CHOP LIKE A CHEF

Dancing in the kitchen means leading with the left. That and plenty more sharp advise is what Knife Master and Chef Greg Willis of Kitchen Made (www.kitchenmade.ca) taught a small group in my home today. We learned how to chop, slice and dice our way through vegetables. And yes, at the end we all enjoyed the salad we'd made.

Ok, each of us had a cutting board and knives and we practised everything from how to hold the food and not chop off your fingers to preping techniques that included chiffonading, julienning and dicing. All we need now explained Chef Willis, is another 6 months of practice and we'll be wielding a knife like a master!

Topics of discussion between sips of the apricot-icewine cocktails focused around qualities that make a great knife for what you want to do, how to buy the best knife for the job your doing and fitting the best size for your hand. We chatted about the best cutting boards, what to look for in a steel, we even got into discussions on flatware versus holloware.

So what does dancing in the kitchen have to do with anything. Well, I've never really noticed it before but in the kitchen we lead culinary activities almost exclusively with the left. We hold food to be cut with the left, hold pots with the left, even wash dishes in the left hand side of the sink. What we do with the right is cut the food, stir the pot and dry the dishes. Everything starts - or leads with the left.

So for all you foodies that are reorganizing your kitchens, remember you need to organize so that you can easily lead with the left!

Want some help? Reach out to Chef Willis - www.kitchenmade.ca