Italian Chopping Kitchen Techniques

Battuto

• The Italian battuto is similar to the French mirepoix, in that it consists of aromatics, such as onion, carrot and celery. The word means "beaten" in English. Typically, battuto consists of vegetables that have been roughly chopped. A chef may use a regular, sharp knife to chop the vegetables or use a mezzaluna. The chopping technique for battuto does not have to be even. The vegetables should not be too small. After they are cut up, the vegetables are added to a sauce pan and cooked until they develop a deep flavor. Some cooks prefer to cook the vegetables until completely soft while others cook them until al dente.

Mezzaluna

• The mezzaluna may be more familiar to cooks in America as the herb chopper. It consists of an extremely sharp, curved blade, which may or may not have a handle. Some mezzalunas are simply metal blades. The blade is used to roughly chop vegetables or herbs. In some cases, the blade is sold with a specialized cutting board. The board has a small curve in it that matches the curve of the blade.

Pesto

• Traditionally, basil and other types of pesto were not made in a blender or food processor. The name pesto refers to the mortar and pestle, as the ingredients were pounded together in a paste using the pestle. When made in a mortar and pestle, the ingredients do not become blended together as smoothly, so there is still some distinction between the pieces of basil, cheese and nuts used to make the sauce. A cook can also use a sharp mezzaluna to prepare pesto instead of a blender.

Mincing and Dicing

• Mincing vegetables is similar to chopping them, except the cook ends up with much smaller pieces. In Italian cooking as well as other cuisines, aromatics such as garlic and shallot are typically minced. Dicing is a more precise method of chopping. The vegetables are cut into evenly sized squares that are anywhere from one eighth of an inch in size to 1 inch in size. A cook may dice vegetables when their appearance is more important.