Could be, Greg,
but the opinions of bloggers isn’t what restaurants rely on for safety standards, and in order to teach at a credentialed school, one needs to meet credentialing standards.
I don’t think that either of them even claim to be teachers.
They are being reviewed as entertainers on this blog.
I hope this will help to answer the knife grip discussion. Most of the time, Chef Macro uses pinch grip – only occasionally use the pointer finger grip (put his index finger on the spine).
The fact that a poster here keep brining in Panko as an excuse to fault Chef Macro is sad. Pinch grip is a great knife grip. However, it is not the only grip. Great chefs know when to switch their grips. The talk about Panko as a sushi chef with extensive training simply shows how little knowledge it is about sushi. Pointer finger grip is far more adapted in the world of sushi than in Western culinary. Let’s look at some of the most respected sushi itamae today. Anyone criticizes Chef Marco knife grip as not being multicultural enough or not understand the world of sushi training… make you wonder if that person has been to a sushi restaurant.
Ono Yoshikazu (小野 禎一). The elder son, the true force behind his father Ono Jiro (小野 二郎) success. Jiro of course is widely known as God of Sushi. (We can debate if he is the best, but he certainly is not inexperience)
Saito Takashi (斉藤孝司 ), known as the best sushi itamae from Tokyo.
Masuda Rei (増田励)
Vecchiouomo,
Marco’s a celebrity entertainer, not a teacher–a former Chef. Gordon Ramsay the same. Ever watch Gordon Ramsay “hone”?
Ray
Hi Chem,
None of this has much to do with home cooking–or institutional restaurant cooking to meet local standards for performance and liability protection in different parts of the world.
The home cooks I lived with in Japan either used a nakiri or a santuko: that’s it–and they were pretty slow.
My Japanese collaborator, Dr. H, almost entirely works at his home with his dual core santuko–the way he was taught in a Japanese restaurant. He’s a little bit faster.
Both in Japan and here in SOCAL, I learned face to face—not watching TV.
Ray
Switching topic again? Let me guess… eventually this will be “You are off-topic” or “I am done here”. You have never been to a real sushi restaurant, have you?
Well at this point this has turned from “Knife Talk” into “Chef Marco vs. Chef Panko”?
I mean, there are tangents, and then there are tsunamis that wash out the actual topic.
Maybe there can be a separate “Chef Panko” thread and a “Chef Marco” thread and everyone each of them irks has the option to just mute that thread.
Better still, take a look at @NotJrvedivici’s great post on how to mute or ignore users if you don’t like what they’re saying, rather than continuing to argue the same point over and over to prove oneself right — at the expense of the thread and everyone else reading.
Since you tagged my post I guess it tagged me too! Look I honestly have no idea what is going on, nor do I know who you are posting to. Lol So let’s do this…….take a deep breath and if whomever doesn’t heed your advice and mute/ignore you or whoever the dispute is with, then you do me a personal favor and please scroll past the next post you see that annoys you. Ok? Can we try that for awhile and see if we can let some of the steam out of the room for a bit.
Thank you
Perhaps you could delete a few posts where @drrayeye brings up the topic again and again just to have the last word and desperately wanting everybody patting him (virtually) on the back and hear that he is a great guy and knows everything the best. It’s not always everybody’s fault but sometimes it is a single person who created drama and problems and perhaps that should be addressed
Huh?
I’ve seen parody Lipton/Knorr commercials posted, and the were fun to watch. But
does not seem a fair characterisation of those.
Are there some others you mean?
Is this a true pointer grip, or more of a hybrid pinch/pointer? It occurred to me when I was watching this onion video that by pinching the neck with thumb and middle finger and putting his index finger on the spine, he could seamlessly switch from a rock slice to a pull slice, which is genius when it comes to brunoising an onion since the horizontal cuts are not so easy to accomplish with a standard pinch grip (between index and thumb). I tried this “hybrid” myself earlier today and really liked the flexibility this grip affords for specific tasks, although I found myself defaulting to my normal pinch most of the time. May just be a question of practice.
Anyway, it seems to me that the below photo shows more of a true pointer grip (which of course has its place too), but I am no expert on Japanese knives, grips or cutting techniques.
Hi CCE,
One of the parodies directly made fun of Marco’s onion trick; another showed him using voodoo to chop the onion. There were others that satirize him that were listed that I didn’t follow.
If I ever doubted that Marco’s presentations were entertainment, this removed the doubt.
Hi Saregama,
I’m game. I’ll stop responding.
Ray
Correct. I think it depends on the kind of knife one is holding. It is easier to move the entire hand forward for a more Westernized knife and therefore a hybrid pinch and pointer grip – still has the index finger on the spine and pinch the blade with the thumb and middle finger.
Both Marco and Saito were using Westernized knives in those photos.
For a true yanagi-ba, there is a space between the handle and the blade, and also yanagi-ba blade is narrower to pinch. So the pinching (if one can call that) is at the handle.
Good observations.
J.F.C. Ray, you’re missing the point. Willfully? You tell me.
Marco, Jaime Oliver, Gordan Ramsey, and others playing on the theme of “smash an onion”.
It was supposed to be simply fun video.
FFS man, get a grip.
At this point, I’m starting to lose my ability to presume you are responding in good faith.
And it takes a lot to take that away.
Forgot to say. Yes, the hybrid pinch/pointer compromises the strengths and weaknesses for both grips. It is actually a slower grip than a pinch grip (cut slower), but offers a bit more control and precise than a pinch grip. Try it. Essentially, we are moving the entire hand up. The fact that Chef Marco can use a slower cutting grip and still cut faster than most people is amazing.
A slight side note. The Dexter Duo Glide knives are also based on the idea to encourage user to move their hands close to the knife spine. This is slower, but more precise and less effort, especially for people with Arthritis.
Aha! I didn’t see that before, but now that you point it out I can see the gap (maybe 1 cm?) between the end of the handle and the heel of the knife. Definitely enough to make a difference in the pinch point and grip overall.
I noticed that my cutting was slower when I tried it tonight, but I thought it might be because I am new to the grip. I’m sure that played a role, but I’m glad to know that it is also a generally slower grip - makes me feel a little less awkward! 
You claim one to be the better teacher. I claim the other to be. For me, Marco, I can get more. It’s not just the undying love for Chef Panko; it’s the snide digs on Marco. Negativity doesn’t lift one up. I’ll watch his Kiwi review, though.
Just watched the review. I feel he stated the obvious. I prefer my soapstone for the Kiwis. He’s entitled to his opinion. Plays like a documentary, though. What did I get out of it? Stuff I already knew/ know. I obviously don’t buy Kiwi as a fashion statement, not because the blade’s the hardest. To the contrary. I like a blade I can sharpen now. Just the way I roll.
I watched it a few more times. Excellent knife skill. I also spotted that he was using a Mac (真久作) knife – in case anyone is interested.
MKS-105
Yes I knew it was a Mac. Awesome knives. I have a Mac Pro bread knife and it’s one of my most used and favourite knives at home.
Perhaps in due time I might get the gyuto as well though I really do not need another knife!
