Meet the Knifemaker Inspired by South Asian and New England Fishing Traditions
Here’s how Rhode Island artisan Joyce Kutty crafts her bespoke blades—and puts them to work in the kitchen.
Joyce Kutty likes wicked sharp knives and catch-of-the-day dinners.
As a child, the 33-year-old metalsmith learned to fish the waters off Point Judith, Rhode Island, and helped her mother prepare Tamil- and Malayali-style curries in their kitchen in East Providence. Now, after a stint crafting Harmony engagement rings for Tiffany & Co., Kutty has moved on to more utilitarian objects inspired by the ancestral housewares her father carried home after visits to family in Kerala, India: Hand-forged spice spoons, hammered thali bowls, nadan kathi knives, and koduval coconut cleavers.
Her own boning and filleting knives reference the same graceful curves of these more traditional South Asian blades. “Both my parents are from coastal states,” she says. “So we eat a mostly fish diet. Making knives that can carve into fish and the things we grow stems from the root of my culture and upbringing.” Providence chefs Scott LaChapelle of Pickerel and Robert Andreozzi of Pizza Marvin are fans of her designs (Andreozzi is her occasional fishing buddy). “Part of my practice is to get out on the ocean and harvest seaweed from secret fishing spots [to create] a saltwater patina on bowls.”
On days away from her studio, she rises before dawn to cast for bluefish, stripers, and bonito. Oily mackerel is a particular favorite for those family curry recipes, which mingle deeply oceanic flavors with the sting of chiles. With every fish she brings home, Kutty also slices off a little piece for crudo to taste its essence. And the ones that get away? “Some for us, some for others, some for next season.”
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