Culinary Arts

A Research on:

I. The Kitchen Knife a. Anatomy of a Knife b. Knife Skills c. Precision Cuts I. Stock a. Types of Stock I. Sauces a. Five Mother Sauces I. Soup a. General Classifications of Soup

Submitted to: Prof. Ginon and Lab Prof. Delfinado

1 Submitted by: Resos, Janine H08113 T/F 9:30-10:30 and 11:00-2:00

Learning to use a knife properly is similar to learning to write your name. At first, you had to concentrate on holding the pencil and shaping each individual letter. As you continued to practice, writing your name became an automatic activity, something occasionally described as “deep knowledge.” Today, when you sign a document, you don’t think about how you are holding your writing instrument, nor do you consciously shape each letter. Although penmanship is taught in the same way at the same time to a whole class of student, each individual has a unique signature. So too will you learn to hold your knife and perform cuts in a way that suits your physiology, temperament, and working style. As with writing, your primary goal is to be as accurate and precise as possible, even if you aren’t working at lightning speed. Eventually, you should acquire both accuracy and speed, but it is not expected that you will have both as you start out. By concentrating on accuracy at first, and not worrying about speed, your deep knowledge of making the various cuts will lead naturally to increased confidence and speed.

ANATOMY OF A KNIFE

BASIC KNIFE SKILLS “It is indeed a poor workman who blames his tools.”

Knife skills include basic and advanced cuts that are used every day to prepare vegetables and other ingredients. A thorough mastery of knife skills includes the ability to prepare ingredients properly for cutting, to use a variety of cutting tools, and to make cuts that are uniform and precise. Another important factor is the ability to select the right tool for the job, and to keep that tool in proper working condition. A steel should be on hand whenever you are cutting any food to periodically hone the knife’s blade as you work. HOLDING THE KNIFE

2 It is important to be comfortable with your knife as you work. There are several different ways a knife can be held. The way you hold the knife will be determined in part by the way your knife and your hand fit one another. The grip you choose will also be determined according to the task at hand. Delicate cutting or shaping techniques will call for greater control, involving fingertips more than the fist. Coarser chopping and cutting tasks require a firmer grip and more leverage.

The four basic grips used with a chef’s knife are as follows:

1. Grip the handle with all four fingers and hold the thumb gently but firmly against the blade’s spine.

2. Grip the handle with all four fingers and hold the thumb gently but firmly against the side of the blade.

3. Grip the handle with three fingers, rest the index finger flat against the blade on one side, and hold the thumb on the opposite side to give additional stability and control.

4. Grip the handle overhand, with the knife held vertically – this grip is used with a boning knife for meat fabrication tasks.

THE GUIDING HAND

Your grip on the knife is determined as much by your personal preference and comfort as it is by the cutting tasks at hand. The same is true for your guiding hand, the hand responsible for controlling the food you are cutting. The guiding hand, the hand not holding the knife, is used to hold the object being cut. This is done to prevent food from slipping as you cut it. It also makes it easier to control the size of the cut or slice you are making.

3 PRECISION CUTS The basic and advanced cuts used in the professional kitchen include chopping and mincing, shredding (chiffonade), julienne and bâtonnet, dice, paysanne or fermière, lozenge, rondelle, oblique or roll cuts and tourné.

BASIC AND ADVANCED KNIFE CUTS

It is very important that the chef be completely familiar with these cuts and able to execute them properly. CHOP Coarse chopping is generally used for mirepoix or similar flavoring ingredients that are to be strained out of the dish and discarded. It is also appropriate when cutting vegetables that will be puréed. • Trim the root and stem ends and peel the vegetables if necessary. • Slice or cut through the vegetables at nearly regular intervals until the cuts are relatively uniform. This need not be a perfectly neat cut, but all the pieces should be roughly the same size. MINCING Mincing is a very fine cut that is suitable for many vegetables and herbs. When mincing herbs, rinse and dry well, and strip the leaves from the stems. • Gather the leaves in a pile on a cutting board. • Use your guiding hand to hold them in place and position the knife so that it can slice through the pile; coarsely chop. • Once the herbs are coarsely chopped, use the fingertips of your guiding hand to hold the tip of the chef’s knife in contact with the cutting board. • Keeping the tip of the blade against the cutting board, lower the knife firmly and rapidly, repeatedly cutting through the herbs. Continue cutting until the desired fineness is attained. CHIFFONADE The chiffonade cut is done by hand to cut herbs, leafy greens, and other ingredients into very fine shreds. Chiffonade is distinct from shredding, however, in that the cuts are much finer and uniform. This cut is typically used for delicate leafy vegetables and herbs. • For greens with large, loose leaves, roll individual leaves into tight cylinders before cutting. Stack several smaller leaves before cutting. • Use a chef’s knife to make very fine, parallel cuts to produce fine shreds. SHREDDING OR GRATING

