MAC Black Japanese chef's knife 21.5cm

The MAC Black knife is made in Seki, Japan, a town that has specialized in the production of quality knives and cutting utensils since the Middle Ages. It's a smart and efficient way to equip yourself: you benefit from Japanese expertise in cutlery, without having to invest huge sums of money.

It's particularly popular with professionals looking for performance and ergonomics, as they use it daily and almost intensively. It is also ideal for the passionate amateur who cooks at home, thanks to its intuitive operation.

The MAC Black 21.5cm chef's knife is a multi-functional model, enabling you to cut, chop, chisel or slice various food families. It's the all-purpose knife, and a great option if you're just starting out and don't know which model to choose.

Its blade is made of AUS-8 stainless steel, the alloy of which has been enriched with 0.8% carbon (whereas the average for a good Western kitchen knife is around 0.5%). This addition of carbon makes the blade slightly stiffer, bringing it up to a hardness of -+59 HRC on the Rockwell scale. This index shows the excellent ratio between edge retention and ease of sharpening. Your Mac Black knife will therefore hold its sharpness better with use, and will be easy to maintain when you start to feel it losing its edge. Just grab a sharpening stone and away you go!

Its cutting edge is worked in a hybrid way, combining a Japanese cutting angle (asymmetrical) and a Western cutting angle (V-shaped symmetrical). This special shape ensures a perfect combination of formidable cutting edge and longevity. What's more, the finesse of the cutting edge ensures clean penetration that reduces fatigue over the long term, as you don't need to force it.

For even greater efficiency, the knife has been hand-sharpened by a craftsman, using a whetstone. You'll feel the effectiveness of such a finish from the very first use.

The blade features a black non-stick coating, visible on both sides of the cutting surface. Slightly rougher than steel to the touch, it enables you to cut wet foods more easily: they will stick less to the blade. This coating also protects the alloy from oxidation and bacteria.

The handle is made of Pakkawood, a composite material combining laminated wood and hot-compressed resin. It is resistant to humidity, shock and temperature variations. It is completed by 3 rivets that hold the Pakkawood to the full tang blade (which extends to the end of the handle).

The whole remains lightweight (a feature accentuated by the absence of a bolster), despite its respectable size, making it more pleasant to use over time. The shape has also been designed to ensure a perfect grip, and is perfectly suited to Western use.

Care: the MAC Black knife should be washed by hand with lukewarm water and a soft (non-abrasive) sponge, then dried immediately before storing. This gentle care guarantees long-lasting use of the knife.

MAC has been developing its techniques since the early 60s, and its know-how is backed by several registered patents. The brand is now internationally renowned, and equips some of the world's finest chefs.

Its founder used the term "Macrocosm" to find the name of the brand, retaining only the first three letters. In simplified terms, this term means "immense universe", in the image of the founder who, by using such words, wanted to make a link with his ambition to equip kitchens the world over.

The founder studied in the United States. He worked as a part-time cook, in addition to his studies. It was there that he had the opportunity to test kitchen knives that weren't necessarily to his taste. He was using a dull, heavy and very sharp German knife when he dropped it, narrowly missing injuring his foot. Instead, the knife stuck in the ground, and when he tried to pull it out, about 3cm of the point had broken off. To fix this, he took a sharpening stone to the blade, making the point "rounder" than it had been at first. Gradually, he realized that this modification had significantly increased the knife's efficiency, and with it his own output.

When he returned to Japan, this experience gave him the idea of establishing the MAC company, with the aim of creating knives with a formidable cutting edge, but at the same time safer, more durable, lighter and therefore easier to use.

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