Complete Book of Knife Skills Tag

You wouldn't know from my sleek bob cut, but I'm a rocker. A die-hard rocker, through and through. Don't get me wrong. I'm not the head-banging, metal-thrashing, ear-destroying kind. I'm the chop 'em, mince 'em, dice 'em kind. I know this because Jeffrey Elliot, coauthor of The Complete Book of Knife Skills, told me so. I interviewed him recently, and when I sheepishly confessed that I couldn't figure out how to use those ultra-popular, uber-chic Japanese knives, instead of telling me to just keep at it, he shrugged and said, "You're either a rocker or a chopper. Few people are both." Turns out Japanese knives are for choppers. Which I'm not. So my classic Western-style chef's knife can stay. Last month, I listed Complete Book of Knife Skills as one of my top picks for 2010, partially because it's the best book I've seen on this topic, but mostly because I actually use it. I keep it in the kitchen, next to the phone book, just inches from the butcher block island and my knife block. Why? Even though I have perfected my knife grip and keep the fingers of my guide hand well out of the way, I still make a lot of mistakes.