Cutting Things Up
This page covers the terminology dealing with how things should be prepared before cooking
- chopped
- This generally implies cutting something into small pieces; chopped nuts are generally less than 1/4" in diameter while chopped vegetables are bite-sized
- diced
- This implies very small pieces, so diced vegetables are generally no larger than 1/2" in diameter.
- minced
- This implies slightly smaller pieces than "diced", generally between 1/8 and 1/4" in diameter.
- sliced
- This implies cut into thin pieces in one dimension; sliced vegetables are generally cut along the long axis to create many circles.
- grated
- This implies cutting into thin strips using a grater.
- peeled
- This means that the skin has been removed. It can be done with a vegetable peeler (good for apples, carrots, potatoes and other solid foods with relatively thin skins), or cut off with a knife (for foods whose skins are thick and tightly attached) or simply pulled off (good for bananas and citrus fruit).
- blanched
- This is a special process to peel soft or particularly well-attached thin skinned foods. It means that you boil the food for a short while to loosen the skin and then rub to remove it (good for tomatoes, peaches, almonds and softer, thin skinned foods)
- ground
- This requires special equipment to grind the food; the food to be ground must be solid and relatively hard. The food is cut into pieces so small that they are no longer separable; ground nuts take on first a damp powdery consistency and then, as they are ground further, become buttery. Some spices can be ground with a mortar and pestle; this is done when you only have whole seeds on hand, when it's okay if the resulting spice is a little gritty rather than powdery, or when you want to break up dried herbs to release more flavor.
- mashed
- This is usually done with a masher, which has rounded edges rather than sharp ones. It is used on softer foods to create a smooth consistency paste rather than to create small pieces of food.