Trudeau Adds to Laguiole Line

Laguiole Carving Set with black horn handles

By Lorrie Baumann

Trudeau is updating the Laguiole collection of knives introduced at last year’s International Home + Housewares Show with new additions to the line that will allow home cooks to create a coherent cutlery story in their kitchens and dining rooms.

The Laguiole knives are Trudeau’s homage to the cutlers from a French village where Casimir-Antoine Moulin started making cutlery in 1829. The tradition flourished in France until it died out in World War I. It was revived locally in 1987. The Trudeau cutlery borrows signature elements of the Laguiole tradition, including the distinctively shaped handles embellished with a stamped bee design, for knives that are made in China and finished and assembled by hand.

Laguiole Steak Knives

Pocket knives were an important part of the Laguiole tradition, and early Laguiole pocket knives with handles made from Aubrac cow horn or bone were used by the local farmers and shepherds. The Trudeau knives bow to that tradition this year with a pair of pocket knives that include corkscrews. The Laguiole Deluxe XL corkscrew is made of stainless steel and pakka wood and comes packaged in a gift box, as do all of the Trudeau Laguiole knives. The Laguiole Waiter’s corkscrew is made of stainless steel and red stablewood and even comes with a leather case. The corkscrews are grooved to reduce friction for easier cork extraction.

Trudeau introduced the Laguiole steak knives last year. This year, there’s a choice of three handles: black horn, rosewood or pakka wood on knives hat feature thick gauge full-tang stainless steel serrated blades with hand stamped detailing on the handles, including the Laguiole bee. They retail for $99.99 for a set of six knives packaged in gift boxes.

Carving sets come with the same three handle choices. The three piece sets include a 6.25-inch carving fork, 7-inch carving knife and 7.25-inch knife sharpener. These sets also retail for $99.99 and are packaged in gift boxes.

Laguiole Prep Knife Set

New this year, Laguiole-style prep knife sets include a 7-inch Santoku knife, 5-inch utility knife and 3-inch paring knife with each of the three handle materials. The prep knife sets retail for $99.99 and also come packaged in gift boxes.

Finally, Trudeau is offering a new set of Laguiole cheese knives for soft cheeses. With thick gauge, full tang stainless steel blades and hand-stamped detailing on the handles, these knives function as both knives and spreaders. They are currently available only with pakka wood handles. A gift-boxed set of four retails for $39.99.

This story was originally published in the March 2015 issue of Kitchenware News, a publication of Oser Communications Group.