Zwilling J.A. Henkels Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use, Techniques & Care - Softcover

Elliot, Jeffrey; Zwilling J.A. Henckels; DeWan, James P.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0778802566 ISBN 13: 9780778802563

Publisher: Robert Rose Inc, 2010

Synopsis

Every home chef needs a knife skills book. Cooks who know how to choose a knife, how to maintain it and how to use it properly work more safely, more quickly and more efficiently. Good knife skills also allow a cook to cut ingredients uniformly, allowing everything to cook at the same rate and creating the best presentation in the final dish. The authors' unique approach in this book stems from their experience in the culinary classroom, where they observed how people learn. Elliot and DeWan refined their teaching process based on this vast experience. Some of the features in the book are: - More than 1,200 colour step-by-step photos that clearly instruct and provide information on each technique. - Instructions on proper knife sharpening techniques. - Arrows and other graphic devices that direct the reader to the exact photo on the page and the precise skill illustrated. - A concealed wiro binding that lies flat, keeping a cook's fingers on the knife, where they safely belong. - Concise, detailed and easy-to-understand instructions on how to hold a knife, the basic cuts and the proper techniques for cutting poultry, fish and specific vegetables and fruits, and creative garnishes. - Coverage of Japanese-style knives and cutting techniques. - Concise history of knives and knife-making. The Complete Book of Knife Skills was created in collaboration with Zwilling J.A. Henckels, one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-quality knives. This indispensable reference will allow home cooks to teach themselves knife skills based on professional instructors' years of experience.

About this title

Review:

The right tools are great in the kitchen, but if you don't have technique you're not going to have much success. Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use Techniques and Care by Jeffrey Elliot and James P. DeWan (Rober Rose, 34.95) is a worthy text for every cook. Cutting skills are something that are easily taken for granted, but if you do a lot of cooking, proper technique will save wear and tear on your knives by using the right knife for the job and using it in a way that won't ruin the knife. It will also save you from injury by learning how to keep from cutting yourself or cramping your hands with improper grip. This hefty manual covers it all from the basics of vegetables and fruits through every kind of meat, fish and poultry and even sashimi. It also covers garnishes ---- the things that take you from utility to creativity, and that makes it fun. It's beautifully and very thoroughly photographed. If you know how to prepare it you're more likely to try something new.--Wendy Burke"Winnipeg Free Press" (12/08/2010)

I think that this would make a wonderful gift for any budding home cook.--Jamie Drummond"Good Food Revolution" (01/03/2011)

Slice and dice like a pro.--Elizabeth Baird"SunMedia" (01/05/2011)

Hurry to a bookstore and purchase it before the first edition is sold out.--Hrayr Berberoglu"WinesWorld Magazine" (02/10/2011)

The best things you can give a cook are a high-quality knife and a book on how to use it. Zwilling J.A. Henckels' Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use, Techniques & Care (Robert Rose, 34.95) will be treasured by cooks who would like to improve their kitchen skills.-- (12/02/2010)

This is a cooking course in one book, its illustrations explaining every cutting procedure, and including reducing your tears when you cut an onion, cutting up that pesky pineapple, and not cutting yourself. The two U.S. chefs start with tips on knives; they consider the chef's knife and paring knife basic. Step-by-step photographs cover all the popular fruit and vegetables, followed by cutting up a chicken, "frenching" a lamb rack, filleting a fish, and splitting a lobster. Painless, helpful, and sure to improve your cooking. Include a name chef's knife with your gift.-- (11/30/2010)

Here is an excellent book that would be useful on any cook's bookshelf. Good knife skills are the single most important skill in the kitchen. They are the difference between enjoyable food preparation and kitchen drudgery. This very well-prepared book helps to give you everything you need to know about knives, and how to use them safely and efficiently. It has far more information than an average home cook needs, including how knives are made, and descriptions of scores of different knives, most of which never appears in a home kitchen. Detailed knife care, sharpening and honing are essential reading. Knife skill is a practical skill that is best learned in cooking classes or watching videos. This book, with numerous first-rate photographs, is the next best thing. Some techniques are simple, but the more complex ones (creaming garlic, for example) take your full concentration to follow through photos and descriptions.The two professional authors guide you through all kitchen jobs using a knife. The numerous sidebars and graphics provide great, useful information. The senior author works for a major knife manufacturer and a slight bias is evident. A DVD would have been a useful inclusion.-- (12/05/2010)

