CHAPTER 1

Cuts, Punctures, Lacerations and Bruises

Not long ago, Dr. P. invited us to Saturday-night dinner at histwo-story, brick Tudor home in the hills over looking the beautiful,rolling vineyards of Napa Valley. A prominent plastic surgeon byday and a gourmet chef of incomparable excellence by night, thedish he'd selected was the recipe of the year as selected by BonAppetite magazine: cod fish over mashed potatoes. The idea wasto use this variation of a simple-but-elegant, traditional Frenchpeasant meal to set off a sterling 1982 Cakebread Chardonnay,which had just reached its anticipated height of fermentation.

Needless say, the meal was exceptional and the wineoutstanding. But we noticed as Dr. P. ladled the sauce beurreover the cod, that his fingers were bandaged. "Bad day in theoperating room?" we inquired. "No," Dr. P. answered to oursurprise, "bad day in the kitchen."

The situation was such: Dr. P. had left a two-pound fillet offrozen cod, flash-frozen in the Pacific Ocean but 24 hours earlier,in the refrigerator to thaw. When the moment came to beginthe meal preparation, Dr. P. removed the fillet from the fridge,unwrapped it and washed it under cold water in the sink. Thecod felt a little cold to the touch, so Dr. P., holding the fillet inhis right hand, firmly prodded the white flesh of the cod with afork. The result was unexpected and something that had neverhappened to him in twenty-five years of surgical practice in theoperating room; the fork sailed through the cod fillet, went rightthrough Dr. P.'s hand and pierced it with five-pointed prongs.

As a physician, Dr. P. knew that wounds to the to the epidermallayer of the skin can range from minor (a scratch) to severe(deep). In this instance, Dr. P. watched five little red circles ofblood form on each of the inside fingers of his right hand.

Diagnosing the injury, Dr. P. first ran his hand under cold tapwater and cleansed the wounds with soap. The second step wasto staunch the blood flow with gauze, plentiful in the operatingroom, but absent in the kitchen. Thus, a towel sufficed for themoment.

Dr. P., again, from his operating room experience, knew itwas important to put an antiseptic and antibiotic on these smallpunctures. To prevent infection in his own system, but equallyimportant in this day and age, to insure that no-blood-borneviruses he may have encountered spread to any of the food hewas working with. While he'd been tested for hepatitis, HIVand other similar infectious pathogens, he was quite familiarwith the transmission routes of these diseases. He surely didn'twant to take the chance that his guests would leave with morethan memories of a good meal after they departed thanks tocarelessness on his part.

As the leeks in the oven reached their point of perfectionbefore burning, Dr. P. had to race to the bathroom medicinecabinet for adhesive bandages and an antiseptic. Then it wasback to the kitchen to continue to stir the leeks, just in time.

What happened here illustrates what can happen to anyonewhile making any of hundreds of different meats, fish, fowl andother preparations. And if it can happen to a skilled surgeon oflong practice, it can happen to the home gourmet chef who mayhave just raced home from the office to prepare or finish theevening dinner for family and friends.

Prodding a cod fillet with a pointy-pronged fork or knifewhile holding it in one's hand somehow becomes normal in thethrill of working in the gourmet kitchen—something neitheran experienced surgeon or outdoorsman would do in normalcontext. Yet it is but one of a hundreds of different similar skininjuries that can happen in the kitchen when handling sharpcutlery.

Most of us can probably also relate when we hear of handsor fingers being pierced while placing lamb and onion chunkson a barbecue skewers or while inserting sharp pointed bamboosticks into a sushi roll; of cases where hands punching aerationholes in aluminum foil-wrapped baked potatoes were pierced;of slicing a finger of the edge of a sharp can lid while opening acan, or impaling a hand on a submerged knife caught upright inthe sink's garbage disposal. Likewise, the nipped or sliced fingerwhile shaving or paring a small vegetable or fruit, like a kiwi, isall too well known. The upshot can range from a small scratch ordrop of blood to deep lacerations of veins or striking a nerve (asin acupuncture) and causing paralysis or neurological damage.

How much easier would it have been if the antiseptic, gauzeand adhesive bandages were in a handy first aid kit in a kitchencabinet, so that a minor accident could be repaired withoutneedlessly wasting time searching for first-aid items? (Chapter14.) Besides the obvious medical implications, five minutessolving a small and important emergency of this type couldmake the difference between a good meal and a great a meal,for example, as the heat on the range may need to be lowered orturned off, to stop sauces and reductions from congealing and/or depriving vegetables or meats of perfect flavor.

While not exhaustive, here are the main types of cuts,lacerations and bruises that can potentially occur in the kitchenaccidentally while one is distracted, or unclear about thetechniques of using sharp instruments. Again,...