To properly cut a pineapple, follow these steps:

• Slice off the top and the bottom of the pineapple. Slice off the skin thinly, using a large kitchen knife.
• Take a smaller kitchen knife and remove the eyes of the pineapple, by making two diagonal cuts either side of the row of eyes. This helps to minimize waste.
• Remove the core – either by slicing the pineapple into rounds and cutting out the core using a round cookie cutter, or by cutting the pineapple into quarters lengthways and slicing out the core.

To dice a tomato into small cubes, follow these steps:

• Lay a tomato upside down and slice vertically but without cutting all the way through.
• Turn the tomato 90 degrees and cut again – also without cutting all the way through.
• Turn the tomato once more and cut – this time all the way through to make diced cubes.

To julienne a carrot, follow these steps:

• Cut off one side of the carrot to form a flat base, this will give you stability and help you to cut with more accuracy.
• Tuck the fingers of your non-knife hand into a claw-grip. The knuckles of this hand serve as a guide for the blade, helping you to chop quickly but with control and without the risk of slicing a fingertip!
• Slice the carrot into strips, using a slight rocking motion and moving the blade from the point to the heel.
• To julienne, take one of the wide strips and slice it finely lengthways, pulling the knife towards you. The tip of the blade should be pointing down and the handle of the knife should be slightly raised as you pull.

To chop an onion, follow these steps:

• Peel and halve the onion. You may wish to keep the stalk in place, as it can make the next steps slightly easier.
• Slice the onion longways without cutting all the way through. Don’t forget to tuck the fingers of your non-knife hand into a claw grip for safety and control.
• Use a slight rocking motion, where the direction of the knife is always moving from the point to the heel of the blade.
• Make 2-3 horizontal incisions (again without quite cutting all the way through).
• Then slice with a rocking motion crossways to make a fine dice.

 To brunoise a leek, follow these steps:

• Halve the leek.
• Tuck the fingers of your non-knife hand into a claw grip.
• Julienne the leek by pulling the knife towards you, cutting the leek into long thin strips. The tip of the blade should be pointing down and the handle of the knife should be slightly raised as you pull.
• Brunoise the leek by taking a small bunch of the julienne strips and cutting finely crossways to make a fine dice.
• Cut with a slight rocking motion so that the blade is always moving from the point to the heel of the knife.

To rock chop, follow these steps:

• Remove the leaves of the herb from the tougher stalk.
• Tuck the fingers of your non-knife hand into a claw grip.
• Chop the herb into smaller pieces.
• Form a pile of the roughly chopped herb leaves and place the blade of the knife directly onto the pile. 
• Use the fingers of your non-knife hand to lightly hold the blade (being careful not to get too close to the sharp edge) and hold the blade end of the knife more or less in the same place.
• At the same time, move the handle of the blade up and down, and back and forth across the pile of herb leaves. 
• Do this repeatedly until the herb is chopped as finely as you need.