I just reviewed a copy of a brand new book, Zwilling J.A Henckels Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use, Techniques and Care by Jeffrey Elliot and James P. DeWan. Leave it to a venerable knife company, J. A. Henckels, founded in 1731, to come out with the ultimate guide to cutlery. This book is one of the most thorough and complete on the subject I've ever seen, covering topics like shopping, storing, and sharpening as well as techniques for cutting, ranging from simple dicing, to fluting a mushroom, to spatchcocking (butterflying to you) a chicken. If you're at all serious about cooking, I recommend this book. One of the first things people do when they develop an interest in the subject, is invest in a set of good quality knives. But all too often, I watch, and cringe, as people use the wrong technique, allow their knives to get dull, and eventually abandon them for an inexpensive serrated model. Like many things, good knife skills require practice--remember the scene from Julie and Julia when Madame Child tackled a bushel of onions with abandon to master the art of chopping? Purchasing the Complete Book of Knife Skills alone won't turn you into a pro, but if you buy it, and read it, and use it as a teaching guide, you'll be on your way. I love the fact that it's spiral bound so the pages lie flat on the countertop, making it easy to refer to as you work.-- (10/17/2010)

Ask most home cooks what skill they would like to sharpen and they would tell you the same thing: knife skills. Don't you love how chefs chop those onions so fast? Now I have some great knives, but do I know everything I should about using it properly? I know how to find out. Culinary experts Jeffrey Elliot and James P. DeWan have written a reference book: Zwilling J.A. Henckels Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use, Techniques and Care (Robert Rose, $34.95). Learning how to hold and use a knife correctly will not only help you work more safely, but will also enable you to work faster and cleaner with less waste, making you much more efficient in the kitchen, says Elliot. Plus food will look and taste better. And step-by-step photographs are just what we've been waiting for. Bring on the onions.-- (10/21/2010)

Having a set of good knives is one thing but knowing how to use them takes you to another level of home cooking. The Complete Book of Knife Skills is very user friendly with simple instructions and detailed photographs. I specifically benefited from the section Everything You Need to Know About Knives. It covers the history, how knives are made, parts, blade styles, types, and care. I believe that once this section is mastered the actual use makes it much easier. It always amazes me to watch professional chefs on TV slicing, dicing, and chopping. They are quick and precise. This book shows us amateurs how to master this skill, from which knife to use, how to hold the knife and the object, to the actual performance. However, we can know all that but the most important thing is to be sure the knife is sharp. And, if you don't know how to sharpen a knife there are instructions and accompanying photographs on how to do so. For me, this book is a godsend. I have the whole gamut of professional knives but have never learned how to properly use them. The step-by-step methods in Complete Book of Knife Skills are showing me how to hone in on my skills and use the knives to my advantage. This book would be a wonderful gift for any aspiring chef or as a wedding present. Of course, having the right knives is a plus as well, so a Henckels knife would certainly be a great addition. Highly recommended.-- (02/16/2011)

About the Author:

Jeffrey Elliot is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has cooked at Le Cirque and Le Bernardin in New York. He is manager of culinary relations for Zwilling J.A. Henckels, Demeyere and Staub as well as the executive chef for Zwilling J.A. Henckels U.S. James P. DeWan is a chef, culinary instructor and award-winning food writer. His Chicago Tribune column, Prep School,A" is now in its fifth year, and he has served on the culinary faculty at Kendall College in Chicago.

About this edition

• Publisher: Robert Rose Inc
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0778802566
• ISBN 13: 9780778802563
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• Number of pages: 384