Start · Week 1

Knife and Fire

Every chef's first week teaches the same two things: to cut without being cut, and to cook without burning.

This week you will make two dishes, but what you really learn is three skills. You will use these three skills in every dish you cook from now on.

Weekly progress0 / 6

Hands chopping a red pepper on a wooden cutting board

5 days · about 20 min a day

What you will learn this week

Three skills, two plates

Knife

You will learn the claw grip, which curls your fingertips away from the blade, and how to cut even cubes. Vegetables cut to the same size cook in the same time and fit in the same bite. That is why you cut vegetables evenly.

Salt and acid

You will learn when salt goes in and what lemon does. Salt and lemon decide how raw vegetables taste.

Heat control

Eggs react quickly to small changes in heat. This is why you learn heat control with eggs and cook your omelet over medium heat.

This week's plates

Cold first, then hot

Shepherd's salad with parsley and lemon in a white bowl

Knife · Salt · Acid15 min

Shepherd's Salad (Çoban Salata)

Shepherd's salad is a chopped Turkish salad that needs no heat and leaves little room for error. That is why it is the first dish for getting used to the knife.

Go to recipe →

Heat control10 min

Omelet

Three eggs, one pan, three lessons.

Go to recipe →

Week plan

Five days, six tasks

Check off each task as you finish it. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Day 1Knife warm-upUsing the claw grip, cut one small cucumber and one small onion into 1 cm cubes. Aim for even cuts, not fast ones. This task takes 15 minutes. Day 2Your first shepherd's saladFollow the recipe step by step. Remember to leave the salt for the very end.Go to recipe Day 3Two omelets, two heatsMake two omelets: cook one over medium heat and the other over high heat. Put them side by side, look at the difference, and taste. With the two results next to each other, the effect of heat is easy to see. Day 4Make the salad by weightThis time, weigh the salt: it should be 0.7% of the weight of the vegetables (6 g in a salad for 4). Then compare this amount with the salt you used on day 2. Day 5Omelet + salad, on the table togetherThis task is your first lesson in timing. Chop the salad vegetables, and add the salt, lemon, and olive oil 5 minutes before serving. Then cook the omelet and serve the two together. WeekendPalate task: the salt ladderPut 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% salt into three glasses of water (1, 2, and 3 g in 200 ml of water). Taste them in order. Remember how the 1% salt water tastes.

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Knife and Fire

Week one is done. Somewhere, a kitchen has started to fear you.

Toolkit

A sharp chef's knife (15–20 cm). A dull knife slips. That is why your knife must be sharp.
A cutting board. Lay a damp cloth or paper towel under the board. A board that does not slide is safer to cut on.
A 24 cm nonstick pan and a silicone spatula
A kitchen scale. Grams are the real measure on this site, and you weigh salt on day 4. That is why you need a scale.

Shopping list

Tomatoes 1200 g (about 9), small cucumbers such as Persian cucumbers 1000 g (about 10), long green peppers 180 g (about 6; Italian frying peppers or cubanelles work)
Yellow onions 320 g (about 4 small), parsley 75 g (about 1.5 bunches), 2 lemons
9 eggs (one carton of a dozen is enough), butter 30 g
Olive oil 120 g, salt, sumac (optional; a tangy, dark red spice from a Middle Eastern grocery or online, and lemon zest works instead)

This list covers three salads for 4, three omelets, and the knife practice on day 1.

Up next

Week 2: Rice and Soup

Ratio, demleme (steam rest), and the aromatic base.

Go to Week 2 →