For my birthday, I was given a collection of more or less esoteric knives, such as two mezzalunas (one with one handle, and one with two), a sicle knife and a tourne knife.
My question is this; what is the latter, the tourne knife, used for?
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Sign up to join this communityAlso known as a "bird's beak", it's used for tournéeing root vegetables (turning them into little footballs) and making fancy, delicate cuts when carving garnishes from fruit or vegetables. More practically, the curved blade is great for peeling round vegetables and fruit. It's a complete pain in the butt to sharpen without a belt grinder (or pro sharpening service with same), but gosh, it looks neat. Congrats on the fun present!
It is used for, and I am not saying this to be silly, making vegetables tourne, which is a fancy French presentation:
They can also be used in many ways for the same purpose a standard paring knife is used: peeling, slicing small items like garlic cloves, and so on.
It is a specialty item which most cooks and chefs could go a lifetime without, and not miss.
Its really good for peeling citrus fruit, especially ones with thick skin like grapefruit or pomelo.