4 Shredded or grated items can be coarse or fine, depending upon the intended use. Foods can be shredded with a chef’s knife, a slicer, shredding tools and attachments, a mandoline or box grater. • When cutting tight heads of greens, such as Belgian endive and head cabbage, cut the head into halves, quarters, or smaller wedges and remove the core before cutting shreds with a chef’s knife. • The tip of the knife either remains in contact with the board as you cut or comes in contact with the board as you make a smooth downward slicing stroke. The blade’s edge rocks onto and off of the cutting surface with each stroke. • To shred or grate larger quantities, use a box grater or a food processor fitted with grating disks. An electric slicer can be used to shred cabbages and head lettuce.

JULIENNE & BÂTONNET Julienne and bâtonnet are long, rectangular cuts. Related cuts are the standard pommes frites and pommes pont neuf cuts (both are names for French fries) and the allumette (or matchstick) cut. The difference between these cuts is the final size. • Julienne cuts are 1/8 inch in thickness and 1-2 inches long. • Bâtonnet cuts are ¼ inch in thickness and 2-2 ½ inches long. These dimensions may be modified slightly to suit a specific need. The key point to keep in mind is that each cut should be nearly identical in dimension to all others for even cooking and the best appearance.

• Trim and square off the vegetable by cutting a slice to make four straight sides. Cut both ends to even the block off. These initial slices make it easier to produce even cuts. The trimmings can be used for stocks, soups, purées, or any preparation where shape is not important. • Slice the vegetable lengthwise, using parallel cuts of the desired thickness. • Stack the slices, aligning the edges, and make parallel cuts of the same thickness through the stack. DICE CUTS Dicing is a cutting technique that produces a cube-shaped product. Different preparations require different sizes of dice - fine (brunoise), small, medium, and large dice. The term brunoise is derived from the French verb, brunoir (to brown), and reflects the common practice of sautéing these finely diced vegetables. • Trim and peel the vegetables as needed. • Cut the slices to the thickness that you wish the finished dice to be. • Stack the slices on top of one another and make even parallel cuts to the appropriate thickness. • Gather the sticks together; using your guiding hand to hold them in place, and make crosswise parallel cuts through the sticks. • To produce perfectly even, neat dice, these cuts should be the same thickness as the initial slices.

PAYSANNE & FERMIÈRE CUTS Cuts produced in the paysanne (peasant) and fermière (farmer) style are generally used in dishes intended to have a rustic or home-style appeal. When used for traditional regional specialties, they may be cut in such a way that the shape of the vegetable’s curved or uneven edges are still apparent in the finished cut. However, it is important to cut them all to the same thickness so that they will cook evenly.

5 • For a more rustic presentation, cut the vegetable into halves, quarters, or eighths, depending on its size. The pieces should be roughly similar in dimension to a batonnet. Make even, thin crosswise cuts at roughly 1/8-in/4-mm intervals. • In order to feature paysanne or fermière cuts as an ingredient in a classical dish or for a more upscale setting, square off the vegetable first and make large batonnet, 3/4 in/ 20 mm thick. Cut the batonnet crosswise at 1/8-in/4-mm intervals. DIAMOND/LOZENGE CUTS The diamond, or lozenge, cut is similar to the paysanne and is most often used to prepare a vegetable garnish. Instead of cutting batonnet, thinly slice the vegetable, then cut into strips of the appropriate width. • Trim and thinly slice the vegetable. • Cut the slices into strips of the desired width. • Make an initial bias cut to begin. This will leave some trim (reserve the trim for use in preparations that do not require a neat, decorative cut). • Continue to make bias cuts, parallel to the first one.

