Cutting with a knife is one of the fundamental premises in the kitchen. It is not enough to just cut quickly and efficiently, but it is also essential to do it safely. Mastering the technique will save you time and effort in the kitchen, optimizing cuts to make the most of the food and, of course, without the risk of suffering an unwanted cut.
Professional chef Kelly Scott has shared on her TikTok profile (@kellyscleankitchen, with 1.1 million followers) a video where she teaches an intensive course on the skills to master the knife in the kitchen.
Firstly, it shows the correct way to hold the knife, safely and most effectively: hold the handle in your hand and place the edge between your index finger and thumb. This way you will have greater control of the direction of the knife.
He then highlights the importance of using the “bear claw” technique when cutting something. This means placing your hand with your fingers slightly downward, so that the knife slides over your knuckles, acting as a stop. By doing it this way, the tips of your fingers are not exposed to the edge of the knife, considerably reducing the risk of suffering a cut.
Thirdly, Kelly shows “the best way to cut a pepper”, a vegetable with a lot of versatility in the kitchen and that should be used to the maximum, without wasting a single piece. To do this, first she cuts the top part and then trims the pepper along its center, removing the white part inside where the seeds are located. Finally, she cuts the base and you now have all the pepper available to continue cutting it as you wish, leaving the skin facing down to facilitate cutting.
Another point is cutting the onion, where the chef teaches us how to do it quickly and safely, obtaining a perfect brunoise. First she cuts the area where the stem of the onion is located, splits the onion in half and removes the outer layer. Leaving the inner part cut downward, she makes horizontal cuts from bottom to top, following the direction of the layers of the onion, leaving the other end of the root uncut. Next, make vertical cuts, from top to bottom. Finally, place it back in the direction of the knife edge and cut horizontally from above.
Finally, the cook shows how to cut the tomatoes, making the most of their flesh. She cuts it in half leaving the root facing up and then cuts it into quarters. Once this is done, she simply removes the inside of the tomato by running the edge of the knife along its flesh.
