On Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:50:17 -0400, Brooklyn1
> wrote:

>On Tue, 16 Apr 2013 05:59:31 -0400, Ed Pawlowski > wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:45:56 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:
>>
>>>I never gave this much thought until some years ago when my dad and I were
>>>watching a cooking show on PBS. I can't remember who the chef was, but it
>>>was a weird vegan woman. She seemed to have odd attachments to her food.
>>>She was teaching some guy to cut carrots. She had him cut them like you
>>>would do for a stir fry so that there were as many exposed surfaces as
>>>possible. She chastised the guy for putting his pointer finger on the back
>>>side of the blade. She told him when he did this, he was allowing the knife
>>>to control him and not the other way around.
>
>She was exactly wrong... the guy wielding the knife had better control
>by his method.
>
>>Whatever works for you, but the extended finger would feel awkward to
>>me. I hold the handle in the palm and one finger on either side of
>>the blade where it meets the handle.
>
>How can you have one finger on "either" side of the blade, do you have
>six fingers? lol I can't visualize a finger on the front side of the
>blade unless you mean your thumb... for heavier cutting with larger
>knives I often choke up on the handle so that one finger and my thumb
>are on the blade... offers better control and saves the wrist from
>fatigue... works well for slicing cabbage, melon, winter squash, and
>other large tough foods. Most oriental cooks use that grip on
>oriental cleaver type knives.

I do it that way, except my index finger is folded along the outside
of the blade next to the handle with the thumb pressed flat against
the blade on the opposite side.
Janet US