Cuts Like a Knife

Sharpening, cross-chopping, slicing, julienningtheres more than one way
to cut a carrot. We put our knife skills to the test with a three-hour
class at Calphalon.

Our fruit salad turned out peachy, minus the mushy mango and uneven
apple matchsticks. We gobbled that up and moved on to preparing our mise-en-place
for a stir-fry.

Our instructor Susie and her assistant Estelle were superb, talking us
through techniques (for basil chiffonade place leaves in a little pile,
roll up like a cigar and roll-slice) while throwing in bits of trivia
along the way (never put good knives in the dishwasher or they will
blunt). A huge, handy mirror helped us mimic the instructions.

With shrimp stir-fry for six, and all ten fingers intact, we headed for
home.

$130/3-hour class, Calphalon, 425 King St. W., Toronto, 416-847-2212, www.calphalonculinarycenter.com