How to Dice, Julienne, Brunoise and Batonnet

Knowing how to dice, julienne, brunoise and batonnet are fundamental building blocks to having good knife skills.

Lets first start with how to batonnet, as it will be your basis for the other three cuts.

Whenever you batonnet something, you must first start by cutting it into a rectangular shape.

First, start by topping and tailing (industry speak for cutting off both ends). Then square off the item as shown in the pictures below.

Once you have squared the object off, it’s time to cut it into slabs. But before we do that, we need to talk about dimensions. A true batonnet measures a 1/4″ X 1/4″ by 2.5-3″ long. So cut your slabs a 1/4″ thick and then stack them on top of each other in stacks of 3. If you stack them too high, you risk them slipping and possibly cutting yourself.

Next, take your 1/4″ slabs that you stacked together, and cut them into 1/4″ strips. If you really want to have a true batonnet, take your 1/4″ strips and cut them to the length of 2.5-3.”

The reason why we started with the batonnet first, is because to dice something, all you do is you take your batonnet and cross cut it into even sided cubes.

If you were to take the true batonnet that you just cut, and cross cut it into even cubes, than you would have a small dice. The measurements for dice are as follows:

• Large Dice = 3/4″ Cubed
• Medium Dice = 1/2″ Cubed
• Small Dice = 1/4″ Cubed
• Brunoise = 1/8″ Cubed
• Fine Brunoise = 1/16″ Cubed

See how I just threw that brunoise in there without any warning? That because a brunoise is really nothing more than a fine dice. So why don’t we call it fine dice and really fine dice? I don’t know, I guess brunoise just sounds better. Plus, you know how us chefs like adjectives.

Speaking of which, a julienne is actually nothing more than a fine batonnet. The measurements for julienne are:

• Julienne = 1/8″ X1/8″ X 2.5″
• Fine Julienne = 1/16″ X 1/16″ X 2″

And that’s it. Now you know how to dice, julienne, brunoise, and batonnet. One thing I want you to remember though is not to get caught up in all the measurements, focus more on the technique. Being able to cut all your vegetables to the same size will not only give your dishes greater visual appeal, but it will also insure that everything cooks evenly.

So go out and practice your newly found knife skills. You’ll be cuttin’ like a pro in no time.

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