RONDELLES Rounds, or rondelles, are simple to cut. The shape is the result of cutting a cylindrical vegetable, such as a carrot, crosswise. The basic round shape can be varied by cutting the vegetable on the bias to produce an elongated or oval disk or by slicing it in half for half-moons. If the vegetable is scored with a channel knife, flower shapes are produced. • Trim and peel the vegetable if necessary. • Make parallel slicing cuts through the vegetable at even intervals using a chef’s knife, slicer, utility knife, electric slicer, or mandoline. DIAGONAL AND BIAS CUTS This cut is often used to prepare vegetables for stir-fries and other Asian-style dishes because it exposes a greater surface area and shortens cooking time. • Place the peeled or trimmed vegetable on the work surface. • Hold the blade so that it is cutting through the food on an angle; the wider the angle, the more elongated the cut surface will be. • Continue making parallel cuts, adjusting the angle of the blade so that all the pieces are approximately the same size. OBLIQUE OR ROLL CUTS

Oblique, as it refers to a vegetable cut, reflects the fact that the cut sides are neither parallel nor perpendicular. The effect is achieved by rolling the vegetables after each cut. This cut is used for long, cylindrical vegetables such as parsnips, carrots, and celery. • Place the peeled or trimmed vegetable on the work surface. • Make a diagonal cut to remove the stem end • Hold the knife in the same position and roll the vegetable a quarter-turn (approximately 90 degrees) • Slice through it on the same diagonal, forming a piece with two angled edges. Repeat until the entire vegetable has been cut.

6 TOURNÉ

Turning vegetables (tourner in French) requires a series of cuts that simultaneously trim and shape the vegetable. The shape may be similar to a barrel or a football. This cut is one of the most demanding, time-consuming, and exacting cuts. • Peel the vegetable, if desired or necessary. If the trimmings can be used with the peel still intact, or if there is no appropriate use for the trimmings, you do not need to peel the vegetable. • Cut the vegetable into pieces of manageable size. • Hold the vegetable in your guiding hand. Using a paring knife or tourné knife, carve the pieces into barrel or football shapes. • To produce classic tournés, you should cut the vegetable so that it has seven even sides or faces. The faces should be smooth, evenly spaced, and tapered so that both ends are narrower than the center.

ILLUSTRATION OF THE CUTS

7 8 9 Please note: the dimensions indicated are guidelines and may be modified as necessary. Determine the size of the cut by the requirements of the recipe or menu item, the nature of the vegetable being cut, the desired cooking time, and appearance.

10 STOCK

Stock is a flavoured water preparation. It forms the basis of many dishes, particularly soups and sauces. Stock is made by simmering various ingredients in water, including some or all of the following:

Meat Leftover cooked meat, such as that remaining on poultry carcasses, is often used along with the bones of the bird or joint. Fresh meat makes a superior stock and cuts rich in connective tissue such as shin or shoulder of beef or veal are commonly recommended, either alone or added in lower proportions to the remains of cooked poultry to provide a richer and fresher-tasting stock. Quantities recommended are in the ratio of 1 part fresh meat to 2 parts water. Pork is considered unsuitable for stock in European cooking due to its greasiness (although 19th century recipes for consomme and traditional aspic included slices of mild ham) and mutton was traditionally avoided due to the difficulty of avoiding the strong tallowy taint imparted from the fat. Bones Veal, beef, and chicken bones are most commonly used. The flavour of the stock comes from the cartilage and connective tissue in the bones. Connective tissue has collagen in it, which gets converted into gelatin that thickens the liquid. Stock made from bones needs to be simmered for longer than stock made from meat. Pressure cooking methods shorten the time necessary to extract the flavour from the bones. Mirepoix A combination of onions, carrots, celery, and sometimes other vegetables. Often the less desirable parts of the vegetables (such as carrot skins and celery ends) are used since they will not be eaten. Herbs and spices The herbs and spices used depend on availability and local traditions. In classical cuisine, the use of a bouquet garni (or bundle of herbs) consisting of parsley, bay leaves, a sprig of thyme, and possibly other herbs, is common. This is often placed in a sachet to make it easier to remove once the stock is cooked. STOCK OR BROTH? The difference between broth and stock is one of both cultural and colloquial terminology but certain definitions prevail. Stock is the thin liquid produced by simmering raw ingredients: solids are removed, leaving a thin, highly-flavoured liquid. This gives classic stock as made from beef, veal, chicken, fish and vegetable stock. Broth differs in that it is a basic soup where the solid pieces of flavouring meat or fish, along with some vegetables, remain. It is often made more substantial by adding starches such as rice, barley or pulses. Traditionally, broth contains some form of meat or fish: nowadays it is acceptable to refer to a

