Knife Skills, The First Lesson

OTTIMMO–First semester students of OTTIMMO International had their first practical lesson this week. The first lesson they learn is  knife skills. It is the basic skills of a chef before learning another kind of skills.

The lessons on knife skills were given for two weeks to the first semester students. All of them learn the same thing even though some of them have shown some great skills. They chop carrots, potatoes, shallots and other kinds of ingredients.

Chef Jerry, one of the instructors in the kitchen of OTTIMMO International explained that not all of the students have the skills. “Some even started from nothing, they didn’t have any skills with the knives. We will train them and they won’t have other lessons before they can master them,” stated Chef Jerry.

Furthermore, he said that students should practice more at home by themselves so they can master them fast, but learning only at OTTIMMO will be enough. “After a week, the students have shown great progress and most of them have already mastered the techniques of using knives,” he added.

There is always a risk for the students in practicing knife skills, some of them got cut from incorrect techniques. It is understandable because some students are still novice at using knives so they got cuts. However, OTTIMMO have made some preparations on this matter.

Chef Assistants are specially assigned to be the ‘first aid’ if students cut themselves during practice. “We understand there will be a lot of students cut themselves in knife skills lesson. Therefore, some preparation have been made and there are special staffs assigned to help as first aid. It is a standard procedure in a culinary school like OTTIMMO,” explained Academy Director Zaldy Iskandar.

Zahra, one of the first semester students, admitted that the lesson on knife skills was not easy even though she is used to cooking. “The technique is completely different, I had to learn a lot, at home, I merely cut the ingredients with no technique,” she stated.*