— Rosie AIELLO

Uh, yes. So, absolutely. That's, that's correct, Rosie. So, uh, you know, in terms of the, uh, knife skills exercises, uh, we've got a couple of 'em in most all of our courses. And I will begin by saying that those, at least in my opinion, are the most difficult assignments, uh, because they are the most technical, and the benchmark is pretty rigid. The benchmark being the dice of whatever size is specified. So if it's a, uh, if it's a small dice, then it's a quarter inch cube. And, uh, that's pretty specific. Okay? And, um, uh, so keep in mind that as you develop your knife skills, there's two parts to that. And, and really maybe three. Okay? Uh, the first one is accuracy. Okay? And, uh, practice makes better. Um, I won't say practice makes perfect, because that's usually not the case, but practice is meaningful and practice does make better. Uh, and so work on that to the extent that you want to, or to the extent that you think you need to. Okay? And, uh, the want is probably more realistic for most of us, most of the time, uh, in terms of the need, sometimes there is in a professional setting, okay? Um, but for the most part, it's gonna be up to you to get to a point, um, you know, where, uh, you're comfortable with the accuracy of your cuts. Now, keep in mind that, uh, some of us, uh, due to our eyesight, will have a really difficult time, um, making really accurate cuts, at which point, you know, I hope you find the balance in your, in your, in your day, in your life, and just don't worry about it. And instead, move on with the joy of cooking. Um, in some cases, it might be something, uh, related to the dexterity of your hand, uh, that, um, doesn't allow you to make the, the perfect cut, right? What, uh, you know, at least a very close, um, representation of the model. Again, um, I don't think that's the, the end game of knife skill development. Um, but again, I leave that to you, okay? To decide. Uh, the second item that's gonna be very important within this bigger picture of knife skill development is speed. And, uh, we work on accuracy first, then we start to add speed. And keep in mind that, uh, as speed goes up, accuracy goes down. That's just the way it goes. And so you get to find the balance in that. It's gonna make sense for you. Uh, for most people, most of the time, uh, in daily cooking or daily prep, you know, in a professional setting, uh, we have a time limit, and we need to, we need to get things done. Um, and so there's, there's going to be that middle, uh, zone in there, uh, where we do most of our work. And again, you, you get to find that balance. Uh, the other component that comes to mind. It's really one of safety, okay? Uh, work on your technique. Uh, keep your fingertips, uh, in a safe position, uh, practice good ergonomics so that, uh, we don't experience, uh, tense neck, shoulders back, you know, sore hips and, and really the, the entire body, uh, is potentially at, at riskier. So, you know, find positions that are, uh, gonna be comfortable for you. Uh, sometimes it could mean, uh, you know, a cushy mat on the floor. If you're standing on a hard surface. Uh, you know, these things go a long way if you'll be doing lots of cooking. And this holds especially true, uh, if you're cooking in a, in a, in a professional, in a commercial, sort of a setting where you're doing a lot of prep, uh, because over years, um, microtraumas can accumulate and, uh, those things add up to, uh, to, to knee problems, hip problems, back problems for a lot of cooks, uh, in the industry. And so, please, uh, take some precautions today, uh, to focus on the safety, uh, of the kitchen work. Okay? Now, uh, back to your question, uh, Rosie, uh, or, or, yeah, to, to the, the core of your question, uh, yeah, you can't make around things square. So when it comes to the assignments, um, you know, you, uh, you can present you, you can trim it off, and we, we, we call this squaring off the vegetable. Uh, and then you have some trim that you pull aside that you'll use in something else, like a salad or a soup or, or something else. And, um, then you can work on that, uh, inner piece, uh, that you've squared up. Okay? Um, you know, the other thing is, uh, if you wanna just go ahead and cut that whole thing, uh, the zucchini or whatever it is, I will still be able to grade the parts that you cut, um, that represent the dice. And, um, I do not cut, oh, I, I, I do not grade, uh, the rounded parts that are from the natural form of the fruit or vegetable. Okay? And, uh, again, I've got, uh, you know, enough experience that, uh, within, uh, probably just under one second, you know, I can, uh, get a good idea of how things are going in the kitchen for you. Um, so, uh, keep that in mind, okay? Now, in your daily life, all right? Uh, when it comes to cooking, um, I think of a couple of scenarios. One is for, for daily cooking, it doesn't matter, right? You have some rounded pieces in there. Some pieces are a little irregular in shape or size, you know, the, the, the, the kids or the, the family really, they're not gonna, uh, tear you apart on that sort of thing. Um, when it comes to special events, um, I slow down a bit and I focus a little bit more on accuracy, uh, so that the final presentation looks a little sharper. Um, and, um, and I feel, I feel good about that. And, uh, sometimes people notice, um, a lot of times they don't, but that's okay. And, um, so, you know, think about these different situations and, um, you know, how you might make some adjustment, okay? But, you know, in the end, it's about, uh, developing your comfort level, um, uh, along with safety and those other factors that I mentioned.