|
BRUNOISE –
Brunoise is an extremely fine and exact dice. For demonstration
purposes, the following description is for a red bell pepper,
but you can use this technique on any vegetable or herb.
First, cut panels from the pepper and remove any white membrane.
Next, cut the prepared panels lengthwise into very thin strips,
called a julienne (described below).
Then neatly group the strips into a "woodpile" and
slice across in thin cuts--creating very fine, confetti-like
pieces of pepper. These are beautiful as a garnish, or in
a soup or sauce.
To brunoise a broader vegetable, such as a carrot, first trim
the vegetable so its sides are straight and at right angles.
Next, holding your knife vertically, slice very thin panels.
Stack the panels or lay them out, then cut them lengthwise
into very thin julienne. Remember to keep your fingers tucked
in, and out of the knife's path.
Finally, turn the julienne and chop them into a beautiful
brunoise.
CHIFFONADE –
When translated literally from the French, "chiffonade"
means "made of rags." In culinary terms it means
finely cut strips or ribbons of leafy vegetables or herbs.
Especially good for fresh herbs!
To chiffonade a cabbage for coleslaw, cut a cleaned, washed
head into quarters, remove the hard core, then thinly slice
the quarters across the grain.
Greens with large, loose leaves, such as chard, can be rolled
up and sliced thinly.
Smaller leaves, such as basil, can be stacked, then rolled
and sliced across the vein.
For leaves with a central woody stem, such as kaffir lime
leaves, roll from tip to stem, slice parallel to the vein
and discard the woody stem.
CHOP –
I love this one best! LOL! To chop means to cut foods into
pieces. This is a larger cut than dice or mince and generally
does not need to be uniform. To chop vegetables, first trim
the stem and peel if necessary.
To hold your chef's knife properly, grasp the handle with
three fingers and put your forefinger and thumb on opposite
sides of the blade (think about "shaking hands"
with the knife).
With a rocking motion, keeping the tip of the knife on the
chopping board, slice down through the vegetable at regular
intervals, using the full length of the knife.
Use your other hand to feed the vegetable toward the knife.
To do this safely, curl your fingers in and use your fingertips
to grasp and move the item. With a little practice, you'll
be chopping quickly and safely.
CUBE –
To cut food into uniform 1/2" cubes. You can use the
dice technique below, but cut into bigger pieces.
DICE –
A dice is a cube, usually of a vegetable, that ranges form
1/4-inch to 3/4-inch square. Using your chef's knife, trim
the vegetable so its sides are straight and at right angles.
Next, determine the size dice you want--say, 1/4-inch--and,
holding your knife vertically, slice the vegetables into panels.
Then neatly stack the panels and slice through lengthwise
in 1/4-inch cuts, creating uniform matchsticks. Remember to
keep your fingers tucked in, and out of the knife's path.
Your hand serves as the guide as you cut.
Finally, line up your sticks and cut across them again in
1/4-inch cuts, creating perfect dice. Note that a dice is
smaller and generally more precise than a chop and is larger
than a mince.
JULIENNE –
To julienne means to cut into narrow, fine sticks that can
measure from 2 to 3 inches long and 1/8-inch square. A finer
julienne measures 1/16-inch square.
First, determine the length of your julienne and, using your
chef's knife, cut the vegetable into pieces. Next, trim the
vegetable so its sides are straight and at right angles. Then,
holding your knife vertically, slice each piece into 1/8-inch
panels.
Finally, neatly stack the panels, or lay the panels out on
the board, and cut them lengthwise to create uniform matchsticks.
Remember to keep your fingers tucked in, and out of the knife's
path.
For a finer julienne, simply slice thinner panels and thinner
matchsticks. A larger matchstick--roughly 1/4-inch across
and 2-1/2 inches long--is called a baton.
MINCE –
To mince means to cut food into very small pieces.
To mince an onion, first cut it in half from root to tip and
peel it. Lay one half on its flat side--this way it won't
roll around the board.
Slice down vertically, from the root end down, making as many
parallel slices as you can. Do not cut through the root, though,
since that is what holds the onion layers together.
Then, hold the blade horizontally, and carefully cut through
the onion several more times. This makes a grid within the
onion that you can cut across to create very small pieces.
The same technique can be used on garlic, shallots, tomatoes
or any hard vegetable.
|
