Basic Knife Cuts

this image

Ever wondered what the different cuts are that recipes call for? Well, when I got a message saying “I have a blog request señorita! I’m always so very confused by recipes that tell me to chop this and dice that! Some even say chop finely. What the heck does it all mean?!” I just had to give a visual to answer the question (plus, anyone that calls me señorita is pretty awesome in my book…you know who you are…*ahem* shout out to Janice!)

So I busted out an onion and commenced to crying while making the visual for this post. Yes, I’m one of those people that really gets all teared up when trying to cut onions. I’ve tried every weird trick in the book including but not limited to:

1. Lighting a candle next to the cutting board (sets the mood but doesn’t stop the tears for me lol)
2. Running cold water while cutting the onions
3. Using a sharp knife
4. Chilling the onions before cutting
5. Using farm fresh onions directly from the farmers market

There are still apparently tricks I can try-like ‘whistling while you cut onions’ or ‘wearing goggles’ according to ‘6 Ways to Chop Onions Without Tears‘ LOL. You know what else brings me to tears? The DMV…I think they pride themselves on taking the worst possible picture for your drivers license, ‘chin down, chin down, more chin down’ … thanks lady, I now look like a troll/hobbit in my photo, and no, I don’t want to pay you another $15 for you to take another picture, but thanks for laughing at me and really making my self esteem take a blow.

Anyway, back to the Basic Culinary Knife Cuts. I’ve made the picture below to help illustrate the size and names of different cuts one may see in different recipes. Enjoy!

Do you have a cooking question or post request? I’d love to hear from you! Email me at sweetphiblog@gmail.com and to stay tuned to all new posts be sure to subscribe to my mailing list which you can do by clicking here .