Just finished reading <em>The Making of a Chef</em>, which describes going through the courses of the Culinary Institute of America.
At one point, a teaching chef berates a student for her dull knife and comments that the cut surface of her potatoes should be smooth like glass if her knife was sharp. I tried that today with a dull knife and a sharp knife and the difference is interesting. A dull knife creates a broken pebbly feeling surface.
The other interesting knife comment in the book was where a chef was teaching a grip with the finger and thumb pinching the blade of a big chefs knife just forward of the handle with the other fingers gripping the knife normally. I tried that today too and found it awkward for chopping, but I do use a similar grip on small knives for more detailed food prep.
If you like cooking or have debated running a restaurant, the book is pretty good, though it isn't a cookbook and contains no recipes.
At one point, a teaching chef berates a student for her dull knife and comments that the cut surface of her potatoes should be smooth like glass if her knife was sharp. I tried that today with a dull knife and a sharp knife and the difference is interesting. A dull knife creates a broken pebbly feeling surface.
The other interesting knife comment in the book was where a chef was teaching a grip with the finger and thumb pinching the blade of a big chefs knife just forward of the handle with the other fingers gripping the knife normally. I tried that today too and found it awkward for chopping, but I do use a similar grip on small knives for more detailed food prep.
If you like cooking or have debated running a restaurant, the book is pretty good, though it isn't a cookbook and contains no recipes.