Named from the English petty or the French petit, this stainless steel petty is made for detail work: peeling, brunoise, fresh herbs, small cuts of meat or fish. The double-bevel blade works on the board as well as in hand. Its moderate blade height keeps the fingers clear without adding weight, and the fine tip suits meticulous work.
In the kitchen, the petty takes over from a gyuto or santoku when a long blade becomes unwieldy: trimming a vegetable, dicing a shallot into brunoise, mincing herbs, removing the skin from a small cut. The double bevel suits either hand. The short format reduces the distance between the hand and the tip, which allows holding the food in the palm and cutting off the board.
Ginsan (Silver Steel), also known as Gin-3 and Ginsanko, is a stainless steel with more than 13% chromium, which gives high corrosion resistance under normal use. On water stones it sharpens quickly and reaches a very fine edge for a stainless steel, with behavior close to that of carbon steels. On a petty, that fine edge serves detail cuts directly, and the edge holds up in daily use without special attention between sharpenings.
Care
Rinse and dry the blade after use. Ginsan does not develop a patina and needs no camellia oil. Never wash in the dishwasher. A pass on leather between sharpenings realigns the edge.
