Knife Skills Illustrated: A User's Manual

Knives are the most common pieces of equipment in the kitchen, yet few cooks know the basic techniques that can allow them to carve, chop, slice, and mince effectively. Peter Hertzmann teaches you skills that encompass everything you need to do with a knife in the kitchen, whether you're a four-star chef or an at-home beginner. This comprehensive guide fills a gaping void in culinary literature.

Don't be surprised if it changes the way you cook.

Jennifer A. Wickes - Library Journal

This is an excellent book for beginning- and intermediate-level home cooks, and it fills a void in the cookbook world. Almost every cookbook assumes that you know how to mince, dice, julienne, peel a mushroom, and more. But this work takes you through each of those proficiencies with images to help describe how to achieve each cutting skill. Also included is how to hold knives to avoid injury as well as types of knives and their purposes, caring for your knives, and how to maintain their sharpness. Hertzmann, who teaches knife skills and cooking at Sur la Table, also suggests which cutting boards are best, with tips on how to use them better. An outstanding addition to all public libraries.

Peter Hertzmann has taught knife skills and cooking at Sur La Table as well as privately in both France and the United States. He also authors the e-zine à la carte. He lives in Palo Alto, California.