Japanese enamel pouring ladle

A pouring ladle of white vitreous enamel over stainless steel. Enamel is made by the high temperature fusion of powdered glass slurry to in this case a stainless steel substrate, as such it retains the advantages of glass - being largely inert and prone neither to tainting flavours, nor leaching undesirable chemicals into food - whilst allowing for finer and often more practical forms. It should be remembered though that the coating is still glass and retains its brittle fragility, so will crack, chip, or shatter if dropped or over flexed. Despite these drawbacks however it remains in many ways the best coating solution for culinary metals. These are made by the Takakuwa Metal Company a small specialist western style cutlery manufacturer of Tsubame-shi, Niigata, a city traditionally renowned for its coppersmiths and light metal workers. Measures very approximately 24cm overall length, with the scoop roughly 8cm across its widest point.