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The beginning of great cooking is the acquisition of serious knives.In the kitchens of great restaurants, a chef is judged by his peers by the way he/she keeps their knives.This is particularly so in Western and Oriental cooking (think Chinese and Thai) where the range of activities required to be executed with the use of knives is extensive. This perhaps distinguishes Indian cooking from others. The indigenous knives or cutting implements include a reverse sickle called the koitha.It was only with colonialism that you had western style knives for chopping and slicing.However, it would be true to say that knives did not figure in the pride of place of the Indian kitchen, as they do elsewhere.Partly because of servants and their often egregious misuse of expensive implements, and partly because of much of the meat and fish being cut and filleted at source.

This is changing. With the diversity of cooking, both western and oriental gaining ground there is a desire to make food look different, taste better and attempt exotic recipes.
Also, with the introduction of frozen food, the fish or meat may not be cut or filleted in the same way a fisher woman or butcher does, and this is left to the cook.Moreover, more people are cooking at home than ever before, trying to showcase their cooking skills in a way which would have been considered very strange 20 years ago, when we were all subject to the tyranny of the cook or the bai.

So, acquiring great knives is the start of fine cooking.I will give an example, in French cuisine, the sauce is the heart of the classic entrée, and if you are, for example making a beurre nantaise, a butter sauce, unless the shallots are cut finely enough, the sugars will not be released, making the sauce sour.This is a basic, but also one of the high points of western and oriental cooking is presentation, and this, invariably, depends on the quality of cutting skills. Think of the exquisite designs the Thais make with their fruits and vegetables, works of art, so sublime that one baulks at eating these creations.

The two most common mistakes inexperienced cooks make in cutting is to try and carve by pressing the knife forcibly through the meat or vegetable.Knives only cut when in motion, sliding backwards and forwards.The other mistake is to use too small a knife — a common mistake.

The basic trick is to acquire balance so the weight of the knife should be evenly distributed along the blade and the handle.This is achieved by a “tang” (the metal extended from the base of the blade through the handle).Cheap knives either have a rat tail tang (mean and lean) or none at all.It is for this reason that those who do not compromise purchase expensive brands like the French Sabatier (the Rolls Royce of knives) as its tang gives balance, stability and endurance.In India, our most popular brand is Optima and that does not have a comparable tang and is in stainless steel, not carbon steel.Remember the best brands are stainless steel with a high carbon content, they look different from normal knives as they have hollow handles integrated with the blades.The stainless steel is further strengthened with alloys such as molybdenum to improve strength and make them corrosion resistant.Good cutting!
Email: javed.gaya@gmail.com.