The Wusthof Gourmet 14piece block set includes the 2.75" straight parer for your for exact straight edge cutting of doughs and pastrys. The 3inch parer is a must have knife for all you peeling and paring of fruits and vegatables. The 4.5" utility is useful for the small slicing jobs on fruits and vegitables. The 8inch Bread knife will handle the crusty loaves of bread and the the 8" cooks is a must for all your chopping and dicing needs. The set also includes the come apart kitchen shear, 9 steel and a 17 slot block. In addition this set has 6 steak knives. Typical stamped knives are punched out like a cookie cutter. Wusthof Gourmet knives are Laser Cut. This intricate manufacturing process is superior to other "cookie cutter" methods as it is more precise and leaves the knives with less distortion. The Gourmet knives use the same steel that is used in our other more expensive knives. Wusthof uses a special blend of German steel through out the whole length of the knife. The ingredients of this steel are proudly etched on each blade. Wusthof not only uses the best materials to make a fine knife, but it is also crucial that each blade is precisely tempered. This tempering allows the knife to hold its edge for an extremely long time, yet can be maintained in your home kitchen with out the need to be sent away for maintenance. Located in "The Cutlery Capital of the World", Solingen Germany, the Wusthof factory history goes back as far as 1814 when the company was listed with the Duchy of Berg. To this day, the company remains family owned. Each step is performed to exacting standards by skilled German workers aided by the most modern, computer guided equipment. It is this balance of German technology and old world hand craftsmanship that is the secret of how each WÜSTHOF knife is created. Known the world-over for it’s unique and uncompromising quality,