The Knife's Got Reflections by Mia Salehudin

Chapter 3

Prepping day was a breeze. The Chef left the three of us – me, Tristan and Randy (who was going to compete in the Professional category because of his professional seniority) - to take our time and make sure every mise-en-place was done exactly as it should be. Each of us had prepared our own checklists. To leave something out by accident would result in a total disaster during the competition.

We chose our plates and cling wrapped them one by one. Our utensils were sorted in plastic crates. The ingredients that we had requisitioned arrived in excellent quality. Nothing was missing. We filleted our fish and packed our black French mussels in ice. The guys prepared their stocks. I picked at the microherbs with tweezers and cleaned the fresh chanterelle mushrooms, before packing the melon flesh with some vanilla and turned baby carrots with orange juice. The cauliflowers, I pureed for the mousseline, then I disked my beetroots and made basil oil.

We finished at 2:00pm and I had some time left to go downtown and get myself a new and proper professional knife set as a personal incentive. I'd been using the 'newbie' knives that the school had provided us with all the while, but I figured that it was time to upgrade to the professional level. After all, I was about to become a professional soon, wasn't I? And what better place was there to get yourself knives other than Switzerland?

Knives have to be chosen with the utmost care. Every chef should know that the sharpest knives are the safest. The blade shouldn't be lighter than the handle. You should be able to balance it using your index finger placed between the handle and the blade. Some restaurants and hotels forbid the usage of wood materials, so it would be wise to avoid buying any knife with a wooden handle although you might like the classical feel of it.

Nobody would really need knives in a complete set, as they are likely to be sold in retail shops. Believe it or not, knives are best chosen separately, that is, if you don't mind paying more. Choose each knife according to the functions you require. Make sure you try it at the shop to make sure you're comfortable with it, as you would a piece of clothing. Hold, grasp it neatly in your hands, close your eyes and feel it. Imagine spending 24 straight hours with it attached as a part of your body. See if you could 'make a connection with it'. There would be times when you would need to trust your knives more than your own hands.

The most important knives to a chef or cook would only be two basic ones –the chef's knife (multipurpose) and the small paring knife (this you might need to buy more of and keep on standby since they are more easily lost, like pens). If you have the extra money and it is a necessity, go ahead and get yourself a boning knife, filleting knife, carving knife, oyster knife, cleaver, mezzaluna or whatever it is that's on the shelves. Santokus could be good too and these are the common favorites even for western chefs (some Japanese knives are made using the same metals and methodologies as have been used for Samurai Katanas). But I suggest you don't fall for the 'no-sharpening-required' guarantees. Ceramic knives could be very sharp though, if you ask me, yet nothing feels better than the weight of steel in your hands.

Of course, once you'd already gotten your knives, you'd be in need for a proper bag or case or roll to put them in. I prefer leather rolls, and as for the sharpeners, well, just get the most basic ones you can find. They'd most probably have electrical diamond sharpeners at your workplace, so there's no need to get anything too sophisticated and put a hole in your own pocket. Good old manual sharpening takes a lot of practice though. For some, it might be a skill that could be acquired, or it may also require genuine talent.

Just keep in mind that chefs should have their own 'knife sharing policy'. Never, ever touch anybody else's knife without their permission. Using someone else's knife would be the same as using their lipstick. Some, bigger establishments do not (or refuse to) recognize the difference between kitchen knives and dangerous weapons, and they might even ban you from bringing your own knife set to work (perhaps for fear that you might use it to amputate your colleagues or bosses). Still, it would be good to have your personal set of 'weapons' on standby at home and good Head Chefs should know how important it is for their subordinates to be able to use their own knives.