun knives are the most integeral part of ANY kitchen – beautifully designed, masterfully built – the Shun priemere ARE primo! Any knife with a stamp of ”USE AT YOUR OWN RISK” has to be for the serious affectionato.  Did I mention they are sharp?

Henri Gordon Lee is a career chef, working in Denmark for the past 16 years with chefs like Jan Friis Mikkelsen, Jan Hurtigkarl, Claus Meyers, Christopher Dufoe and Bo Beck.  He has been the chief writer for 20 of Lene Hansson books and 2 of her son’s, Sebastian Randrup.  Henri has also been the chef for team CSC during their Alp d’Huez races and has an extensive knowledge on chilies and caribbean – asian foods.