The Chef’s Best Friend

Whether you are a chef at a famous three star restaurant or a weekend warrior prepping for a supper club dinner party having good knives is key. I have hundreds of dollars invested in knives but don’t dare take my “White Knife” away from me. When you find a “better mousetrap” you have to love it.

My favorite knife is a Victorinox 4” paring knife with a serrated blade with a white handle. It is a multi-purpose knife that can be used for just about anything. I still use my other knives for specific purposes, but my “White Knife” is always close by.

I use them to make my bacon wrapped shrimp. The white knife is great when butterflying the shrimp. Check out the recipe.

Slicing and dicing is probably the single largest task of any cook. My good friend and great chef Lucien Vendome was the head of Culinary Innovation fro Nestle. He had a very large staff working for him. When he was contemplating retirement he told me “I am tired of spending my life slicing and dicing”. It is an occupational hazard.

The genesis of my use of the “White Knife” goes back to Lucien. Most chefs travel with their own set of knives. After September 11 getting through airports with a knife set got to be a challenge. Lucien found the “White Knife” that cost around $5 a knife when you buy in bulk. He would have “White Knives” shipped to a customer in advance of a presentation and when his culinary presentation was over he would leave the knives behind with the customer. It enabled a quick get away, a happy customer and a swift trip through TSA at the airport.

I have become the pied piper of the “White Knife”. We give them away as wedding and shower gifts. Invite me to your house for dinner and you get a white knife. The really cool thing is that we had multiple friends and family come back to us asking how do we get more white knives. My nephew’s wife (a very bright lady) now buys them for all her friends that are getting married.

When prepping for a supper club dinner party I am a firm believer in using all kinds of prep tools: food processors, mandolins, mixers, tongs and on and on. But, just don’t take away my “White Knife”

If you enjoy this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and be on the look out for my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Morgan James Publishing published the Kindle-Version on September 5, 2017 and the hard copy coming out January 30, 2018.