Are you a Chef?

Basic knife skills are an important component of any Culinarians Repertoire; whether you plan to earn a living in the kitchen, or simply please yourself, your friends, and your family. Learning to wield a knife correctly will speed up your prep time, and food. In addition, the mastery of certain classic knife cuts and methodology will vastly improve the look of your food, garnishes and plate presentations.Today very few cooks (even good ones) possess the basic knife skills to do these tasks effectively. A knife is used to shape an item and reduce its size. Uniformity of size and shape ensures even cooking and enhances the appearance of the finished product. Do you know any basic knife techniques?

Slicing is typically used to create three specialty cuts: Chiffonade, Rondelle and Diagonal. Can you point out these cuts by name?

Oblique-cut or roll-cut items are small pieces with two angle-cut sides, most often used on carrots and parsnips. Have you ever used this knife technique before?

Lozenges are diamond-shaped cuts prepared from firm vegetables such as carrots, turnips, rutabagas and potatoes. Are you skilled enough to know how to cut lozenges?

To dice is to cut an item into cubes. The techniques described here are the most often used when uniformity of size and shape is important. Have you ever used these knife skills in your cooking such as; Julienne, Batonnet, Brunoise, Small dice, Medium dice, Large dice, Paysanne?

Tourner is a cutting technique that results in a football-shaped finished product with seven equal sides and flat ends. Are you familiar with this cut?

Although many slicing and dicing machines are available, none can ever completely replace a skilled chef with a sharp knife. Do you believe this to be a true statement?

After taking this survey did it inspire you to learn some knife skills, and or to brush up on your knife skills?