Truth be told, my knife skills aren’t going to win any prizes. I’ve been out of a restaurant kitchen for many years, and have since fallen into my own routine slicing and dicing patterns which are often not correct. Now that I’m working several times a week with someone who wields a well-honed blade with equally honed acuity, I’m constantly taking mental notes and putting my observances to practice at home. That the Chef has also playfully chided me for my weak technique, “Hey, Heid, later on I’m going to show you how to dice an onion the right way”, has in no small part motivated me to work harder. The fact is, I DO know how to dice an onion properly, I just get lazy and am not as comfortable as doing it my own little way….which takes longer and yields nicer looking pieces with less waste. However, it is not correct, so I’m practicing and practicing…and practicing, with hopes of one day mastering, or at least becoming proficient at correct technique.

As a result, I’ve been suffering knife-skills inadequacy. That is until yesterday when, quite literally, things took an upward swing in the blade-wielding department. After a day’s testing session, Chef took us outside to demonstrate his newly acquired sabrage (or sabering) technique on a chilled bottle of bubbly. One swift and well-aimed stroke with a chef’s knife sent the cork with the bottle’s lip flying with nary a drop of the precious contents spilled. The top of the bottle sported a clean slice. It was impressive; I needed to master this technique.

I couldn’t wait to get home to give this a go, but thoughts of breaking and wasting case after case of bubbles to achieve sabrage perfection almost stymied my desire. A single bottle of cava was stowed in the fridge. Grabbing the cava and my chef’s knife, I headed to the patio. I carefully peeled the foil off of the cork and removed the cage. Holding the bottle away from my body, I held my knife as I saw Chef do with his, and confidently gave my best deliberate stroke. CHECK OUT THAT CORK!!! Way cooler than a diced onion any day. And exponentially more fun at parties.