Name: Class: Salads, knife cuts and knife care US13285 Handle and maintain knives in a commercial kitchen – 2 credits US13280 Prepare fruit and vegetable cuts in a commercial kitchen – 2 credits US13283 Prepare and present salads for service – 2 credits
US13283 Prepare and assemble, and present salads for service You need to do the following for two different salads: Check the quality of all salad ingredients, including checking at least two of the following: Appearance Smell Freshness within expiry date Prepare salad ingredients of the required type, quality, and quantity in accordance with dish requirements: Assemble salads in accordance with the teacher demonstration and recipe. Finish and present salads for service in accordance with establishment requirements, including doing at least three of the following: dressing, mixing, tossing, arranging, the addition of sauces Used safe food handling practices US13280 Prepare fruit and vegetable cuts in a commercial kitchen You need to do the following: Select at least two different fruit and at least two different vegetables of the required: Type quality (for example, shape, absence of defects, freshness, ripeness, aroma) quantity Prepare the fruit and vegetables for cutting, using at least two preparation methods which may include: cleaning peeling slicing segmenting Selected appropriate fruit/vegetables for the cut being demonstrated Used a chef’s knife to cut the fruit and vegetables to the shape, size and condition, for four cuts . Cuts include: julienne, brunoise, macédoine, jardinère, paysanne, chiffonade. Evidence is required of julienne, chiffonade and any two other cuts. Use safe food handling practices Produced the product for an end-user (you or your mate) US13285 Handle and maintain knives in a commercial kitchen You need to do the following: Select the correct knife for the food item being prepared Make sure cutting surfaces are secure, clean, and ready for use Handle knives safely, preventing injury to yourselves and others Check knives are clean and sharp Demonstrate knife sharpening techniques with a steel Keep knives sharp Stored knives in a safe manner
How to hold a chef’s knife: The “claw” The claw keeps your fingers and thumb safely out of the way, and allows your hand to be used as a guide. The claw can be modified depending on what you are cutting and how you want to cut it. The bridge grip make a bridge with your thumb and fingers firmly pushing down on the produce. The knife then goes underneath your “bridge” so your hand is completely safe and cannot be cut. Securing your chopping board Keep your chopping board from slipping on your work surface by placing a rubber matt or clean, damp tea towel beneath it
How to clean your knife: Don’t toss your knife in to the sink or pile it with other dishes at the side of the sink. This is extremely dangerous. Also soaking a knife in a sink or putting through the dishwasher can damage the tang, rivets and handle. Wash your knife with warm soapy water using a cloth or dish scrubbing brush. Keep the spine towards you, wipe away from the edge. Clean the handle as well if needs be. Rinse the knife with running water… Dry your knife - blade and handle, again with the edge away from your cleaning hand
Store your knife safely Maintaining an edge with a steel Place the tip of the steel on a solid surface (chopping boards are good). Press the steel lightly into the surface to prevent it slipping will being used. Place the heel of the knife at the top of the steel at a 20º angle, sharpen the knife from heel to tip then turn to and the other side of the knife. Sharpen each side at least five times. Do this each time you are about to use the knife. Alternatively, you can hold the steel upright, or side on and perform the same actions. This is considered more dangerous due to the increased likely hood of cutting the hand holding the steel. Always practice the movements correctly, start slow, you can increase your speed when you are confident you are doing it safely and correctly.
Passing a knife To pass a knife safely old the knife by the spine and blade, cutting edge downward. Offer it to the other person. Or place on the bench top, to be picked up. Walking with a knife When walking with a knife hold the the blade close to your side, tip pointing downward, and the cutting edge facing behind you. Never run or rush, wear covered shoes to protect your feet. Chiffonade Chiffonade – used to thinly slice leafy greens or herbs like basil or mint. Start by stacking, or stacking and rolling the leaves together… then rock chop into thin slices ...
