The 5pm Dining blog is always happy to receive press releases which have more than a touch of the fruit loop about them.
However, a recent missive sent on behalf the Northern Ireland Tourist Board is quite the most batty we have been sent for a good few weeks.
It is for a set of kitchen knives made with Valyrian steel.
Yes, we mean Valyrian, as in the steel which is much sought after by fighters in Game of Thrones®. Northern Ireland provides the set locations for many scenes in the record-breaking fantasty series.
Great for carving lamb and Whitewalkers
Some chefs swear by Sabatier; others prefer to use Henckels, Wusthof or Kai Shen. And others would rather wield a blade famed as the sharpest and most durable steel in all the seven kingdoms of Westeros.
Crafted by Master Blacksmith Owen Bush, this set of three knives were commissioned to celebrate the sixth season of Game of Thrones® filming in Northern Ireland.
Apparently, these blades represent the closest real world equivalent to the mythical Game of Thrones® alloy. They are said to be ‘forged in fires (nearly) as hot as dragon flame’ and each blade is made up of ‘Northern Irish iron ore, volcanic obsidian (dragon glass) and meteorite’.
Fit for a knight
The finished knives were delivered to Stephen Toman, at his Michelin-starred OX restaurant in Belfast, where he used them to create a banquet worthy of Westerosi knights – rack of lamb from the Mourne Mountains in Co Down, braised liver, smoked celeriac and wild garlic. The knives now sit in pride of place in a secure case in OX.
Regrettably, they are not available to buy commercially.
Which is a huge pity. Kitchen knives made with Valyrian steel may be a completely bonkers idea but we bet they would sell like hot cakes in the run up to Father’s Day:
‘It’s not comedy socks again is it, son?’
‘Nah, It’s a set of Valyrian steel kitchen knives. Bloke down the market told me they’d fallen off the back of a dragon.’
We suspect that kitchen knives made with Valyrian steel could be a long time coming to market. In the meantime, 5pm Big Deal has lots of great gift ideas for Father’s Day.
