Week 2 – Precision Cuts

Week 1 was pretty easy-going, so I am hoping for something a little bit more challenging this week. From the class outline, today is about precise cutting, chateau potato and tomato concasse.

As explained in the first week, the basic routine of setting up for class includes:
1. Washing hands
2. Setting up a chopping board, bowl with detergent water & bowl for food scraps
3. Tray with tools for the lesson.

I am appointed Chef of the Day today and this means that I have to check the stock & organise the division of the stock. Post food production, I have to ensure the food is labelled and put away. Everyone is responsible for cleaning their bench space and ensuring the kitchen is left clean and tidy.

The stock is usually delivered in the morning and placed on trolleys. Today we have onions, carrots, celery, leek, cabbage, tomatoes, turnip and potatoes, so I allocated each person an ingredient to divide up between us. One by one, the teacher explains each precision cut and where it might be used, followed by a demonstration.  We then each proceed to our bench to attempt the same cuts.

Firstly, it is julienne cuts of carrots, celery and leek. Julienne is the cut of food into long thin strips or better known into ‘match sticks’.

Next is brunoise, which is the cut of food into cubes of approximately 1mm – 2mm.

Brunoise of onion is finer than other vegetables and is of the size of amborio rice grains. I think mine needs to be chopped abit finer next time.

Paysanne is the cut of vegetables into approximately 10x10x2mm. It is important the all the vegetables are of similar sizes.

Jardiniere is often described as cuts into batons (approximately 5x5x25mm).

Macédoine is the cut of food into large cubes (5x5x5mm).

We also talk about slicing onions and how there is the ‘Western’ style and the ‘Asian’ style. Obviously, the Asian style is mainly used in stir fries.

Then we proceed onto shredding cabbage and this is where my time in this week’s class ends! With a slip of the knife, I accidentally slice into my finger and cut off a large portion of my nail right down to the nail bed. It doesn’t seem to stop bleeding so I drive myself down to the nearest medical centre. I tell reception my finger is still bleeding but she doesn’t seem to care. I pretty much waited an hour before I see the doctor. As soon as the doctor sees me, she leads me into the treatment room where the nurse finally cleans the would and applies a pressure bandage to it. The doctor also asks me where is the missing part. Amongst the shock, I think it must have been washed down the sink! Maybe it was a bad idea to wash the wound under running water! Oh, and in case you were wondering, cutting into your nail bed is really painful! I’m hoping for fast recovery. Looking at the bright side, at least I didn’t lose my finger!