[MetroActive Dining]  [ Dining Index | North Bay | MetroActive
Central | Archives ]  [whitespace] Sleight of Hand  The cool of
culinary artistry  By Marina Wolf  WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE between
a professional chef and a home cook? One hand tossing. How's
that for a culinary koan? I used to think the answer was
somewhere in the total dedication to one's craft, the finely
honed palate, the even more finely honed knives, the $20,000
culinary school education. It's all these and one thing more:
total nonchalance.  I realized this the other day while I was
trapped against a giant stovetop watching a chef make a seafood
stew. He reached into the containers of fish chunks and clams
and pulled out exactly the right amounts. He tossed the contents
of the pan in a practiced, one-handed shake, and splashed it all
with wine, not even looking. His hands and arms were loose and
relaxed, even while he carried on two simultaneous conversations
and mugged  for a photographer. Joe Cool at the cooktop, and the
whole thing took fi