Your first visit to the forge
How to find us in Tupudana, what to wear, and what happens on a Saturday morning.
Ranchi’s Daily Market and its fish knives
Where our fish knife pattern came from, and how the fishmongers of Ranchi use it.
If you walk into Ranchi’s Daily Market early on a Sunday, the fish section is already busy: rohu, katla and small river fish laid out on wet jute, and fishmongers scaling and cutting at speed. Their knives are what our fish knife is based on.
The traditional pattern is long and thin, about 200 mm, with a slightly flexible blade and a rounded spine. The spine is used to scrape scales off, against the grain, in quick strokes. Then the belly is opened with the tip, and the fish is cut into steaks across the bone or filleted along it.
In 2019 we spent several mornings at the market with two fishmongers who had bought knives from Bhola for years. They wanted a little more flex and a guard to stop the hand sliding forward on a wet handle. We changed the steel to spring steel and added a sal wood finger guard. Both still use the first prototypes.
At home, the same knife works for any fish you buy whole. Scale it outdoors or in a deep sink to keep scales off the walls. Cut steaks with one firm push rather than sawing.
It also guts and fillets chicken well. Just keep it away from bone-in mutton.
