Kitchen Knives and What To Do With Them / eGullet

A knife is the most basic of tools in the kitchen. If you have nothing else, you'll have a knife. If you don't have a decent knife, you'll have to stay tuned for another installment on how to select and acquire one...no, I don't mean stealing one out of your mom's kitchen drawer!

Assuming you have a decent chef's knife, how do you take care of it and where do you learn the basic kitchen cuts?

In print, I think the best book to show you the basics is The Culinary Institute of America's "The Professional Chef's Knife Kit". It is an expanded from the knife section of their 1,200 page reference tome "The Professional Chef". The paperback covers knife history; basic care; the cuts used in the kitchen for veggies, meat/poultry, and fish--basically everything you need to know about knives in the kitchen.



Online, I just found some GREAT resources that are part of eGullet. eGullet Society is an excellent forum for foodies especially for those that happen to be writers. There are a LOT of resources for the professional or home cook as well. If you haven't been there...check it out. It'll be worth your while. If you like it, join! It costs a few bucks but it is well worth it for the quality of content and discussions.

Anyway, there is an excellent article on the maintenance and sharpening of kitchen knives and another illustrated article on knife skills.