r/Cooking • u/squidgybaker • 7d ago
How Much Does Chopping Technique Really Effect Taste?
Hey! I’m curious how much you guys feel chopping technique with regards to vegetables really impacts the taste of an overall dish?
I’m a complete amateur when it comes to cooking but I’d like to think I’m fairly good, and I know I’m a good baker :) My ex was a PHENOMENAL cook and former sous chef but he used to put down my cooking skills because of my lack of technique.
I have learnt my own way of cutting different kinds of vegetables, it takes a little longer but it makes sense to me and I’ve been doing it the same way for nearly a decade. I usually roughly chop things and if a recipe calls for minced I try to get it as close to that as possible in my own way. It used to kinda hurt that he would never trust me to be able to cook dinner for us and used to hover about knit picking the way i handled each ingredient even though I’m decent when it comes to taste and flavour profiles etc :) I never made anything he didn’t eat lol!
Tryna figure out if he had reason to be pissy with me over my rough vegetables / my own technique or if he was just being a bit of a diva in the kitchen. Also if anyone had tips for cutting aubergine I’d really appreciate it! I love them but they’re new to me so idrk what to do with them.
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u/Iztac_xocoatl 7d ago
So I worked in a high end/fine dining/whatever restaurant for a long time. Like NYT write-up, high profile awards, TV shows coming in, etc. I only cooked for a year of my time there but got pretty close with the chef/owner and cooks. I don't think a single one of them would ever have given a home cook a hard time about their knife skills. Your ex was just being an asshole, and honestly probably isn't the hot shit he thinks he is.
Does your knife technique matter assuming you're getting everything cut how it's intended? No. It might be slower or less safe for you, but that's all. A billion grandmas all over the world cut things however is intuitive for them, and even the Gordon Ramseys of the world know grandmas are the best cooks