Prepare, Prepare, Prepare pt.2 – Knife Skills

For my final dish I am preparing a Portuguese style chicken so I am currently in the process of preparing my self for what that is going to look like. The first thing I am learning to prepare myself for this is the proper knife skills so I don’t end up cutting myself and paying a special visit to the ER, that is not something I want to end my 2024 calendar on. I have found that I really love YouTube, there are so many videos on how to do anything on there it is so helpful in learning new skills. The first YouTube video I watched came from a popular reality show star from the early 2000’s Anthony Bourdain. Anthony Bourdain did a reality show highlighting fine dining across the world, his take on cooking has really helped me in my journey too- he is entertaining but also insightful.

This is a clip on Anthony Bourdain teaching knife skills:

I really like Anthony’s technique here, I think it would have been helpful for me to watch this video before I made my sweet potato soup. If there is one thing I can take from this video is that I do not see him crying at all! He is cutting onions, he is supposed to be crying, why isn’t he crying? I always cry when I cut onions. For my goal of not cutting my fingers I found his technique of putting his had to the side to be insightful as I commonly do not do that when I cut onions, or anything for that matter. I believe that by correcting my improper cutting technique I will be able to safely cut things without injuring myself.

The second video I have included is how to spatchcock a chicken. Spatchcocking is an Irish term according to the chef in the video that means dispatch the kaak kaak. For my Portuguese style chicken that I want to make I need to spatchcock the chicken so it cooks evenly. This is Chef Thomas going over how to spatchcock a chicken. (viewer be warned if you have sensitivities to raw meat).

I found that Erics explanation is helping me to have the confidence I need to make this cut. He made it look easy and I believe that I will be able to replicate his technique.

The last video I wanted to share was a chef trying to get the world record for the fastest chopper. He was aiming to dice the whole watermelon in under 25 seconds. I am fascinated by how experts are able to do things well beyond my ability, it really humbles me!

Overall I am feeling more prepared with my knife skills and how to properly use a knife for my final creation of Portuguese style chicken. It is amazing what a little preparation can do- these videos are all under 10 minutes and provided me with the information I needed to feel confident about how to properly use a knife.