have i been doing it wrong?
25 Likes
“… even finer just to show you what some chefs want.”
Head chef punishment method meted out to lowly kitchen help.
6 Likes
Ah, the Shake Weight of cooking.
9 Likes
I’ve noticed the past couple years that the rocking method, even with a chef’s knife like the one you pictured, seems to cause undue stress on my wrists. I’ve had a computer-y job for a while and it seems to be taking its toll.
But the straight up and down, I don’t notice any discomfort.
FWIW, I use a chef’s knife and the method shown in his last example, I love a super-quickly but well-diced onion with very little waste.
5 Likes
My life changed when I adopted the method he demonstrates at the end, which he claims is the method he uses at home. I’ve always called it the “radial” method, but I might have just made that term up years ago.
4 Likes
I suspect the action of cleaning the food processor is more time-consuimg (and wasteful) than cutting the oinions the way shown here. The way I think of it is, if it takes more time to clean than to use, it’s a gadget, and you don’t need it.
9 Likes
My first thought after seeing the “michelin” fine-chop was why not just use a blender?
2 Likes
Given the pretty toxic environment in most fine-dining kitchens this kind of thing both gives you a goal-perfectly cut onion brunoise-and a way for the chef to “push” you to work fast, cleaner and more precisely. You have be convinced that you are creating art as well as memories as well as providing an incomparable meal to put up with the rest of the crap. “I might be getting less than minimum wage and be forced to work when sick or injured, put up with abusive treatment by management and be so stressed that drugs and booze seem like the best way to relax, but I can cut an onion perfectly!” You take the rewards you can find.
15 Likes
I have used that for years, and I cannot remember where I first saw it… There’s a method of making them even smaller, if you do a couple of horizontal cuts from where you removed the top, but then the onion needs to be small enough to hold together easily…
3 Likes
Totally. Really handy for shallots, and those little’uns at the bottom of the bag or bowl.
4 Likes
I have one or these too and they are great for consistent cuts and for doing lots of onions at once but the clean up is a PITA. Bits of onion get embedded in the grid and you have carefully scrape out the mesh with a special pick tool. I’ve found that I can dice a full onion with a knife in just about the same amount of time when considering all the steps involved (setup and clean up).
That’s what I do too…three quick horizontal slices, a few vertical cuts into the root (keep the root end intact and it holds the whole thing together) and then chop away on the 3rd dimension. Viola! perfectly diced onions.
11 Likes
Correction, this is how Michelin star chefs order their sous chefs and line cooks to do it. No high brow chef is doing their own prep or mise en place.
17 Likes
The clean up is worth it if you can’t hold a knife and the onion at the same time. I have a friend who only has use of one hand and these types of things let him cook for himself.
10 Likes
Personally my favourite method is the one used for Marcella Hazans tomato sauce*.
Cut onion in half. Put in pot. Done.
The onion imparts quite a bit of flavour just simmering.
When the onion is soft and sauce is ready. Let the onion go through a food mill blender or food processor. Or take it out and use it for something else (eat it on bread… yum) . All options are tasty.
'* If you havent made this before, you are missing out on the most flavour per effort sauce out there. Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce Recipe - NYT Cooking
9 Likes
Pretty classic way of doing it, we make a simple tomato sauce with a knob of butter, a trimmed whole spring onion and a can of tomato, salt to taste… toss into a pan and simmer til cooked.
4 Likes
No argument there. Specialty tools are great for those with disabilities as you say.
In general though, I am against single-purpose kitchen gadgets (my wife loves them and our drawers are clogged with junk that hardly ever gets used).
Once you get skilled handling a knife it just becomes second nature.
5 Likes
At least this guy was not explaining this to a radio audience, like this other guy did back in 2014:
2 Likes
Mine is a different design, a vertical frame rather than a hinged thing, and the grid and the part that pushes down on it are removable so they can easily be put in the dishwasher. Onions never get stuck in it, though I sometimes have trouble with tomatoes (but then again, I do with a knife, too).
3 Likes
It depends on the blade shape.
The knife he has there is a Japanese style petty knife. Which have a pretty straight/flat cutting edge along the length of the blade, they’re not great at that whole rocking circular motion.
On top of that with a sufficiently sharp knife that sort of push cutting can get a lot thinner, a lot cleaner than a slicing action.
You keep it steady and the cut size consistent by bracing it against your knuckles and sliding them back as you go. That’s your anchor point. You’re supposed to do the same with slicing, whether it’s a rocking motion or a straight back.
I’m not particularly good at that part.
It’s nothing to do with the material. Either carbon or stainless could be hard and brittle enough to chip like that. Whether that’s a risk or not is mostly down to how the knife is hardened, and sharpened. A very thin, hard blade is gonna be more likely to chip. Carbon or not.
The Victorinox knives are very straight, with a slight curve at the tip. Pretty much a classic “French” shape.
On the left is the classic “German” shape. It’s got a gentle curve from the heel to half way point, then a more aggressive one to the point. With a mostly straight spine.
The middle is a modern “hybrid”. With a gentle, even rocker from heel to point and a spine that drops to meet the point from a quarter of the way along.
The right is a Japanese petty, and Japanese knives tend to have the most extreme “French” shape. It’s completely flat for 3/4 of the length, then curves gently to the point. The spine has that same drop to the point from the 1/4 mark.
The Victorinox are less extreme “French”, in that they have a bit of deeper curve a little further back.
The reality is the whole French/German distinction is kind of a myth. Knives from both places have always been a mix. The curved one is specialized for slicing and butchery. The straight one for precise cutting. And the in between stuff is general use.
8 Likes
