— Lori Golden

Okay. So, uh, this is a knife skills question. Let me, uh, answer this, um, with a, a couple of thoughts that come to mind. First is that when it comes to our assignments, the instructor in graded as assignments, uh, those are the most technical, and in my opinion, uh, the most challenging, um, assignments because they're so precise. The, uh, the definition of a small dice, for example, is pretty exact. It's a quarter inch cube. And so if you present to us something that's not a quarter inch cube, then it doesn't fit the definition, and you're probably not gonna earn full points. Okay? Now, having said that, for your daily cooking at home, you don't require, um, perfect dice, whether it's a small, medium, large, or brunoise or something else. Okay? Um, what you are after is, uh, confidence on the knife, uh, to produce cuts of some different sizes, so they'll be appropriate for, uh, different dishes that you're making. Okay? And, um, uh, you, you're gonna get there through practice. That's the, the only way to get there. All right? Now, in terms of improving your cuts, uh, keep in mind that, uh, as part of the definition of the dice, the, the sides need to be at 90 degrees, not less and not more, which means if this is your cutting board, this is the angle of your knife. And so as you get, get set up, look down on your cutting board, down over your knife, and then align it, and then make the cut, and then take a look and see if you have a 90 degree cut or if it's less or more, and then make an adjustment as necessary as you continue to practice. Okay? And, um, the, uh, other thing to keep in mind is that once you, uh, get to a point of, uh, accuracy that's satisfying for you, start to add speed to your work. Now, we emphasize accuracy first, because as you add speed to your knife work, your accuracy will drop, okay? As speed increases, accuracy decreases, that's just the way it works. So you'll get to find a balance in there that works for you so that you're not spending all afternoon cutting carrots for a couple of dishes for dinner tonight. Okay? And, um, uh, there's, there's a process. I mean, the, the feedback is immediate, right? So once you make a slice, look at it, and it's either 90 degrees or it's not, and you can make adjustments based upon the results that you see. Okay? Um, but again, don't get, um, overly caught up in terms of your daily cooking, um, on this sort of micro accuracy. Just find a balance after practicing for a while between your accuracy and your speed in order to enjoy overall efficiency in the kitchen.