Julienne and Brunoise To finely julienne a carrot, start by cutting the carrot into approximately 40mm lengths. Then trim off a few mm from each side of the carrot, (squaring off), in order to create a stable base for the carrot to sit on. Cut Planks- rest the carrot on its trimmed side, and carefully slice it into 3mm planks with a sharp chef's knife. Julienne - stack two or three of the planks together and slice into even julienne. 3mmx3mmx40mm. Or thinner or longer depending on what you’re after. Brunoise – to cut brunoise, take a bunch of your julienne and cut crosswise into even, cubes. 3mmx3mm. Paysanne Paysanne – small shapes of vegetable cut approximately 15mm wide and 3mm thick. The shape is decided by the shape of the vegetable – you are not trying to make perfect squares … In this photo celery is being thinly slices…. Carrot two ways, celery and leek two ways paysanne…
Jardinère and macedoine Jardinière is a thicker version of the Julienne cut, where sizes range from 2cm x 4mm x 4mm to sizes of 4cm x 10mm x 10mm. Start by deciding how long you want the length of your carrot to be, then square the carrot off. Then cut planks of 5mm -10mm (depending on what is required) … Then cut these planks into strips of the same width For macedoine, square off the vegetable, cut your planks roughly into 1cm thick strips … Then turn the strips and cut into 1cm cubes. Note: There are many other cuts and other names for these cuts. Jardinière can be known as baton or batonette depending on size, macedoine as a large dice, brunoise as a fine dice etc Julienne is known as allumette when applied to cut potatoes.
Tap Chop … a tap that chops. It’s a vertical motion with the blade that is great for slicing thick or thin. Keep the fingers on your off hand way back stabilizing whatever you’re cutting, and then bring the middle of your blade down. This is a great way to chop or slice narrow, stable objects. If it’s round and wobbly (like a carrot or cucumber), then cut the item lengthwise first to make a flat surface. This cut works best of firm items like crunchy fruits and vegetables How to Tap Chop Rock Chop This cut is named after the rocking movement it produces. The rock chop is great for dealing with flat or thin items like spring onions, chili peppers, or even meats. The rock chop is based on the tip of the knife being stationary and the blade rotates up and down off that pivot point It’s important to keep the fingers well out of the way. The edge of the knife should never be lifted above the second knuckle. If you’re rock chopping a thicker item that would need the knife to come up over the level of the second knuckle, raise the guide hand to keep contact with the flat of the knife. This cut can be used for a variety of cuts, from fine to rough. It’s also handy for making thin strips or slices of veggies so long as they’re not too wide. How to Rock Chop
Cross Chop The cross chop uses the rock chop as its foundation. Again, the tip of the knife stays in one place and the blade pivots around that point. But instead of being a mostly vertical motion, the cross chop also moves the knife in a sideways arc. It’s ideal for fine chopping, mincing, or some quick rough cuts. How finely chopped the results are depend only on how many passes you make with the knife. There is a safety concern with the cross chop, though. With the sideways motion, there’s no safe place to put the guide hand on the cutting surface. Instead, rest the guide hand on the spine of the knife. Keep the hand flat, and apply gentle pressure to the knife. If you place the guide hand close to the tip, it will help keep it anchored as the knife pivots up, down and side-to-side. Be very careful not to let the fingers curl downward as they can get caught on the edge and take one or more fingertips off. The cross chop is often fairly chaotic and messy. Should your ingredients start spreading out over the cutting surface, just use the knife edge to scrape everything back into a pile and keep chopping until you get the desired fineness. How to Cross Chop Draw The draw is another handy cut, especially when working with long items. Cutting an eggplant or a large carrot lengthwise is virtually impossible with a rock or tap chop (unless your knife is huge and razor sharp). Instead, you can use the draw. Place the tip of the knife on the cutting surface (in the same position as a rock chop) on the far side of whatever you’re cutting. Then draw the blade straight towards yourself, dragging the tip through the ingredient you’re cutting. This technique is handy, but it also requires a lot of care. It’s harder to use the guide hand to control the knife without getting in the way, which could end in blood and/or tears. Instead, keep the guide hand as far from the knife as possible, and don’t try to go too fast. This technique requires a sharp knife to be effective. How to Draw Slice