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I know, I was shopping in "Kitcentown" in Tokyo some were $1000 for one. There were many $3000-4000 knives including a $3500 one that was only for cutting soba by hand.
EDIT - Never looked for items like that unique stone on ebay
But can you taste the difference int he food in a double blind test?
Steve" you don't have to, the visual difference alone will tip you off.
The knife's function is to give the cook control over where a solid item will be separated. When you look at the stuff I do (as a moderately competent amateur cook), the difference with really good knives versus merely good knives, the slices are cleaner and more even, I can do more fancy trimming and carving, the pieces of dice or julienne are more even, the chiffonade is finer, you can scan a bar code through my thin tomato slices, the whole dish looks prettier and more "pro." Now, a real pro can do better looking stuff like that with more downscale equipment and REALLY shine with the good stuff, but for most of us, the quality of the tool helps reduce our need for skill.
How does this affect flavor? That's debatable, and would certainly vary from dish to dish. IME, there are benefits to size uniformity of the stuff I cut up, and no-one would argue that squishing through a ripe heirloom tomato with a mediocre knife compared to a clean, laser-thin cut will yield a very different texture to go along with the visual differences
The knife's function is to give the cook control over where a solid item will be separated. When you look at the stuff I do (as a moderately competent amateur cook), the difference with really good knives versus merely good knives, the slices are cleaner and more even, I can do more fancy trimming and carving, the pieces of dice or julienne are more even, the chiffonade is finer, you can scan a bar code through my thin tomato slices, the whole dish looks prettier and more "pro." Now, a real pro can do better looking stuff like that with more downscale equipment and REALLY shine with the good stuff, but for most of us, the quality of the tool helps reduce our need for skill.
How does this affect flavor? That's debatable, and would certainly vary from dish to dish. IME, there are benefits to size uniformity of the stuff I cut up, and no-one would argue that squishing through a ripe heirloom tomato with a mediocre knife compared to a clean, laser-thin cut will yield a very different texture to go along with the visual differences
For visual data, yes, "peeking" in the sense of "using eyes," not "peeking" in the sense of being aware of which dish was prepared which way other than by looking at the dish. But no, you're not peeking if the chef did the prep in another room and wasn't with you when you guessed which was which. This kind of testing (evaluating impact of process parameters on sensory: optical, organoleptic, haptic) is routine in the food and wine industry and there's a very rich literature about it.
If you slice and dice an onion with different knives, can you taste the difference ?
(this afternoon, lampascioni in virgin olive oil and vinegar on toast)
I never worked professionally as a chef. I did work in professional kitchens as part of my training. This was something I did for myself and my wife. We traveled a lot and ate in nice restaurants all over the country, and my wife in several other countries. I did all the cooking because I loved to cook. Professional training made a greater difference than I dreamed possible.
I would like to have done that. I spent time in pro kitchens, got yelled at by pro chefs, and asked a million questions everywhere I ate. No actual classes, alas. Favorite learning experience was cooking a Thanksgiving dinner with a group of students at Bocuse's culinary academy. Those kids were monstrously good.
I was studying wine, food, and girls. The restaurant unfortunately was hidebound and dedicated to providing an "experience" rather than anything innovative; his creativity was decades in the past. The really innovative chef in the area was Manu Viron, but Lyon is a conservative town (culinarily) and he had to transform himself into a me-too to pay the bills. Manu taught me a lot about new ways of thinking about playing flavors off one another. His chops in the kitchen were outstanding, but he was as gentle as a marine drill sergeant to his staff.
The restaurant unfortunately was hidebound and dedicated to providing an "experience" rather than anything innovative; his creativity was decades in the past. The really innovative chef in the area was Manu Viron, but Lyon is a conservative town (culinarily) and he had to transform himself into a me-too to pay the bills. Manu taught me a lot about new ways of thinking about playing flavors off one another. His chops in the kitchen were outstanding, but he was as gentle as a marine drill sergeant to his staff.
Here is a link to our wine "adviser" when I was in school.
http://biggerthanyourhead.net/2009/...19-and-a-brief-meditation-on-mentors-friends/
He seemed to be very knowledgeable. I actually studied under the gentleman in the second picture. He was pretty good with wine also as well as Italian food.
http://biggerthanyourhead.net/2009/...19-and-a-brief-meditation-on-mentors-friends/
He seemed to be very knowledgeable. I actually studied under the gentleman in the second picture. He was pretty good with wine also as well as Italian food.
Thank you. I know now that it is the real art to prepare meat properly.
Since the texture changes depending on the cut, the answer would be yes.
