Overview

An Edge in the Kitchen provides a focused, readable guide that begs to be re-read as your skills improve. Well worth the purchase, this book has allowed me to whittle through countless vegetables with precision and ease, and to make my knives razor sharp.

Full review

At about the same time that An Edge in the Kitchen was released, I started my first professional kitchen job. Up until that time I had hacked my way quite proficiently through a lifetime of potatoes and roasts. But once I entered the kitchen full time, where precision and efficiency are essential, my lack of skills were glaringly obvious. And so I sought a book that could get me to where I needed to be.

I had heard about An Edge in the Kitchen from online forums, but was never quite motivated to spend money on a reference book; after all, I could learn the skills online or borrow the book… I thought. Somehow the book made it onto my Christmas wish list and a few months later, courtesy of an Amazon gift certificate from my family, the book arrived at my doorstop.

Then the book sat on the breakfast table for days. After all, a knife book is not bedtime nor morning reading, but with my new busy schedule, I simply didn’t think my body would allow me the luxury of reading without falling asleep (the last Harry Potter book took me nearly a month to finish because I kept falling asleep, and I loved that book). But every morning I sat to a bowl of cereal with the bright orange cover glaring at me. Finally I cracked the spine to the color photo section and one thing led to another and I began the read.

In two evening sittings, I polished off this fine book. So let me begin the formal part of this review by saying this book was extremely readable; not just readable, but enjoyable. Author Chad Ward’ s sense of humor and no-fuss writing style made for an easy read that was jam-packed with good material. From that perspective alone this book became a good investment for me.

But the investment was strengthened when I dove in for a second read. I don’t think I have re-read any books since university — ­ it’s not a luxury I have. However, what became apparent is that I couldn’t fully grasp the depth of material until I had a bit of practice under my belt. Take for example the sharpening section. I quickly learned how to sharpen with my ceramic steel and had quite sharp blades. But when I re-read the section, my skills refined even further and now my edges became scary sharp! And more importantly, my edges are now that sharp every single day. On my third read (which was just specific sections) I launched into my whet stone sharpening phase which made my scary sharp edges seem docile by comparison. My point is that this is a book worth owning, or at least checking out from the library for a long, long time.

So what’s in this book? The first section is all about choosing the right knives. This includes an introduction to the various metals, forming processes, and the multitude of shapes. All were refreshers for me since I sell knives at my store, but it led to me dwindling my inventory down to just the few shapes that I can now sincerely recommend. The second section is about using the knife. Here again, I learned many new skills, all of which I continue to practice today. I’ve never had such an easy time with onions and bell peppers. I find myself checking my julienne dimensions just for fun! Finally is the sharpening section. It’s good that this is the end of the book because as I described my usage, it is a progressive skill. On your first read I suggest only reading through your current knowledge base, stopping, and picking up after you’ve practiced a bit. After a short time you will be finished with the book and your knives will have you making very short work of all prep jobs.

While I have owned the book for three months, I already anticipate re-reading the whole book again after all of my new found practice has settled. As a result of this book and my subsequent practice, I taught a workshop recently using the book as the guide. The participants left with razor sharp knives (some were very old and abused) and many pounds of perfectly cut vegetables. I was the hero, but Chad Ward is the one who deserves the credit. This is an outstanding book for any skill level, but is ideal for the beginner and intermediate cook.