At home and in the professional kitchen, food processors stand in pride of place, gleaming, sharpened, ready, waiting.

Silky vegetable puree? Hollandaise or mayonnaise? Creamy soup? Emerald green pesto? Pulverised before you can say pronto. The only job your modern multi-tasking mixer cant handle is self-cleaning. Give it time.

Recently I encountered an interesting snag: when a young chef came for a trial shift and was asked to make a salsa verde, the classic Italian green herb dressing, he instinctively reached for a food mixer. What I wanted to examine was his knife skills.

A knife, fuelled by old fashioned elbow power, is sometimes the best tool for the job. Chopping is a basic skill, in danger of being forgotten. Keeping a sharp edge on a knife should be a skill at the fingertips of all chefs, yet dull blades are surprisingly common. Blunt knives are not a tool but a trial. The simplest of tasks becomes laborious. A glidingly sharp knife, on the other hand, scythes through jobs with ease, bringing real pleasure to proceedings.

In the restaurant, knife work is an exacting, focused task of consistency. At home, however, it is a chance for others to get involved. Last-minute herb chopping needed? Why not get one of your guests to help so you are not left alone in the kitchen? The perfume of chopped herbs rising from a chopping board is lost in a mixer. Today's recipes cut out the blender for some old school results.

Hand-chopped salsa verde

Recipes serve 4

120g curly leaf parsley

10-15 basil leaves

6-8 mint leaves (for the basil and mint, the number depends on the size of the leaf and your personal preference)

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 level dessert spoons of mini caper berries, drained of their brine

4 salted anchovy fillets

1 large washed unwaxed lemon

Olive oil, 6-8 dessert spoons

Method

1. This should ideally be made and used on the same day, to ensure the perfume of the ingredients is not lost and the colour is vibrantly fresh. If you need to you could make this a day in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Wrapping the container in tinfoil to protect from light will help.

2. Start by picking the different herb leaves from their respective stalks, but keep each type of leaf separate as you pick them. Reserve the stalks for other uses such as soups or stocks. With a sharp knife, shred the parsley finely, working slowly at first so leaves do not become bruised, holding the leaves in one hand while shredding finely with a sharp bladed large knife with the other. Once they have been shredded you can place one hand flat on top of the knife blade, with fingers outstretched to keep them away from the movement of the blade, with the other hand holding the knife handle as normal. This method allows the knife to be used so it can chop very quickly, precisely and with enough pressure to cut through the herbs efficiently. It is almost like a guillotine action, rapidly repeated. Continue until the leaves are chopped very finely indeed. Scrape the leaves into a clean bowl.

3. Now finely shred the basil leaves before chopping finely and do the same with the mint. Combine with the parsley.

4. Now slice the garlic clove as finely as possible before then chopping it to a fine paste, adding it to the leaves. Do the same with the anchovies and the capers

5. Season lightly with a few twists of black pepper but no salt as the anchovies are salty enough.

6. Pour on just enough olive oil to cover and make a thick paste, almost a sludge, but the herbs should not be floating around like a herb oil. Stir vigorously then zest the lemon with a microplane or very fine zester. This is now ready to use. Store in the fridge covered with cling film, for as little time as possible before using. Remove to come to room temperature for 30 minutes before using. Serve with grilled meats or fish. Great for barbecue season.

Classic tartar sauce

The traditional accompaniment to breadcrumbed or battered fish, I also enjoy this piquant mayonnaise with poached fish, especially salmon, or tossed through new potatoes for a slightly sharpened version of potato mayonnaise

Ingredients

2 egg yolks

1 tsp Dijon mustard

250ml groundnut oil 250ml olive oil juice of ½ a lemon

2 round dessert spoons of tarragon leaves

1 tbsp rinsed capers 2 rounded dessert spoons of gherkins 2 rounded dessert spoons of curly parsley

Method

1. Make the mayonnaise by mixing 2 egg yolks, 1 tsp of Dijon mustard and a little salt and black pepper, then slowly whisk in 250ml each of groundnut oil and olive oil, a little at a time. Thin slightly with the juice of half a lemon. This can be done to this stage in advance, up to a day ahead and refrigerated.

2. Make a small mound of the parsley leaves in the middle of your chopping board. Using a large sharp knife, hold the herbs together in a loose clump with one hand while shredding finely with the knife in your other hand. Continue shredding back and forth until the leaves are fine then you can use the guillotine action described in the above recipe, step two. Add the parsley to the prepared mayonnaise

3. Chop the tarragon. This is considerably easier as the leaves are smaller: arrange in a mound, or two if you prefer, with the leaves all lined up roughly pointing in the same direction. Slice across the leaves finely and neatly and add them to the mayonnaise.

4. Slice the gherkins lengthways in two then slice finely into thin rounds. Chop the capers a little or leave them in tact if you prefer. Add both to the mayonnaise

5. Check the seasoning and adjust with salt or pepper as desired. Also check for the sharpness of the overall flavour- you want it to be piquant, but not acidic. If it is too sharp, you can whisk in a little more oil; if it is too flat and oily, either add more lemon juice, more capers or more gherkins. Keep chilled until needed; this is best served within a few hours of making so the herbs and ingredients are as fresh as possible but it could be stored in an airtight tub overnight. Serve cool from the fridge.