11 strictly vegetable soup as a broth. TYPES OF STOCK

1. Chicken stock should be cooked for 3–4 hours. 2. Fish stock is made with fish bones and finely chopped mirepoix. Fish stock should be cooked for 30–45 minutes—cooking any longer spoils the flavour. Concentrated fish stock is called "fish fumet." In Japanese cooking, a fish and kelp stock called dashi is made by briefly (3–5 minutes) cooking skipjack tuna (bonito) flakes called katsuobushi in nearly boiling water. 3. Fond blanc or white stock is made by using raw bones and white mirepoix. Chicken bones are the most common for fond blanc. 4. Fond brun or brown stock The brown color is achieved by roasting the bones and mirepoix. This also adds a rich, full flavour. Veal bones are the most common type used in a fond brun. Tomato paste is often added (sometimes thinned tomato paste is painted onto the roasting bones). The acid in the paste helps break down the connective tissue helping accelerating the formation of gelatin, as well as giving color to the stock. 5. Glace viande is stock made from bones usually from veal, that is highly concentrated by reduction. 6. Ham stock common in Cajun cooking, is made from ham hocks. 7. Jus is a rich, lightly reduced stock used as a sauce for roasted meats. Many of these are started by deglazing the roasting pan, then reducing to achieve the rich flavour desired. 8. Lamb stock should be cooked for 5 hours. To make a lamb jus, start with a chicken stock and roasted lamb necks and bones. 9. Master stock is a special Chinese stock used primarily for poaching meats, flavoured with soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and other aromatics. 10. Prawn stock is made from boiling prawn shells. It is used in Southeast Asian dishes such as laksa. 11. Veal stock should be cooked for 8 hours. 12. Vegetable stock is made only of vegetables. It is common today.

PREPARATION OF STOCK A few basic rules are commonly prescribed for preparing stock:

12 • The stock ingredients are simmered starting with cold water. This promotes the extraction of collagen, which may be sealed in by hot water. • Stocks are simmered gently, with bubbles just breaking the surface, and not boiled. If a stock is boiled, it will be cloudy. • Salt is usually not added to a stock, as this causes it to become too salty, since most stocks are reduced to make soups and sauces. • Meat is added to a stock before vegetables, and the "scum" that rises to the surface is skimmed off before further ingredients are added. • If the cook wants to remove the fat, after the stock is finished it is cooled and the fat which floats, separates, and solidifies into globs within the stock, can be removed with ease. • Stocks can be frozen and kept indefinitely but are better fresh.

SAUCE

In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted. Possibly the oldest sauce recorded is garum, the fish sauce used by the Ancient Romans. Sauces need a liquid component, but some sauces (for example, pico de gallo salsa or chutney) may contain more solid elements than liquid. Sauces are an essential element in cuisines all over the world. Sauces may be used for savory dishes or for desserts. They can be prepared and served cold, like mayonnaise, prepared cold but served lukewarm like pesto, or can be cooked like bechamel and served warm or again cooked and served cold like apple sauce. Some sauces are industrial inventions like Worcestershire sauce, HP sauce, or nowadays mostly bought ready-made like soy sauce or ketchup, other are still freshly prepared by the cook. Sauces for salads are called salad dressing. Sauces made by deglazing a pan are called pan sauces. A cook who specializes in making sauces is a saucier.

THE FIVE MOTHER SAUCES

13 A sauce is the crowning glory of any dish. From the basic "five mother" sauces, there are literally hundreds of variations of sauce that are used to dress, compliment, enhance and bring out the flavor of the food it is served with. According to the ultimate cooking reference book, The New Food Lover's Companion, by Sharon Tyler Herbst, the French are credited with refining the sophisticated art of sauce-making. The development of various sauces over the years stems from the 19th-century French chef Antonin Carême who evolved an intricate methodology by which hundreds of sauces were classified under one of five "mother sauces." Those basic sauces are the white sauce Béchamel, the light stock-based Velouté, the brown stock-based Espagnole; the two basic emulsified sauces, Hollandaise and Mayonnaise; and the oil and vinegar-based Vinaigrette. (Tomato is considered to be among the 5 mother sauces; however, it actually came about later...although it certainly has earned the title since it is the base for a large variety of sauces in today's cookery.) The method for preparing the various types of sauces incorporates some of the same techniques. For example, a roux is basic to many of the white and brown sauces. This cooked mixture of flour and fat (usually butter) is an important contribution to the sauce-making art. In addition, these classic sauces have been joined by a plethora of modern-day sauces such as sweet dessert sauces, tomato, pesto and barbecue sauces, as well as a wide variety of gravies. Always remember that when a sauce is used on a food, it is the first thing to touch the tongue. A sauce is only as good as the ingredients you put into it and the care you take while preparing it. On the other hand, a good sauce does little to make inferior food taste better. Always put a good sauce on good food. Thankfully, we no longer use sauce to mask "off-tasting food" as was once the practice in times before modern refrigeration! DEFINING THE FIVE MOTHER SAUCES Béchamel The classic white sauce was named after its inventor, Louis XIV's steward Louis de Béchamel. The king of all sauces, it is often referred to as a cream sauce because of its appearance and is probably used most frequently in all types of dishes. Made by stirring milk into a butter-flour roux, the thickness of the sauce depends on the proportion of flour and butter to milk. The proportions for a thin sauce would be 1 tablespoon each of butter and flour per 1 cup of milk; a medium sauce would use 2 tablespoons each of butter and flour; a thick sauce, 3 tablespoons each. Velouté Is a stock-based white sauce. It can be made from chicken, veal or fish stock. Enrichments such as egg yolks or cream are sometimes also added.

