Return of Carbon Steel?

A little-remarked kitchen tool, the carbon steel knife, surfaced in the Times today.  I thought it had been relegated to the dusty bottom shelves at Dehilleran, the ancient wholesale cookware emporium, sitting at the edge of a busy corner in Paris' former market, Les Halles.  

I bought my knives there during an internship at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine, back in the early '80s.  Carbon steel knives, along with tin-lined copper pots, and copper egg white bowls, were part of every professional French kitchens' batterie de cuisine.  

My 2 chefs' knives, a tartineur (?) to spread frosting, and treasured but lost fish fillet knife, make me happy to be in the kitchen.   Why?  Carbon steel has a terrific edge.  It makes a clean, smooth cut, using less effort than stainless knives.  It excels at edging.  Its heft is quite accommodating to my little wrists. 

If you don't want to wash and dry knives right after cooking, or take a little elbow grease to remove rust from time to time, carbon steel isn't for you.