00:00:06really important life is short you
00:00:08normally three times a day you probably
00:00:10cook a lot of meals in your life and sit
00:00:12there clanking around taking lumps of
00:00:14your body off and like just being slow
00:00:16and rubbish not good so let’s get you
00:00:18good at it so there’s four things in
00:00:20front of me right now a small paring
00:00:22knife nice little darling here great for
00:00:24sort of little preparations nipping
00:00:27things slicing herbs a really good
00:00:29all-round knife right everyone needs one
00:00:32and essential okay now not not so really
00:00:36all-around knife but this is a carving
00:00:39knife you can use it for carving meats
00:00:42and stuff it does leave a little bit of
00:00:44a line but it doesn’t really bother me
00:00:45but most important you got the teeth in
00:00:47it the serrated sort of jagged dagger
00:00:50edges it it’s a really good sort of
00:00:52all-around carving knife there and then
00:00:54the knife that you’re going to use 90%
00:00:56of the time right an eight to ten inch
00:00:58chef’s knife absolutely brilliant
00:01:02well-balanced nice grip you’ve got that
00:01:04thick kind of base here and that base is
00:01:08also thick here so with little chicken
00:01:10legs you can just Nick them off you know
00:01:13and just literally break bones and bits
00:01:15and pieces like that and you’ve got that
00:01:17nice thick edge here so that’s what you
00:01:21need we’ve got the sharpener here every
00:01:23time you use a knife bottom to tip
00:01:26bottom to tip just do it once on each
00:01:31side okay there’s three methods of
00:01:33chopping that I suggest you learn okay
00:01:36and that will get you at a ninety nine
00:01:37percent of stuff this first method I’m
00:01:39going to teach you the cross chop is
00:01:42brilliant because hands and fingers are
00:01:45like this there’s no way on the knife
00:01:48and that is very very easy right it’s
00:01:52safe my fingers no limbs no body part
00:01:55anywhere near this knife and then when
00:01:58you’re chopping things use it almost
00:02:02like a dustpan and brush let’s for
00:02:04instance haircut this onion let’s just
00:02:06cross chop so it’s bad it’s hacking it
00:02:09right but then you keep going through it
00:02:11and then you’re kind of it’s almost like
00:02:12a food processor it’s gonna get fine
00:02:15eventually right but it’s falling
00:02:17so then you sweep it up and you put it
00:02:19in the middle this is quite a slow way
00:02:21of doing this but it is efficient and it
00:02:24is safe right you might see people doing
00:02:27that never ever ever ever do that
00:02:29always fingers like that I’ve seen
00:02:32people take their fingertips off if they
00:02:33do that okay don’t do it hands like that
00:02:37so let’s just get rid of that so I’m
00:02:40going to go straight in to tap chopping
00:02:42the idea is that I put my thumb here and
00:02:46I put my fingers here and my fingers are
00:02:49tucked in and I pull my fingers as I’m
00:02:51cutting all the way down and then I redo
00:02:53it and all the way down okay if you
00:02:55forget your thumb and it comes out
00:02:57you’re going to cut that off as well and
00:02:58I have we all have but I didn’t have
00:03:00anyone telling me how to do it so what
00:03:06the top of the knife is feeling that
00:03:07that finger but not obviously it’s it
00:03:10knows where it is I’m not bringing it up
00:03:12beyond here you never ever bring this
00:03:14blade beyond the point where your finger
00:03:17goes in
00:03:18okay so never higher than their right
00:03:21slowly as I’m slicing now you’re going
00:03:33to go slow to start with and then you
00:03:35can start to pick up the speed to the
00:03:40point where it doesn’t matter anymore
00:03:43okay now the reality is because I know
00:03:46where my fingers are because I know
00:03:48what’s happening until this point at
00:03:51this point I’ve got wobble again see
00:03:52because I’m getting towards the end of
00:03:53the courgette what do you do when you
00:03:55got wobble on a flat surface wobbling no
00:03:57right but then you can stop again until
00:04:00then and you’re wobbling again then you
00:04:01go flat surface right so chopping is all
00:04:06about non wobbly vich right you’re in
00:04:10control of that so let’s just have a
00:04:12little girl on this chili that’s a rock
00:04:15chopping Chili’s perfect for rock
00:04:17chopping let’s change the angle let’s
00:04:19show you it like this if you look at
00:04:21this chili now it doesn’t matter on
00:04:23going slow or fast notice fingers in
00:04:26thumb pulling the fingers towards it
00:04:28that little edge of my finger
00:04:30controlling
00:04:31the blades going at no point is that
00:04:32blade ever go near a finger is
00:04:34vulnerable now so then we’re much much
00:04:36more careful and then we finish that’s a
00:04:39chilly
00:04:40practice makes perfect if your fingers
00:04:43are always out the way you can’t chop
00:04:44them off it’s a really good crowd it’s
00:04:47like learning to write it’s like
00:04:48learning to talk it’s like learning to
00:04:49ride a bike
00:04:50it makes your cooking so much quicker
00:04:52and for the show-offs out there you can
00:04:55style it out good luck
”