The shape gets called a cleaver and is not one. This blade is thin, light through the cut, and ground to slice — vegetables, boneless meat, herbs — with the width there so the flat can crush aromatics and carry a board’s worth of prep to the wok.
In high-carbon steel the edge goes finer than stainless will, which is what this pattern is for: very thin, very even slices done quickly. The riveted hardwood handle balances the wide blade so the knife sits level in the hand rather than nose-heavy.
Dexter-Russell has made cutlery in Southbridge, Massachusetts since 1818 and is the oldest cutlery manufacturer in the United States. Traditional is its original pattern book — high-carbon steel blades on hardwood handles, ground to shapes the company has been making for over a century.
