This Old Yankee Had a Cutting Board

It was a blazing hot summer day and I was about to do a cooking demo for the Newport Mansions Food and Wine Festival.

 

A man with sparkling eyes and a baseball cap walked slowly toward me. Slowly because he was seriously encumbered by the weight of an enormous cutting board on his hip that threw his balance completely off.

 

He broke into a smile as our eyes met and he extended his free hand.  “Hello Chef,” he said in a warm voice tinged with a bit of New England in his accent. “This is for you,” he continued as he struggled to hand me the most gorgeous cutting board I had ever seen.

 

“Wait…what? Why?” I asked, incredulous.

 

“I’d love to see what you think,” he smiled.

 

And that was how I met Dean, the genius behind the cutting boards known to the culinary world as Old Yankee. These hand-crafted boards (no, seriously…handmade, each and every one…) are made from kiln-dried hardwood so they can stand up to constant use. They’re put together with the care and attention that only an artisan can bring to the craft.

 

These boards don’t warp or crack or split. The little rubber ‘feet’ on the four corners prevents slipping and allows the board to sit above the counter allowing for a dry space under it.

 

As they are made from nature’s own creation…wood, these boards resist bacteria. New studies show that it’s plastic boards that hold bacteria with all crevices our knives create. These hardwood boards are simple to clean…hot water (a bit of natural soap if you like, but I never use it). They serve your cooking like a tirelessly loyal servant.

 

Mine has not left my kitchen counter since Dean handed it to me. I think of him every day with a smile as I slice and dice my way to great meals, admiring the lasting beauty and durability of this cutting board that graces my cooking.

 

It was a fine summer day when I met Dean and my cooking prep changed forever. I have gifted his boards to people I love and each and every one of them cherishes their cutting board like a family heirloom, which it is when you think about it. These boards are so finely made and durable, they will last for generations. When you pass down those family recipes, now you can pass the cutting board used to prepare them along with them.

 

If you’re serious about cooking and the prep that goes into that art form, you need…and I mean need to get one of these boards for your very own. Is this board and investment? Yes, it is. But it will be the best…and the last cutting board you every buy. Trust me on this one.