An Edge in the Kitchen

Contains illustrated instruction alongwith history, anthropology, humour and kitchen science. This book includes information from a guide to choosing kitchen knives to practical tutorials on knife skills and a section on sharpening. It also contains quotes and anecdotes from celebrity chefs such as Tony Bourdain. Why are most of us so woefully uninformed about our kitchen knives? We are intimidated by our knives when they are sharp, annoyed by them when they are dull, and quietly ashamed that we don't know how to use them with any competence. For a species that has been using knives for nearly as long as we have been walking upright, that's a serious problem. An Edge in the Kitchen is the solution, an intelligent and delightful debunking of the mysteries of kitchen knives once and for all. If you can stack blocks, you can cut restaurant-quality diced vegetables. If you can fold a paper airplane, you can sharpen your knives better than many professionals. Veteran cook Chad Ward provides an in-depth guide to the most important tool in the kitchen, including how to choose the best kitchen knives in your price range, practical tutorials on knife skills, a step-by-step section on sharpening, and more——all illustrated with beautiful photographs throughout. Along the way you will discover what a cow sword is, and why you might want one; why chefs are abandoning their heavy knives in droves; and why the Pinch and the Claw, strange as they may sound, are in fact the best way to make precision vegetable cuts with speed and style. An Edge in the Kitchen is the one and only guide to the most important tool in the kitchen. Entertaining and engaging, filled with humorous anecdotes and secret tips from a veteran cook's point of view, Chad Ward intelligently and delightfully debunks the mystery of kitchen knives once and for all. The vast majority of us are woefully uninformed about our knives, even intimidated by them. Interweaving illustrated, hands-on instruction with history, anthropology, humour and kitchen science, "An Edge in the Kitchen" is the only book on kitchen knives you will ever need. Filled with practical information - from a guide to choosing kitchen knives to practical tutorials on knife skills and an in-depth section on sharpening - readers will not only learn how to pick and use knives, but also gain an understanding of how kitchen knives have been shaped by cuisine and culture, and vice versa.Focused on practical use - from food safety to chopping, dicing, and slicing-and filled with quotes and anecdotes from celebrity chefs such as Tony Bourdain, ("Iron Chef") Masaharu Morimoto, and Sarah Moulton, food writers Russ Parsons ("How to Read a French Fry"), and Michael Ruhlman ("The Making of a Chef", "The Soul of a Chef"), and and master knifemakers Murray Carter and Bob Kramer, "An Edge in the Kitchen" will certainly give you just that.