--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: First, knife skills. Then, knowing how to…" description: "\"First, knife skills. Then, knowing how to control heat. Most important is choosing the right product .. the rest is simple.\" — Justin Quek" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/justin-quek-98306_culinary_first-knife-skills-then-knowing-how-to-c_2397901.png" --- # First, knife skills. Then, knowing how to control heat… ![“First, knife skills. Then, knowing how to control heat. Most important is choosing the right product .. the rest is simple.” quote by Justin Quek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/justin-quek-98306_culinary_first-knife-skills-then-knowing-how-to-c_2397901.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/justin-quek-98306_culinary_first-knife-skills-then-knowing-how-to-c_2397901.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d94/justin-quek-98306_culinary_first-knife-skills-then-knowing-how-to-c_2397901.png) > “First, knife skills. Then, knowing how to control heat. Most important is choosing the right product .. the rest is simple.” [Justin Quek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-quek/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Master basic culinary skills—knife handling, heat control, product selection—before tackling complex dishes. **In simple terms:** Learn basics first, then advance. Key Takeaway Start with fundamentals. Themes culinary skill-building precision Mood practical educational Type Culinary:1 Firsts:0 Food:0 Heat:0 Important:0 Knives:0 Knowing:0 Products:0 Simple:0 Skills:0 Skills Knowing:0 Knife Skills:0 Control Heat:0 Heat Important:0 When to use this quote - home cooking - professional training - recipe development Key Concepts knife skills heat control product quality Questions to Reflect On - Which basic skill need you improve? - How does product choice affect flavor? A Different Perspective Skipping basics leads to poor results. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Control Heat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control-heat-5996153/) [Culinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culinary/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Heat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heat/) [Heat Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heat-important-5996154/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Knife Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knife-skills-2292622/) [Knives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knives/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Products](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/products/) [Simple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple/) [Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skills/) [Skills Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skills-knowing-1623480/) ## Related quotes > [I really feel like knife skills - not just in the kitchen, but in life - are really critical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-ferriss/i-really-feel-like-knife-skills-not-just-in-the-kitchen-but-in-life/) [Tim Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-ferriss/) > [One of my skills is knowing, 'This is where I'm needed, and this is how I'm needed and where I'm going to be in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-platt/one-of-my-skills-is-knowing-this-is-where-i-m-needed-and-this-is-how/) [Marc Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-platt/) > [I have very good knife skills. I learned to butcher on my second job - I was 18 years old. Every other day we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-colicchio/i-have-very-good-knife-skills-i-learned-to-butcher-on-my-second-job-i/) [Tom Colicchio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-colicchio/) > [Good knife skills are lessons you learn over time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-kenji-lopez-alt/good-knife-skills-are-lessons-you-learn-over-time/) [J. Kenji Lopez-Alt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-kenji-lopez-alt/) > [Having sharp, great knives will enable you to cook very precisely. Knife skills are essential in cooking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ripert/having-sharp-great-knives-will-enable-you-to-cook-very-precisely/) [Eric Ripert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ripert/) > [You don't learn knife skills at cooking school, because they give you only six onions and no matter how hard you focus on those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-buford/you-don-t-learn-knife-skills-at-cooking-school-because-they-give-you/) [Bill Buford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-buford/) > [I need to have better knife skills... for vegetables.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-mcadams/i-need-to-have-better-knife-skills-for-vegetables/) [Rachel McAdams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-mcadams/) > [It is not elegant to gnaw Indian corn. The kernels should be scored with a knife, scraped off into the plate, and then eaten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-day/it-is-not-elegant-to-gnaw-indian-corn-the-kernels-should-be-scored/) [Charlie Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-day/) > [All knives and forks were working away at a rate that was quite alarming; very few words were spoken; and everybody seemed to eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/all-knives-and-forks-were-working-away-at-a-rate-that-was-quite/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There are times when born hollandaise heads, as well as nouveaux turbot freaks and recherche escargotphiles alike crave the saignet abundance of a New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gael-greene/there-are-times-when-born-hollandaise-heads-as-well-as-nouveaux/) [Gael Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gael-greene/) > [Recipes don't work unless you use your heart!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-jones/recipes-don-t-work-unless-you-use-your-heart/) [Dylan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-jones/) > [My office in New York is overflowing with all kinds of cookbooks, and in New Orleans we have a huge culinary library. So yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emeril-lagasse/my-office-in-new-york-is-overflowing-with-all-kinds-of-cookbooks-and/) [Emeril Lagasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emeril-lagasse/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) ## More by Justin Quek > [When you're eating something and your palate tells you what's missing, that's when you start combining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-quek/when-you-re-eating-something-and-your-palate-tells-you-what-s-missing/) [Justin Quek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-quek/) [Explore all 2 Justin Quek quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-quek/) ## More Culinary quotes > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [My office in New York is overflowing with all kinds of cookbooks, and in New Orleans we have a huge culinary library. So yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emeril-lagasse/my-office-in-new-york-is-overflowing-with-all-kinds-of-cookbooks-and/) [Emeril Lagasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emeril-lagasse/) > [Recipes don't work unless you use your heart!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-jones/recipes-don-t-work-unless-you-use-your-heart/) [Dylan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-jones/) > [There are times when born hollandaise heads, as well as nouveaux turbot freaks and recherche escargotphiles alike crave the saignet abundance of a New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gael-greene/there-are-times-when-born-hollandaise-heads-as-well-as-nouveaux/) [Gael Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gael-greene/) > [The benevolence of wrapping the partridge in a vine leaf brings out its quality, just as the barrel of Diogenes brought forth the qualities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-des-essarts/the-benevolence-of-wrapping-the-partridge-in-a-vine-leaf-brings-out/) [Emmanuel des Essarts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-des-essarts/) > [Frying gives cooks numerous ways of concealing what appeared the day before and in a pinch facilitates sudden demands, for it takes little more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/frying-gives-cooks-numerous-ways-of-concealing-what-appeared-the-day/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [Peanut butter - the pâté of childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-fabricant/peanut-butter-the-p-t-of-childhood/) [Florence Fabricant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-fabricant/) > [Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-boulestin/cookery-is-not-chemistry-it-is-an-art-it-requires-instinct-and-taste/) [Marcel Boulestin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-boulestin/) > [There are two kinds of people in this world: the ones who don't cook out of and have NEVER cooked out of THE I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-in-this-world-the-ones-who-don-t-cook/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [Before dinner men meet with great inequality of understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/before-dinner-men-meet-with-great-inequality-of-understanding/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The friendly cow, all red and white, I love with all my heart; She gives me cream with all her might, To eat with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/the-friendly-cow-all-red-and-white-i-love-with-all-my-heart-she-gives/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [Plant a radish, get a radish, never any doubt. That's why I love vegetables, you know what they're about!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-jones/plant-a-radish-get-a-radish-never-any-doubt-that-s-why-i-love/) [Tom Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-jones/) > [I went to this restaurant last night that was set up like a big buffet in the shape of an Ouija board. You'd think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/i-went-to-this-restaurant-last-night-that-was-set-up-like-a-big/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) [Browse all 812 Culinary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culinary/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "First, knife skills. Then, knowing how to control heat. 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