Tools, Equipment, and Knife Skills
Core concepts
A line cook must identify, use, and maintain the full toolkit: chef's knife, paring knife, serrated knife, boning knife, cleaver, plus whetstones, honing steels, mandolines, thermometers, and scales. Know the anatomy of a knife - blade, spine, edge, heel, tip, bolster, tang, and handle - and the difference between honing (realigning the edge) and sharpening (removing metal to create a new edge). Understand the major cuts and their dimensions: chiffonade, julienne, batonnet, dice (brunoise, small, medium, large), paysanne, and mince, and the logic that consistent cuts produce even cooking. Know safe knife technique: the guiding hand in a claw grip, the blade never leaving the board unnecessarily, cutting on a stable surface, and walking with a blade down and pointed away. Recognize equipment safety and sanitation: slicers and mandolines require guards, and blades are cleaned carefully and never left in a sink.
Traps to watch
Questions often confuse honing with sharpening, or test cut dimensions precisely - a brunoise is much smaller than a small dice. Watch for safety scenarios where the correct answer is to use a guard or stop cutting rather than to work faster. Another trap is matching the right knife to the task, such as a serrated knife for bread and tomatoes versus a chef's knife for general work.
Rule of thumb
A sharp knife is safer than a dull one because it requires less pressure and slips less. Anchor your guide hand in a claw, keep the tip down when walking, and match the cut size to the recipe so everything cooks evenly.