Is Paul Hollywood a phony!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Hi. Been watching the latest GBBS on Netflix and I noticed something curious in one of the episodes - whenever Mr. Hollywood uses a knife he lays his index finger along the blade. So I started going back through other episodes and other seasons and he has done this all along.

In any kitchen I've ever worked in, if any of the trained chefs who had real, actual knife skills saw this they would stop the offender and show him/her how to hold a knife properly. I learned working in the cafeteria kitchens in college. When I apprenticed for a pastry chef in Seattle she made certain I knew how to hold a knife even though I do not remember ever using one. She was just making sure to keep me safe.

Curious...

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[Mike Nolan]

His bio says he started working in his father's bakery as a teenager, so he probably never went to cooking school, but he's worked in hotel bakeries around Europe.

I've got one of his books, his recipes tend to be pretty complicated, something I'd expect of a high end hotel baker.

I know how to hold a knife, I just can't hold it as tightly as I used to due to arthritis, so I wind up putting my finger on the top of the blade at times, too. I think it gives you slightly better control at the expense of speed.

And bakers don't use knives as much as chefs do.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Interesting. Never been to cooking school either. I was just taught that by chefs I was working for. They always told me it was how knives were meant to be held and was safer and faster. Never questioned it.

I don't really think he is a phony. And looking at the close-ups of his knife hand he may have some arthritis problems too.

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