I’d be the first to tell you that if you can own only one really good chef’s knife, it should be an 8- or 10-incher. I have both, though my well-honed, 10-inch Wustof is the one I reach for most.

But secretly, I cherish a much shorter 6-inch, high-carbon, stainless Sabatier cook’s knife for a number of everyday tasks, like cutting up an apple or an orange, slicing hard cheese, and even whittling garlic cloves into paper-thin slices. I tuck this knife into a bag for picnics or parties, too.

All Sabatiers have a French-style blade shape, which is almost triangular, rather than gently curved like a German chef’s knife, and narrower overall. The shape encourages you to slice forward, rather than rock back and forth as you would when chopping with a German-style chef’s knife.

All Sabatiers are hand-forged at the Thiers-Issard factory in France, and they’re beautiful. A new version of my old favorite has a handsome, green handle with brass rivets (Professional Cutlery Direct, www.cutlery.com, carries it for $59.20). If you want to treat yourself to a really old-fashioned style of knife that holds a very sharp edge better than a stainless/carbon mix, go for the all-carbon model, but be aware that it will discolor over time.