the cutting edge.
The essential tool of any serious cook is a serious knife. The knife is the one tool that every cook must use if they plan to make food, without the usage of a knife one is most likely not cooking but only reheating food. For the cook, a knife is used so much that it often becomes an extension of their hand and arm. With time, every movement of the blade should becomes faster and more accurate. It is crucial to learn, obtain, and practice good knife skills in order to be proficient in the craft of cooking.
That being said, I love my knives and using them. I've invested a lot of money into my knives but always feel the need to buy just one more. I've owned my current set of knives for just over two years and have formed a relationship with them.
I've been chopping vegetables and mincing garlic since I was old enough to safely handle a knife and help in the kitchen. It's safe to say that I have spent a lot of time honing my knife skills but I know that I can always be better. I've sliced and diced my way through pounds of produce, poultry, and meat but I still know there's kilos more to go through.
I'm fanatical about maintaining the edge of my blades. When they're dull I relish the few minutes I spend sharpening them, I love using a sharpening stone. Taking long draws of the knife across the stone's wet surface and hearing the smooth noise of steel on stone with every pass of the blade. There's a precise angle, touch, and movement required to form a good edge. Sharpening takes skill and focus, I find that there's something very comforting and zen-like in the entire process of sharpening.
In fact, every movement of the knife should be focused and precise. Whether it be mincing a clove of garlic, honing the blade along a steel, making a chiffonade of herbs, brunoising shallots, or boning a chicken. I love using a knife, my knife. On occasion it's silver finish has been stained with my blood, and that makes me feel as if this simple tool has become even more of a part of me and who I am. Each time I pick up my chef knife there is a sense of familiarity and comfort, a feeling like I've come home.
That being said, I love my knives and using them. I've invested a lot of money into my knives but always feel the need to buy just one more. I've owned my current set of knives for just over two years and have formed a relationship with them.
I've been chopping vegetables and mincing garlic since I was old enough to safely handle a knife and help in the kitchen. It's safe to say that I have spent a lot of time honing my knife skills but I know that I can always be better. I've sliced and diced my way through pounds of produce, poultry, and meat but I still know there's kilos more to go through.
I'm fanatical about maintaining the edge of my blades. When they're dull I relish the few minutes I spend sharpening them, I love using a sharpening stone. Taking long draws of the knife across the stone's wet surface and hearing the smooth noise of steel on stone with every pass of the blade. There's a precise angle, touch, and movement required to form a good edge. Sharpening takes skill and focus, I find that there's something very comforting and zen-like in the entire process of sharpening.
In fact, every movement of the knife should be focused and precise. Whether it be mincing a clove of garlic, honing the blade along a steel, making a chiffonade of herbs, brunoising shallots, or boning a chicken. I love using a knife, my knife. On occasion it's silver finish has been stained with my blood, and that makes me feel as if this simple tool has become even more of a part of me and who I am. Each time I pick up my chef knife there is a sense of familiarity and comfort, a feeling like I've come home.
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