Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques | Tuesday, 1st Period

[sharp_as_knives]

Class was meeting at Portalocity again today; once they were all there, Hannibal waved them through and they found themselves at Sur la Table.



"When you're preparing food, the most important thin, naturally, is food." Hannibal's lips twitched in a tiny smile. "The next most important is a good quality knife. Without something to cut with - and something to cut upon - very little food preparation is possible."

He led them to a display of knives. "The staff here have kindly let us inspect these; please do not abuse their trust," he warned. After a moment to ensure they got the seriousness of it, he continued. "There is a near-infinite variety of knives, many of which are specialized for one task or another. However, since the basics are most important and since this is a beginning class, we won't touch on all of them."


He picked up a largish knife and pointed out the various features. "All knives have several parts: a front - the blade, the spine or back, the tip, and the heel; a tang - the metal that extends from the blade to the back and attaches to the handle; a bolster - a collar that separates the blade and handle; and a handle - I hope I don't have to explain that part.

"Probably the three most important knives to own are a good chef's knife, a paring knife, and a serrated knife. This is a chef's knife. It has a wide blade, more or less triangular, with a center tip, which means the back and the blade both slope toward the point. This lets you rock it back and forth as you chop. The point never leaves the surface you're cutting on. You can use it for virtually anything." And he frequently did, but that wasn't for the class.

"Probably the best type to own is high-carbon stainless steel. Carbon steel on its own tends to discolor and may rust; stainless steel won't keep a good edge. This is the best of both worlds. Similarly, you will want to look for a knife that has been forged - shaped from metal - rather than blocked, which most cheap knives are. It will have much better weight and balance." He balanced the knife briefly to demonstrate.

"Other than that, you'll want to look for a length, weight, and balance that are comfortable for you. These will come in lengths usually between six and twelve inches. You should make sure a knife feels comfortable and that you can grip it securely; what is right for me may not be right for someone such as Rilla," he nodded at her, who has much smaller hands. Also, some styles are lighter than others; too heavy, and you won't be able to cut for any length of time. Too light, and you are liable to make mistakes."

He set the knife down. "And remember, no matter what knife you have, the best-made and most expensive is worthless if you take poor care of it. You should keep them honed and cleaned properly; we'll go over that in the classroom."

Once they'd all had a chance to look over the knives, Hannibal went over the pros and cons of various cutting boards. Glass was horrid and would dull your knives, plastic was...acceptable, barely, if you must. Wood or bamboo was best, but you had to keep it clean to avoid bacterial contamination. "There is also another type. If any of you are skateboarders?" He tapped the gorgeous cutting board. "These are made from recycled materials originally designed for skate parks. They are easier on knives, and they are nonporous, so no bacteria. You will, however, pay for the quality." He shrugged. Food was worth it, wasn't it?

"It's also good to have a groove around the edge, as these do on one side, to catch any juices that may flow from your cutting." Something else he wasn't going to cover too much in class.

"So - find the sort of knife that suits you, the length and shape and make, and then we'll be returning to the classroom, where you will each be making a beef salad. No cooking, but chopping, slicing, and cutting in a number of permutations. And I will be making a vegetable biryani, if you want to watch some of my cutting techniques." Some of them.





[Info for today from several sites; feel free to read them for other things Hannibal would undoubtedly cover: knives and cutting boards.]

Comments

Sign in!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Ready to cut things!

Re: Sign in!

[flickofthewrist]

Flick

Test the knives

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Or ask Hannibal questions in the store.

Re: Test the knives

[flickofthewrist]

There'd been some expensive knives back in the kitchen back home but he'd never gotten to touch them. Those were the property of the cooks his father had hired to do his bidding. Flick was pretty sure they'd been high quality since his father spared no expense.

He browsed through the knives, testing them out every once in awhile but didn't really get a good feel for any of them. He just was going to have to pick one at random.

Re: Test the knives

[myownface]

Sparkle was mostly going to just go for that 'balance' thing that Hannibal had mentioned, picking up a few knives in his hand and just seeing which seemed less inclined to fall back toward him if he held it under the handle.

Balance was an easy enough concept. He was pretty sure he could manage that one, at least.

