Fish, Bread and Cheese
Cooking Skills: Knife Skills 1
Chapter 8 · Fish, Bread and Cheese
Skill goal
Cut delicate and awkward foods with the right knife and technique.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
Soft, delicate and crusty foods need different knives and different strokes. The knife that works for one fails at another.
| Food | Best knife | Technique |
|---|---|---|
| Bread | Serrated bread knife | Light sawing; let the teeth cut |
| Hard cheese | Sharp chef's knife or a wire cutter | Firm, even push; peeler for shavings |
| Soft cheese | Thin knife or a wire, dipped in hot water | Wipe between cuts, don't press |
| Raw fish and skinning | Long, thin, flexible knife | Nearly flat blade, pressing on the skin |
| Prawns | Paring knife | Peel by hand, devein with a shallow cut |
| Cooked roast | Long, thin carving knife | Rest, then long, smooth strokes across the grain |
- Chill fish until you cut it. Cold fish is firmer.
- Check for pin bones in every fillet.
- Keep a damp cloth to wipe the knife on when cutting soft cheese or fish.
- Rest roasts before carving: carving at once sends the juices onto the board.
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
Bread, cheese and fruit board
Bread, cheese and fruit need three different cutting approaches. Slicing each properly is the whole recipe.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- ½ crusty loaf (about 200 g)
- 100 g hard cheese (Cheddar or Manchego)
- 80 g soft cheese (Brie or goat's cheese)
- 1 crisp apple or pear
- 1 handful grapes
- Bread: steady the loaf on the board. Use a long serrated knife with a light sawing motion, letting the teeth do the work, and don't press down hard. Slice about 1.5 cm thick.
- Hard cheese: cut with a sharp knife into slices or shavings (a vegetable peeler makes thin shavings), or into small blocks.
- Soft cheese: use a thin knife, wiped clean between cuts, or a wet knife. Cut Brie in wedges from the middle. Cut goat's cheese rounds with dental floss or a wet knife.
- Apple or pear: quarter, core and slice thinly. Arrange everything on a board.
Level 2 · Fish
Skinned and portioned salmon, pan-fried
Salmon fillets have a row of small pin bones, which tweezers or the tip of a knife pull out. Removing the skin is optional (crisp skin is good), but it is a useful skill.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 2 skin-on salmon fillets (about 150 g each)
- 1 tsp sunflower oil
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- ½ lemon, cut into wedges
- 1 tbsp chopped dill or parsley
- Pin bones: run a finger along the middle of the fillet against the grain and feel for small bones. Pull out each with clean tweezers or pliers, and keep it in the direction it lies.
- Skinning (optional): put the fillet skin-side down with the tail towards you. Cut a little way between the flesh and skin at the tail end. Hold the skin firmly (a pinch of salt gives grip), and slide a long, thin knife between the flesh and the skin, the blade nearly flat, pressing down on the skin as you go.
- Portioning: cut the fillet into even portions across the width, using a long sharp knife in one smooth stroke.
- Pat dry, season, and cook skin-side down (or one side first) in the oil over a medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, until opaque and just flaking all the way through.
- Serve with the lemon and herbs.
Cook it through
Salmon is cooked when it is opaque and flakes easily, with no translucent raw patch in the middle. Use a separate board and wash everything after handling raw fish.
Level 2 · Shellfish
Garlic prawns (peeling and deveining)
Raw prawns are peeled with your fingers and a small knife. Taking out the dark vein (the gut) along the back makes them cleaner and less gritty.
Ingredients (2 portions)
- 200 g raw king prawns in the shell
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 pinch chilli flakes
- ½ lemon, juice
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 pinch salt
- Peel: pull off the head, then peel off the shell from the underside, leaving the tail on if you like. Keep the shells for stock.
- Devein: run the tip of a small knife along the back of the prawn, in a shallow cut. Lift out the dark thread with the knife tip or your fingers.
- Wash your hands and board. Heat the oil over a medium heat, add the garlic and chilli for 30 seconds (don't brown it), then the prawns.
- Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until they are pink and curled, and opaque all the way through. Add the lemon juice and parsley.
Shellfish
Prawns must be cooked until pink and opaque all the way through. Buy them fresh or frozen from a reliable source and keep them cold. Shellfish is a common allergen: tell anyone you cook for.
Level 3 · Carve
Carving a roast chicken
Carving a bird is mostly knowing where the joints are. Rest it first, so the juices stay in, then cut the legs off, then the breast.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 1 whole roast chicken, cooked and rested for 15 minutes (see chapter 7)
- 1 tbsp gravy or pan juices, to serve
- Rest the cooked chicken on a board with a groove for juices for at least 15 minutes. It must have been cooked until the juices run clear and there is no pink meat.
