Putting These Skills Into Practice
Try this video for a visual interpretation of the knife skills.
The following methods taken from Knife Skills Illustrated: A User’s Manual, Peter Hertzmann.
Garlic
Preparing the Garlic:
Slicing the Garlic:
Dicing or Mincing Garlic:
Alternative Method to Dicing or Slicing Garlic:
Preparing the Garlic:
- Cut to remove the base of the garlic.
- Place the garlic on the chopping board and the using the flat side of the knife to press down (this crushes the garlic).
- After crushing the garlic you should be able to remove the peel.
- Dispose of peel into a scrap bowl or place directly in the bin.
Slicing the Garlic:
- Cut successive thin vertical cuts.
Dicing or Mincing Garlic:
- Cut garlic clove in half.
- Cut successive thin vertical cuts on both halves.
- Finally cut successive think horizontal cut on both halves. This should enable a fine dice or mince.
Alternative Method to Dicing or Slicing Garlic:
- Place prepared garlic clove in a garlic crush.
- Use a prepared garlic clove and place it in a mortar and pestle
- Simply just use it crushed.
Onion
Preparing the Onion:
Slicing an Onion Half:
Dicing an Onion Half:
NOTE:
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Preparing the Onion:
- Cut the top of the onion off and cut vertical down the onion to make two halves. Never cut horizontally!
- Trim the roots off the bottom, if you so please and then remove the skin.
- Dispose of peel into a scrap bowl or place directly in the bin.
Slicing an Onion Half:
- Cut successive thin horizontally cuts.
Dicing an Onion Half:
- Create several parallel cuts to the board making planks. You must make sure not too cut all the way leaving, roughly a half a centimetre before the root. Around three cuts should do it.
- Next create vertical cuts in the onion you can go all the way through. Around seven cuts should do it..
- Rotate the onion 90 degrees. The root side should be on your left. Make successive cut to form your dice.
NOTE:
- The larger the space between each cut the larger the dice will be
- The smaller the space between each cut the smaller the dice will be
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