The blade is straight rather than bellied, which sounds minor until you use it. A curved paring knife is made for in-hand work; this one is made for board work — splitting a shallot, trimming sprouts, coring tomatoes, cutting scallions — where the flat edge contacts the surface along its entire length and cuts all the way through.
At this size it is also the knife that gets used constantly and washed constantly. The moulded handle survives that, and the stain-free steel does not spot from acid the way plain carbon does when a knife spends its day in citrus and tomato.
Dexter-Russell has made cutlery in Southbridge, Massachusetts since 1818 and is the oldest cutlery manufacturer in the United States. The Sani-Safe line is its NSF-certified foodservice range, built around a textured polypropylene handle moulded to the tang so there is no seam for food to lodge in.