Re: Test the knives

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle looked like a damn expert, handling the knives and testing their balance with a critical, focused look on her face. Sure, she was more used to using ones meant for fighting. That just meant she knew what felt right in her hand.

Re: Test the knives

[shippedtomaine]

Emma wasn't unfamiliar with knives exactly, but the kids she'd known with them hadn't exactly had ones like these. She picked up one almost at random and tried figuring out how that balance thing worked.

No, Emma, that was how you held a knife for stabbing, not chopping.

Re: Test the knives

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Zhahar was in heaven. Absolute heaven. Being able to wander around a store and admire well-constructed knives for awhile?

Best class.

Well, almost. It would be better if Zeela wasn't trying to contribute her two sense.

=Ooh, I like that one.=

*Eugh, no. It doesn't even have a bolster.*

=That one looks like fun!=

*The next time you point out a knife without rivets I'm going to tell Caius you've been neglecting his present.*

=YOU WOULDN'T DARE!=

Re: Test the knives

[not_a_moonie]

Alana hadn't spent a ton of time around knives, but she fast set to work fixing that. She tested out an array of blades, trying to see which would feel best in her hands.

Re: Test the knives

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla was fairly certain her father had spent less money on the horses that drew the wagon than these knives were going for. Good heavens.

Re: Test the knives

[dressedinblood]

Anna was so delighted that she'd actually made it through the portal this week--this didn't seem like it would have been very effective via video linkup--that she was having a hard time focusing on the knives. They were pretty much all better than anything she'd ever had in her kitchen at home, for starters.

Cook your food

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Which requires no actual cooking this week!

Re: Cook your food

[flickofthewrist]

After finding a decent knife, Flick got to work on the beef salad. He tried to concentrate on the slicing and cutting, trying to make everything precise and somewhat on par with Dr. Lecter's but he wasn't an expert and sometimes he got a little sloppy.

Still. He tried.

Re: Cook your food

[myownface]

Cutting things! Yeah, Sparkle could handle cutting things!

He was pretty sure!

Okay, so after the first few attempts weren't nearly as thing as he would have liked, he found himself slightly less enthusiastic and a little more intent on getting the job right. Cutting the meat was different from cutting the vegetables, it was more inclined to move around under the blade. The celery was far more cooperative.

Could he just cut celery for the rest of the class?

Re: Cook your food

[seveninchmotto]

Yeah, Isabelle rocked this. There was nothing sloppy about her cutting.

In fact, this was probably about as close to perfect as she was going to get in this class.

Re: Cook your food

[shippedtomaine]

Emma still wasn't gripping the knife quite right, though at least she wasn't likely to do herself (or anyone else) an injury as she carefully tried slicing things for the salad.

Eat Hannibal's food!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

It took a lot of cutting. And there isn't any meat in it. Waste of good skills...

Re: Eat Hannibal's food!

[myownface]

Yeah, Sparkle was so not calling this one a waste. He'd learned by now that just inhaling what Hannibal cooked was a waste, so he was taking time with each mouthful, just savouring it.

Things like saffron and rosewater were pretty far beyond his ken. This was kind of amazing.

Re: Eat Hannibal's food!

[shippedtomaine]

Oddly enough, Emma was much better at the eating part than the chopping part. Nom.

Re: Eat Hannibal's food!

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Zhari had no idea what Hannibal was talking about. There was no way that food this good could be a waste of anything.

Talk to the TAs!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Watch out - they're armed this week.

...please don't start anything.

Re: Talk to the TAs!

[myownface]

Sparkle was totally going to behave! Honest! He was still mostly stunned that Hannibal was letting them play with sharp objects in the first place!

Re: Talk to the TAs!

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

There was no way that Zhari was going to potentially damage a perfectly good knife by using it to stab someone.

...There wasn't even a good bonesawing edge!

Talk to Hannibal!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

He's armed, too. Not that it makes much difference.

OOC

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

I made a vegetable biryani once. OMG PITA with the cutting and all the different sizes of pieces!

Re: OOC

[so_hawkward]

Oh oh oh oh the store I'm never allowed to enter while in possession of my wallet hiiiii. :D *drools over the picture*