Olivier Said and Chef MikeC are not your typical cooking instructors. They operate a cooking school in Berkeley, Calif., called Kitchen on Fire (KoF, hopefully in metaphor only), where one of the most popular and successful classes has been Chef MikeC's Basic Knife Skills class (he has taught hundreds of sold-out sessions up and down the West Coast even before KoF, and was the educational director for Sur La Table prior to opening the school). The pair of unorthodox teachers have just launched what will be the first in "The Basic Series" of cooking DVDs with Mastering Knife Skills: Cutting-Edge Tips, Tricks and Techniques Used by Professional Chefs. I've seen a lot of instructional videos --food and otherwise --and they are usually enough to put the most severe insomniac to sleep. This one, however, is lively, funny, visually arresting and presents a brilliantly organized system for learning to properly use a kitchen knife, techniques that can be applied to, as Chef MikeC says, "literally anything edible on the planet." The duo is a great team, never letting the class get dull or mundane, and they don't stop at cutting. The instruction includes information about the different types of knives available today, how to set up an efficient cutting station, safety tips, the skinny on cutting boards, sharpening and honing your blade, and cleaning and storage tips. The DVD is 45-minutes-long and packed with information and solid techniques by one of the foremost knife skills teachers in the country. MSRP is $14.95. To learn more or to see a trailer, go to www.kitchenonfire.com. Also, look for the DVD in the Harold Import Company's booth this summer at the Fancy Food Show.