Knife Cuts

Since the day that I talked about making sofrito and threw the brunoise cut in there I have received numerous comments asking what a brunoise is, hence the knife cuts page of my blog.

1.  Tournee cut, this cut uses a specific knife and is kind of a lost “art”.  You will practice this cut on a case of potatoes in culinary school and that’s usually where it stops.  The 3D cut looks like a mini football and has 7 sides.

2.  X-Large dice, 3/4″ cube is the typical cut size for the XL cut and not too common when you go out to eat.  Not a bad size for stock but it is not necessary to cut vegetables this size for a stock.

3.  Large dice, 1/2″ cube and is more common in the kitchen and used as a good vegetable size for entrees.

4.  Medium dice, 1/4″ cube, this cut is very common for soups, you will want your vegetables this size to make sure that they can all fit on the spoon when eating a soup.

5.  Small dice, 1/8″ cube can also be used for soups

6.  Brunoise dice, 1/16″ cube, very small cut used for various dishes, the most common use for me is with shallots.  I put shallots in a lot of my dishes at work and a nice brunoise adds flavor and also makes them subtle.

7. & 8.  The only time that I made these cuts was in culinary school and I don’t really remember what they are called

9.  Batonnet cut, 1/4″x1/4″x1.5″-2″, this cut is typically used with potatoes and carrots or root vegetables to build height or stack them on a plate

10.  Alumette or “Matchstick” cut, 1/8″x1/8″x1.5″-2″, this is a good cut for vegetables as they will cook quickly and not get too limp or overcooked.

11.  Julienne cut, 1/16″x1/16″x1.5″-2″, very common cut in the culinary world and used for a variety of things, especially vegetables.