There is a scene in the 1990 film Goodfellas in which Paulie (Paul Sorvino) is preparing garlic to be used for tomato sauce. He is sitting down, hunched over a table, and it is as though nobody else is in the room. He uses a razor and slices the clove slowly and deliberately, with his left hand perched on the side of the table to steady it. He is a study in concentration – his eyes are focused completely and entirely on the application of the blade to the garlic and he holds his breath each time he brings the blade down – and produces transparent panes of garlic so thin that they “liquefy in the pan”. I think of this scene often, especially when I am prepping – for Rome may burn and the Bastille may be stormed, but I’ll be damned if anyone gets in the way of me chopping garlic.
I was thinking of this scene earlier today as I pulled dinner together from what I had in our depleted kitchen. I had been out of town for a week and Clayton had somehow survived without a grocery run. I had garlic – for what is a kitchen if it does not have even that – but not much else, and I did what I could. For a razor I had my chef’s knife, and as I sliced through the garlic I became aware of that sensation one gets when working with a familiar implement. It is comfort, almost, wielding my knife; but it is also power and strength and art and creativity all at the same time.
I have a Wüsthof Classic 8” Chef’s Knife, and it has served me well over the last year. I chose it for its heft, and the feeling of grandeur it gave me to hold it. The blade sharpens easily, and keeps well. It has claimed my blood only one time, and the knife and I have settled into a easy marriage of sorts. I thumb the blade without fear, and I sometimes take my eyes off the board. I can do those things now. Some day I will move on to bigger and better things – for like all enthusiasts in the culinary arts I lust after good Japanese steel. I long for the day when Hattori Hanzo will custom-make me a sushi knife. Until then I have my Wüsthof, and for now I am content.
As knives go I suppose I have been spoiled by the days living with Jose – when I had a whole bagful of his to choose from. He too had Wüsthofs – among others – and, as a dutiful student of the culinary arts, kept his steel clean and sharp. He respected the knives, and in return they did what he wanted in the way that he wanted it done. He taught me the claw technique, which I bastardized in my own use; and he showed me the proper way to cut an onion. To this day I prep as he does – he never cut so much as an onion without making a plan for the whole meal, and he never started cooking until everything he needed was cut and prepped. The plan, the prep, and the actual cooking – these were three distinct stages which had to follow one another in their entirety and could not be compromised. He would pull out everything he needed from the four corners of the kitchen and lay it on the counter; and after a flurry of his blade he would have his mise. Then, and only then, would the first fire be lit.
I hold the knife by the bolster – that thick metal piece joining the handle and the blade – pushing my hand obstinately into the finger guard, with my index finger straightened over the top of the blade. I do form a claw with my left hand, but at a forty-five degree angle to the blade rather than the ninety that I was taught to. Holding a knife gives me an adrenaline rush, and to feel the blade going through a leek or an onion or a pepper is a thrilling sensation. Rather – if your knife is sharp enough – you do not actually feel it going through, but only think that you do, and it is enough. Those in the know will understand completely that after using a good, sharp, well-weighted and well crafted knife there is no way of going back to a dull or unwieldy one – that feeling of holding a blunt blade as it crunches slowly through the leek or onion or pepper is one of unspeakable disappointment.
If, though, using a dull knife is unspeakably disappointing, then the thrill of a sharp one is quite indescribable. Jointing a chicken for example, or should I say jointing a chicken well, is perhaps one of the more satisfying tasks of those performed in the kitchen. To feel the blade of a carving knife slide easily through the flesh of the chicken, missing bone and joint altogether, sets my hair on end. I feel forceful and destructive, and entirely capable of bloody murder; but at the same time like a craftsman – delicate and elegant, unhurried and deliberate – turning a matter of a quick seconds into what feels like an eternity in paradise.
As I minced the garlic for dinner it was all I could do to keep from smiling each time the blade made its systematic thuds against the chopping board. I rocked the knife back and forth, and as my wrist moved I gradually lost the sensation that the blade and my hand were separate. I felt like an artist does in front of his canvas, and like a brute does in front of his victim; and there was no calculation whatsoever on my part as I simply did what should be done.
---------------
-------------
A Point: The very end of the knife, which is used for piercing
B Tip: The first third of the blade (approximately), which is used for small or delicate work
C Edge: The cutting surface of the knife, which extends from the point to the heel
D Heel: The rear part of the blade, used for cutting activities that require more force
E Spine: The top, thicker portion of the blade, which adds weight and strength
F Bolster: The thick metal portion joining the handle and the blade, which adds weight and balance and keeps the cook's hand from slipping
G Finger Guard: The portion of the bolster that keeps the cook's hand from slipping onto the blade
H Return: The point where the heel meets the bolster
J Tang: The portion of the metal blade that extends into the handle, giving the knife stability and extra weight
K Scales: The two portions of handle material (wood, plastic, composite, etc) that are attached to either side of the tang
L Rivets: The metal pins (usually 3) that hold the scales to the tang
M Handle Guard: The lip below the butt of the handle, which gives the knife a better grip and prevents slipping
N Butt: The terminal end of the handle
***Courtesy of Wikipedia
---------------
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment