# A formidible Azerbaijani chopping tool! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [July 25, 2021, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284 "2021-07-25T23:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/1 "2021-07-25T23:09:39Z")
I’ve been watching this [YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQuKEVeCKK0&t=850s) set in a very rural, traditional kitchen in Azerbaijan. The woman is making some homey dishes and chopping stuff with this mind-blowing cleaver. One side is smooth for chopping onions, herbs, and fruit, and the toothy, serrated side could be used to keep your village from being overrun by Vikings or something. 😮 This would scare the pants off Jacques Pepin or even Gordon Ramsey. [![](https://i.imgur.com/okRcTg7.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/okRcTg7.jpg) The channel is called [Country Life Vlog](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIix6MklfJFywa_36iDj8Sw). > As a Country Life Vlog, we love to share what we do at countryside, engage with nature and make the most out of village life. Come and see the colorful videos of nature, unique cooking recipes and just the beautiful life at a countryside. Sit back and relax by watching our content! There’s no narration or even captions, but it’s riveting to watch (for some of us anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/2 "2021-07-25T23:42:49Z")
That knife is truly scary. I thought she would be cooking some finger-meat for sure! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/3 "2021-07-26T03:29:17Z")
That looks to me like the knife was made from an old, repurposed saw. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/4 "2021-07-26T13:27:55Z")
Wow, you are probably right. 👍🏽 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/5 "2021-07-26T13:57:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That looks to me like the knife was made from an old, repurposed saw. I was thinking that but why the curve on the front? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/6 "2021-07-26T14:20:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > why the curve on the front? WAG: maybe so granny can rock it back and forth like a mezzaluna? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/7 "2021-07-26T14:29:19Z")
Or an artifact of how the blade was ground. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/8 "2021-07-26T14:31:35Z")
Perhaps the saw blade broke and the curve was put there to replace the jagged edge? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/9 "2021-07-26T14:32:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I was thinking that but why the curve on the front? Lots of kitchen knives are made like that so they can’t be used as stabby things, stabbing being (hopefully) very rare in the culinary arts. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/10 "2021-07-26T14:35:16Z")
What, you don’t have knife fights in your kitchen? Must be terribly boring. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/11 "2021-07-27T20:32:31Z")
I can’t imagine that knife being any less deadly just by taking the point off the front. It looks like it’s an absolute monster to use. It must weigh a ton, and doesn’t seem particularly sharp - she has to use so much force to cut the entire table shakes. She must have shoulders like a WWE wrestler to use it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/12 "2021-07-27T20:35:12Z")
Well, that table is really wobbly, even before she started chopping. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/13 "2021-07-27T20:51:46Z")
It looks like a combo cleaver and bread knife in one! Very clever and efficient! Here is a formidable onion chopping technique - if I tried this I would definitely lose a fingertip, or more!.. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tzd0t1VaWfA/maxresdefault.jpg "Amazing Onion Cutting Skills") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzd0t1VaWfA) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/14 "2021-07-27T21:07:21Z")
I posted a video on this scary onion chopping technique a couple of years ago, but I could never find it again. So glad you posted another one. This boggles my mind and actually makes me a little queasy to watch. If you tried this technique with that Azerbaijani cleaver, you’d probably do yourself some serious damage! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/15 "2021-07-27T23:51:42Z")
As an aside: My grandfather used to work at a steel mill. They had big, super-heavy saws that they used to slice pieces off of ingots. The blades wore out quickly, and when they did, he took them home, and ground them into knife blades on his grindstone and re-quenched them. Most of Grandma’s kitchen knives were made by him, and one of my most prized possessions is a hunting knife he made that way. They’re good knives. But he never left the teeth on the back edge. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/16 "2021-07-28T00:16:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Most of Grandma’s kitchen knives were made by him, and one of my most prized possessions is a hunting knife he made that way. They’re good knives.- That is **so** cool! Can you post a picture? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/17 "2021-07-28T00:36:20Z")
What was Gladwell’s thing? It takes 10,000 to become a virtuoso at anything? That poor schmuck has spent 10,000 hours chopping onions. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/18 "2021-07-28T17:50:03Z")
Let’s see if this works… > **[knife.jpg](https://drive.google.com/file/d/14yiV2X-grE8XLNguRxoXXuvCAF8apo6E/view?usp=sharing)** > > Google Drive file. The colored stripes on the handle are in case it’s dropped in snow, or mud, or spring leaves, or fall leaves, or whatever: No matter what it’s dropped in, something will contrast. It’s got similar stripes on the sheath. And I’m glad you made me dig that out-- It was starting to get some rust spots on it, which I polished before taking that picture. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/19 "2021-07-28T17:57:18Z")
Why did I hear [this in my head](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP3MuUTmXNk) when I saw that picture? That looks like an amazing handmade knife though. Kudos to your grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284/20 "2021-07-28T18:59:29Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > It looks like a combo cleaver and bread knife in one! Very clever and efficient! In some of the other videos, she uses it as a meat tenderizer, or whatever you want to call it. For example, she’ll get some chicken filets flat and then use the jagged size of the knive to pound it down like you would on the bumpy side of a meat mallet or a jaccard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-formidible-azerbaijani-chopping-tool/947284.md?page=2)