Intro to Knife Skills By Bourdain
Knife skills in cooking are fundamentally about control, consistency, and safety. With diligent practice comes speed. But first you must practice. A sharp knife, proper grip, and stable cutting surface allows you to work efficiently while protecting your fingers.The goal is to produce uniform cuts so food cooks evenly and presents cleanly. Size directly affects texture and timing.
You'll notice in all beginner videos a few constants. Three of them being the pinch grip, the claw grip & the movement of the knife.
The Pinch Grip
The pinch grip is a professional knife-holding technique that maximizes control, balance, and precision. To use it, you place your thumb and index finger on either side of the blade, just above the handle, while the remaining three fingers wrap around the handle. This grip shortens the lever of the knife, giving you more stability and allowing the blade to move smoothly through food with less effort. It also improves accuracy for delicate cuts and reduces strain on the wrist and forearm.
The Claw Grip
The claw grip is a technique used with the guiding hand to protect your fingers while cutting. To use it, you curl the fingertips inward, tucking them under. The knife then slides along your knuckles, which act as a guide, while your fingertips stay safely out of the way. This grip ensures consistent cuts, stabilizes the food, and reduces the risk of injury, making it essential for precision and safety.
You can't tell from the angle but they're holding the blade with the pinch grip in this video.
Movement Of The Blade
The movement of the blade refers to how the knife travels through food to achieve clean, efficient cuts. One of the most popular motions is called The Rocking Motion.
The tip of the knife stays in contact with the cutting board while the heel rises and falls, ideal for chopping herbs or vegetables quickly.
There are more types but this is a solid starter.
Stability
Before you go thinking you got it all down. Understand the importance of stability. Meaning make sure that cutting board isn't sliding all over the place. You can put a towel underneath if it won't sit still.
Secondly, when working with non flat ingredients, make a flat surface.
Trimming one side of a vegetable, fruit, or protein to make a flat “base” prevents it from wobbling or rolling on the cutting board.
Putting It Together With Jacques Pépin
You can practice with soft ingredients that don't require much effort like celery, banana's, cucumbers, etc.
Stabalize ingredients by making a flat surface, grab the knife using the grip pinch, slice with the claw technique guiding the blade. He does a simple up and down cut in this video to showcase how your guiding hand affects the size of the cuts.
Bonus Video
This video covers a lot of the above plus some addtional tips.