- Steady the bird with a carving fork. Cut through the skin between the leg and body, bend the leg out until the joint pops, and cut through it. Split each leg at the joint into thigh and drumstick.
- Cut along one side of the breastbone and, keeping the knife against the bone, follow the rib cage down to remove the whole breast in one piece. Repeat on the other side.
- Slice each breast across the grain into 1 cm slices. Arrange on a warm plate with the legs and spoon over the juices.
Experiments
Experiment
Serrated or plain on bread
Compare the two knives.
- Slice a crusty loaf with a serrated knife and with a plain chef's knife.
- Compare how the crust and crumb look after cutting.
Look for: The serrated knife cuts cleanly through the crust with little pressure. The plain knife squashes the crumb and slips on the crust.
Experiment
Hot or rested roast
When to carve.
- Carve a slice of roast chicken straight from the oven and another after 15 minutes of resting.
- Look at the juice on the board and the moisture of the slice.
Look for: The unrested slice floods the board with juice and tastes drier. The rested slice stays moist.
Experiment
Wet knife on soft cheese
How does a damp blade help?
- Slice a soft cheese with a dry knife and with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped.
- Compare how clean the slices are.
Look for: The dry knife drags and sticks. The warm, wet knife glides through cleanly.
Experiment
Chilled or part-frozen fish
Which skins more easily?
- Skin a salmon fillet straight from the fridge, and another that has been in the freezer for 20 minutes (firm, not frozen solid).
- Compare how well the skin separates.
Look for: The firmer fillet skins more cleanly. The softer one tears more easily. Don't leave raw fish out of the fridge to warm up.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bread and cheese board | ||||
| Pan-fried salmon | ||||
| Garlic prawns | ||||
| Carved roast chicken | ||||
| Serrated vs plain on bread | ||||
| Hot vs rested roast | ||||
| Wet knife on cheese | ||||
| Chilled vs part-frozen fish |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Bread squashed | Pressing hard or blunt knife | Use a serrated knife and saw lightly |
| Cheese sticks to the knife | Dry blade | Dip in hot water; wipe between cuts |
| Skin tears off in bits | Warm fish, or blade angled up | Chill the fillet; keep the blade flat |
| Pin bones missed | Not checking | Run a finger along the fillet |
| Prawns gritty | Vein left in | Devein with a shallow cut along the back |
| Chicken carved ragged | Not rested or blunt knife | Rest for 15 minutes; use a sharp, thin knife |
Raw fish, shellfish and cheese
Raw meat, poultry and fish: the Food Standards Agency advises using separate chopping boards and knives for raw meat, fish and poultry, for fruit and vegetables, and for ready-to-eat foods such as salad and cheese. Bacteria spread from raw meat to a board and knife, and then to the next food. Wiping a board with a cloth is not enough: wash boards and knives in hot soapy water (or a dishwasher) before they touch anything else, and wash your hands after handling raw food. Keep raw meat, poultry and fish covered on the bottom shelf of the fridge, where juices can't drip onto other food. Don't wash raw chicken: it splashes bacteria around the kitchen, and cooking kills them anyway.Knife safety: a sharp knife is safer than a blunt one, because it needs less force and slips less. Always cut on a stable board (put a damp cloth underneath), tuck your guiding fingertips back (the claw), carry a knife with the point down and the edge away from you, and never try to catch a falling knife: step back and let it fall. Wash knives by hand and dry them at once; never leave one in a sink of water where you can't see it. Store them in a block, on a magnetic strip or in guards, not loose in a drawer. A cut-resistant glove on your guiding hand is a sensible aid while you learn. If you cut yourself, apply firm pressure with a clean cloth, and get medical help for a deep cut or one that won't stop bleeding.
Fish and shellfish: cook fish until opaque and flaking, and prawns until pink and opaque all the way through. Keep raw fish cold, and eat or freeze it by the use-by date. Shellfish and fish are common allergens. Cheese: some soft, mould-ripened and blue cheeses are not recommended in pregnancy, so check the label or NHS advice if cooking for anyone pregnant. Leftovers: cool cooked food quickly (within 1 to 2 hours), keep it covered in the fridge, and eat it within 2 days. Reheat until steaming hot all the way through, and only once.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I can slice bread cleanly with a serrated knife.
- I can cut hard and soft cheese without sticking.
- I can remove pin bones and skin a salmon fillet.
- I can peel and devein a prawn.
- I can rest and carve a roast chicken.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Knife Skills 1, chapter 9 is Putting It Together: speed, mise en place, and your skills table.