List of culinary knife cuts

Numerous knife cuts with their corresponding French name

There are a number of regular knife cuts that are used in many recipes, each producing a standardized cut piece of food. The two basic shapes are the strip and the cube.

Strip cuts

• Pont-neuf; used for fried potatoes ("thick cut" or "steak cut" chips), pont-neuf measures from 1⁄3 by 1⁄3 by 2+1⁄2–3 inches (1 cm × 1 cm × 6 cm–8 cm) to 3⁄4 by 3⁄4 by 3 inches (2 cm × 2 cm × 8 cm)
• Batonnet; French for "little stick", the batonnet measures approximately 1⁄4 by 1⁄4 by 2–2+1⁄2 inches (0.6 cm × 0.6 cm × 5 cm–6 cm). It is also the starting point for the small dice.
• Julienne; referred to as the allumette (or matchstick) when used on potatoes, the julienne measures approximately 1⁄8 by 1⁄8 by 1–2 inches (0.3 cm × 0.3 cm × 3 cm–5 cm). It is also the starting point for the brunoise cut. The first reference to Julienne occurs in François Massialot's Le Cuisinier Royal in 1722.
• Fine julienne; measures approximately 1⁄16 by 1⁄16 by 1–2 inches (0.2 cm × 0.2 cm × 3 cm–5 cm), and is the starting point for the fine brunoise cut.
• Chiffonade; rolling leafy greens and slicing the roll in sections from 4–10mm in width

Cube cuts

Cuts with six even sides include:

• Large dice; (or "Carré" meaning "square" in French); sides measuring approximately 3⁄4 inch (20 mm)
• Medium dice; (Parmentier); sides measuring approximately 1⁄2 inch (13 mm)
• Small dice; (Macédoine); sides measuring approximately 1⁄4 inch (5 mm)
• Brunoise; sides measuring approximately 1⁄8 inch (3 mm)
• Fine brunoise; sides measuring approximately 1⁄16 inch (2 mm)

Other cuts

Other cuts include:

• Paysanne; 1⁄2 by 1⁄2 by 1⁄8 inch (10 mm × 10 mm × 3 mm)
• Lozenge; diamond shape, 1⁄2 by 1⁄2 by 1⁄8 inch (10 mm × 10 mm × 3 mm)
• Fermière; cut lengthwise and then sliced to desired thickness 1⁄8–1⁄2 inch (3–10 mm)
• Rondelle; cylindrical vegetables cut to discs of desired thickness 1⁄8–1⁄2 inch (3–10 mm)
• Tourné; 2 inches (50 mm) long with seven faces usually with a bulge in the center portion
• Mirepoix; 3⁄16–1⁄4 inch (5–7 mm)
• Rough Cut; chopped more or less randomly resulting in a variety of sizes and shapes
• Mincing; very finely divided into uniform pieces
• Wedges; round vegetables cut equally radially, used on tomato, potato, lemon, cut into four or six pieces or more

Japanese cuts include:

• Tanzaku-kiri; sliced into thin rectangular strips.
• Wa-giri; round cut, cut into round slices.
• Hangetsu-giri; half-moon cut, cut into round slices which are cut in half.
• Aname-giri ; diagonal cut, cut at a 45 degree angle to make oval slices.
• Icho-giri; gingko leaf cut, cut into round slices which are cut into quarters.
• Koguchigiri; small edge cuts into tiny round slices.
• Kushigatagiri; wedge cut or comb cut.
• Kakugiri; cut into cubes.
• Sainome-kiri; cut into small cubes.
• Arare-kiri; cut into small cubes of 5 millimeters in size.
• Butsugiri; chunk cut, cut into chunks of 3-4 centimeters in size.
• Usugiri; cut into thin slices.
• Ran-giri; diagonal cut into pieces of 1/2 inch in size.
• Hitokuchi-dai-ni-kiri; cut into bite-size pieces.