Slicing

• Lay the ingredient flat on the board and hold your knife perpendicular to it to achieve this fundamental technique. Guide the ingredients to the knife using your non-dominant hand, drawing the knife through the ingredient in even slices while adhering to the prior guideline of not raising the blade's front end off the cutting board. While the breadth of your slices will vary based on what you're creating, make sure they're uniform to ensure that all of the contents cook equally.

Dicing

• One of the most frequent knife skills is dicing, which is the process of cutting your components into small, homogeneous pieces. If the ingredient doesn't sit flat against the cutting board, cut it in half before dicing so that each half lies flat against the board. Slice the component thinly in one direction before turning it and slicing in the opposing way, resulting in square-shaped pieces.

• Start by peeling and slicing an onion in half down the middle, then cutting off only the base of each half of the onion, leaving the top intact. Make a series of incisions in the onion, almost all the way through, stopping just short of the top so that the pieces remain together. The onion should next be rotated and sliced perpendicular to the initial series of cuts, resulting in even, chopped pieces of vegetable.

• After you've mastered the standard dice, try practicing with a small die (macedoine) or even smaller dice (brunoise), which produce 14-inch and 18-inch cubes, respectively. Simply produce thinner slices in either direction that align with the size you're going for to change the size of your dice.

Chopping

• This coarser, more free-form knife skill is appropriate for herbs and other components that don't require a clean, even slice or dice. To do a proper chop, start with the tip of the knife and move your knife through the ingredients in a rough rocking motion. To get the most flavor out of your herbs, chop them using a super-sharp knife, then go the extra mile by stacking, bunching, or rolling them together to chop swiftly with minimal cuts, resulting in more flavorful chopped herbs.

Mincing

• This knife skill is comparable to dicing but involves more rotations of the component. It is most typically linked with garlic. Slice your garlic (or other ingredient) in one direction first, then rotate your knife 90 degrees and slice perpendicularly across the previous cuts. Then, put the chopped ingredient in a pile and continue the process, slicing through it in each direction until you have incredibly thin pieces that will disappear into a dish.

Julienning

Julienning entails slicing your vegetable or other food into thin, uniformly sized matchstick-like bits. To make your julienned pieces uniform in length, cut your vegetable, such as a carrot, into 2-inch-long segments. Then, lay your slices flat on the cutting board and slice into 18-inch-thin slices with your knife parallel to the length of the vegetable. Stack your slices and continue the process parallel to your first slices until you have matchstick-like 2-inch-long pieces.

Chiffonading

This knife skill, which is usually employed with leafy vegetables, is used to cut thin, even slices of herbs to use as garnishes or to incorporate in a recipe. Begin by arranging your herb or leafy greens, such as basil, in a consistent pile before rolling them into a cigar shape. Slice through the cigar perpendicularly, resulting in thin, ribbon-like segments, while securing the wrapped shape with one finger.