Slicing/Dicing/Cuts, in Culinary School

[Diane Lane]

Are slicing/dicing/cuts taught in a separate class in culinary schools? I hear many of the chefs on television cooking shows emphasizing cuts, so I started wondering whether there's an actual class for them. I understand the reasoning for having same sized pieces, and obviously appearance is important, especially in professional settings, but can someone fail culinary school if s/he can't master cuts?

 

[Morning Glory]

I think they definitely get classes on how to slice and chop quickly and efficiently (for health and safety reasons too). But I suspect that its practice as much as anything thats needed in order to achieve speed. I've been practising my knife skills (such as chopping an onion super-fast) for about 5 years now, whilst cooking almost every day but I still can't do it anywhere near as fast as the chefs on TV. Its essential to have a super sharp knife and to use the right motion with the knife (which I do). They also get classes on how to joint meat and fillet fish which are another set of knife skills. Berties should be able to answer your question in more detail.

 

[Berties]

where to start,i was taught all the vegetable cuts within my first week of becoming a trainee chef,paysanne,mirepoix,macedoine ,julienne were the basics taught in french and to me is the basics....i was taught basic knife skills,and how to maintain them,wash them etc,the correct knife is a good start ,use the full handle and also remember it is a skill and has to be learnt and practiced.
i can chop and look at you in the eye and hold a conversation ,at speed and deliver a correctly chopped item ,thats taken years to perfect,speed it not a must a well chopped product is ,and not cutting your self ,my fingers move ,just inside the knife,
butchery was always taught a bit latter ,and was basic jointing ,boning,tieing ,trimming ,portioning,how to french trim meats,again i had to experience a lot of watching before i was trusted,same as fish ,filleting ,and skining is a skill ,i learnt and practised and do it well,but i did go out of my way to work free at a fishmongers,spent a lot of time scaling fish,
but.......catering training has lost its way,the basics are over looked,young chefs don't seem to want to learn their trade,they want to be like the tv chefs,with out putting the work in ,there are lots of good chefs coming through the ranks,but some times it is a vocation

 

[Diane Lane]

where to start,i was taught all the vegetable cuts within my first week of becoming a trainee chef,paysanne,mirepoix,macedoine ,julienne were the basics taught in french and to me is the basics....i was taught basic knife skills,and how to maintain them,wash them etc,the correct knife is a good start ,use the full handle and also remember it is a skill and has to be learnt and practiced.
i can chop and look at you in the eye and hold a conversation ,at speed and deliver a correctly chopped item ,thats taken years to perfect,speed it not a must a well chopped product is ,and not cutting your self ,my fingers move ,just inside the knife,
butchery was always taught a bit latter ,and was basic jointing ,boning,tieing ,trimming ,portioning,how to french trim meats,again i had to experience a lot of watching before i was trusted,same as fish ,filleting ,and skining is a skill ,i learnt and practised and do it well,but i did go out of my way to work free at a fishmongers,spent a lot of time scaling fish,
but.......catering training has lost its way,the basics are over looked,young chefs don't seem to want to learn their trade,they want to be like the tv chefs,with out putting the work in ,there are lots of good chefs coming through the ranks,but some times it is a vocation

Thanks, @morning glory and @Berties, I don't think a lot of people have an appreciation for how involved the training is to become a chef. Maybe that's because many of them have had someone preparing meals for them for years, and aren't aware of what goes into that, let alone cooking in a professional kitchen. I was always aware of how much work went into it, but not the actual steps, and how detailed they are, until I started watching cooking shows. My Mom cooked from scratch all our lives, and then my Dad and Mom cooked together later on, making bread, pasta, etc., and I would watch and help a friend's Mom and Dad and Aunts make their ethnic dishes. I'd never seen specific cuts, until they started detailing them on TV shows. I don't remember that from years ago. We would watch Julia Child, and she'd discuss a lot of things, but I don't recall emphasis on cuts, so I was curious.

 

[Berties]

Thanks, @morning glory and @Berties, I don't think a lot of people have an appreciation for how involved the training is to become a chef. Maybe that's because many of them have had someone preparing meals for them for years, and aren't aware of what goes into that, let alone cooking in a professional kitchen. I was always aware of how much work went into it, but not the actual steps, and how detailed they are, until I started watching cooking shows. My Mom cooked from scratch all our lives, and then my Dad and Mom cooked together later on, making bread, pasta, etc., and I would watch and help a friend's Mom and Dad and Aunts make their ethnic dishes. I'd never seen specific cuts, until they started detailing them on TV shows. I don't remember that from years ago. We would watch Julia Child, and she'd discuss a lot of things, but I don't recall emphasis on cuts, so I was curious.

being in the catering industry is a life choice ,its hard can be underpaid,to run a kitchen is hard work,a accountant,a cook,a hygienist,a social worker,be able to spin the plates and keep them spinning,never under estimate how hard even snack food can be to get out in numbers
i enjoy finding new ingredients ,good ingredients,history of dishes ,its in my make up,you have to enjoy food to enjoy the job,there are local ingredients and dishes i am still finding ,every day is a learning day,
i do think the basics should be taught more,and emphasised ,and perfected

 

[Morning Glory]

i can chop and look at you in the eye and hold a conversation ,at speed and deliver a correctly chopped item ,thats taken years to perfect

Awesome!

 

[Diane Lane]

being in the catering industry is a life choice ,its hard can be underpaid,to run a kitchen is hard work,a accountant,a cook,a hygienist,a social worker,be able to spin the plates and keep them spinning,never under estimate how hard even snack food can be to get out in numbers
i enjoy finding new ingredients ,good ingredients,history of dishes ,its in my make up,you have to enjoy food to enjoy the job,there are local ingredients and dishes i am still finding ,every day is a learning day,
i do think the basics should be taught more,and emphasised ,and perfected

Yes, the more shows I watch, and the more time I spend on here, I'm beginning to see it's a calling, more than a job. Many people can cook, but your passion comes across in your words, in how you describe things. I can see I'll learn a lot on this forum .