A good sharp knife is used to shape a food product and reduce its size. Having the same size and shape ensures even cooking. Items are shaped by slicing, chopping, dicing, mincing and other special cutting techniques.

Cooking schools, culinary schools, the Art Institute of
California, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, and
a two-hour class at Sur La Table are all methods of
becoming educated in the field of cooking.  Depending on
whether you want to learn how to cook one meal to impress
a date, or become the Executive Chef of a famous
restaurant, the opportunity is there to learn.