14 Espagnole Or brown sauce is traditionally made of a rich meat stock, a mirepoix of browned vegetables (most often a mixture of diced onion, carrots and celery), a nicely browned roux, herbs and sometimes tomato paste. Hollandaise and Mayonnaise Are two sauces that are made with an emulsion of egg yolks and fat. Hollandaise is made with butter, egg yolks and lemon juice, usually in a double boiler to prevent overheating, and served warm. It is generally used to embellish vegetables, fish and egg dishes, such as the classic Eggs Benedict. Mayonnaise is a thick, creamy dressing that's an emulsion of vegetable oil, egg yolks, lemon juice or vinegar and seasonings. It is widely used as a spread, a dressing and as a sauce. It's also used as the base for such mixtures as Tartar Sauce, Thousand Island Dressing, Aioli, and Remoulade. Vinagrette Is a sauce made of a simple blend of oil, vinegar, salt and pepper (usually 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar). More elaborate variations can include any combination of spices, herbs, shallots, onions, mustard, etc. It is generally used to dress salad greens and other cold vegetable, meat or fish dishes.

TIPS FOR SAUCE SUCCESS Constantly stir roux-thickened sauces while cooking to prevent lumps. If you must leave the sauce for a few seconds, set the pan off the heat during that time. If a roux-thickened sauce develops a few lumps, beat them out with a rotary beater or wire whisk. As a last resort, strain sauce with sieve to remove lumps. Cook egg-thickened sauces over low heat, or cook these sauces in the top of a double boiler over hot, not boiling, water. Always temper (warm) the egg yolks before adding them to the sauce by first stirring in a little of the hot sauce mixture into them. Then add to the remainder of the sauce mixture. Never let a sauce boil after the egg yolks are added as the sauce may curdle. Don't let water boil in the bottom of the double boiler if you use it to make egg-thickened sauces. Also, be sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the pan holding the sauce. SOUP

Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth. Traditionally, soups are

15 classified into two main groups: clear soups and thick soups. The established French classifications of clear soups are bouillon and consommé.

Thick soups are classified depending upon the type of thickening agent used: purées are vegetable soups thickened with starch; bisques are made from puréed shellfish or vegetables thickened with cream; cream soups may be thickened with béchamel sauce; and veloutés are thickened with eggs, butter, and cream. Other ingredients commonly used to thicken soups and broths include rice, lentils, flour, and grains.

Soups are similar to stews, and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two; however, soups generally have more liquid than stews.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF SOUP

Soups are classified into groups. Each group may be prepared using a basic recipe and method, and with the addition or substitution, of ingredients a range of soups can be produced within each group.

Bisque A purée of shellfish thickened with rice or bread crumbs and containing cream.

Broth Well flavoured stock containing vegetables, meat and a cereal, usually pearl barley.

Consommé Clear soup made from a meat, poultry, game or fish refined stock.

Crème A roux based soup flavoured with vegetables or poultry and containing cream or milk. A puree soup with cream added. Finally a puree plus bechamel and cream.

Estranges Individual soups from the International Cuisine.

Purée A self-thickened passed soup.Fresh vegetables or pulse. Potatoes may be used for thickening. Velouté A roux based soup of vegetables or poultry finished with a liaison of egg yolks and cream.

Although it is important that you can recognise and define all classifications of soups only three of the groups need to be studied in detail for this unit: Creams, broths and purées.

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