The Basic Cuts.
A cut is a size, and a size is a cooking time. Uniform pieces finish together; mixed sizes give you some burnt and some raw.
The classical cuts of the French kitchen are named sizes. A julienne is a matchstick about 2 × 2 × 50 mm; a batonnet a stick about 6 × 6 × 60 mm; a brunoise a 2 mm cube cut from a julienne; small, medium and large dice are cubes of roughly 6, 12 and 20 mm. The point of the names is not ceremony. Pieces of the same size cook in the same time, and the size chooses that time: by the square law (II.2), a 6 mm dice cooks about four times as fast as a 12 mm one.
Size also sets surface. The smaller the piece, the more surface per gram, and the more of the food is in contact with the pan, the oil and the sauce: more browning, more flavour exchange, and faster loss of water. The workshop draws each cut at true size and measures it.
Below: pieces of the chosen cut at true size, with a 50 mm rule; the surface per gram, the number of pieces in 100 g, and the cooking time relative to a 12 mm dice.
- Name the classical cuts and their sizes.
- Explain why uniform cuts matter.
- Relate size to surface area and cooking time.
- Choose a cut for a cooking method.
Size is time
A 12 mm medium dice gives about 58 pieces per 100 g; a 6 mm small dice cooks in about 0.25 of its time and a 20 mm large dice in 2.78 times its time. A julienne, only 2 mm thick, cooks in a twentieth or less (0.03) and has 2.04 mm² of surface for every mm³ against 0.50 for the dice — which is why it is the cut for quick sautés, salads and garnishes that must soften in seconds.
Match the cut to the method. Long braises and stews want large pieces that hold their shape for hours; stir-fries want small, thin pieces that cook through before their surfaces burn (XV.4); soups and sauces that will be strained can take rough chunks. And within one dish, keep the pieces the same size — or add them in order of size, largest first — so they finish together.
Cut one carrot into julienne, small dice and large dice, and drop all of them into the same pan of simmering water. Fish out one piece of each every minute and bite it. The julienne is soft first, the large dice last — the square law in your mouth.
Terms
- Julienne
- Matchsticks about 2 × 2 × 50 mm.
- Batonnet
- Sticks about 6 × 6 × 60 mm, from which a small dice is cut.
- Brunoise
- A tiny dice, about 2 mm, cut from julienne.
- Surface-to-volume ratio
- Surface area divided by volume; larger for smaller pieces.
Sources
- A teaching value chosen for the course: the right order of magnitude and shape, not a measurement of a particular food.