Knife Cuts
Knife cuts are about uniformity, not neatness for its own sake: pieces the same size cook at the same rate. These are the standard cuts and the dimensions that define them.
Dice
Even cubes in three standard sizes — small ¼ inch (6 mm), medium ½ inch (12 mm), large ¾ inch (2 cm). The size you choose sets how fast it cooks; mixing sizes guarantees uneven results.
Brunoise
The ⅛-inch (3 mm) fine dice, cut by taking a julienne and slicing it crosswise. Used where you want flavour and presence without texture — fine garnishes, aromatic bases.
Julienne
Thin matchsticks, roughly ⅛ × ⅛ × 1–2 inches (3 mm × 3 mm × 3–5 cm). The parent cut for brunoise, and the classic shape for stir-fry vegetables.
Batonnet
Sticks about ¼ × ¼ × 2–2½ inches (6 mm). Larger than a julienne; small dice is simply a batonnet cut across.
Mince
The finest cut short of a paste, around 1/16 inch (1.5 mm). Reserved for garlic, shallots and ginger, where you want them to melt into the dish.
Chop
Fast and deliberately uneven, for when uniformity does not matter — a rustic braise, a stock you will strain, anything cooked long enough for size to stop mattering.
Chiffonade
French for “little ribbons”: stack leaves or herbs, roll them tight, and slice thinly across into fine ribbons. Basil, mint, sorrel, soft greens.
Slice
Even planks or rounds where the thickness is the one variable that matters — too thick and the centre lags, too thin and it falls apart.
Shred
Long thin strands, by knife or the coarse side of a grater — cabbage for slaw, cheese that should melt fast.
Grate
Reducing food to fine particles on a grater or rasp — hard cheese, citrus zest, whole nutmeg — for flavour that disperses evenly.
