How to Properly Dice Vegetables
April 16, 2012
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Miami
• 0 Comments
How to Properly Dice Vegetables
As any cooking enthusiast knows, one of the most important steps in vegetable preparation can also be the most challenging and consequently dangerous ones. Holding a sharp blade anywhere near your fingers can often be frightening. If you watch cooks with a culinary education background cut veggies, it appears to happen in one sweeping motion, with a slight movement of the wrist and that pleasant dicing sound, viola magically the vegetables are sliced in identical chunks ready to be tossed into the recipe. Okay, so back up. Chances are the first time you grabbed that knife and prepared to slice and dice, things didn’t go so smoothly. Try following these easy steps for dicing larger veggies and your culinary education begins now!
1. Choose your cutting surface - Decide where you would like to start and gather up your ingredients. When it comes to choosing a cutting board, some prefer plastic while others prefer wood. If you are cutting a strong tasting vegetable or something with a very potent taste like garlic or onions for example, a plastic cutting board is typically best since the wood tends to absorb the odor. Even with plastic cutting boards it’s a wise idea to devote one entirely to things like garlic and onions so that any leftover odor will not leak into another vegetable.
2. Cut the vegetable in half - When dealing with a larger vegetable like an onion, start by slicing the veggie in half, but the key is not to go completely through the vegetable. Slice until it is almost totally through and then stop right before coming out the other side. Repeat these slices a few more times going in the same horizontal path.
3. Cut a grid shape in the vegetable - Next, take the knife and create a grid pattern going vertically down the vegetable. Once this pattern is all established, dice the vegetables all the way through.
Now that you have the basics, you can experiment and perfect these culinary techniques. Make a salad or any type of entrée that gives you the opportunity to showcase your new skills. There is so much to learn when it comes to cooking and if you would like to pursue a culinary education, you will learn many additional slicing and dicing methods. Fortunately, if you live in Miami you are near Le Cordon Bleu culinary arts school.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Miami. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Miami offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in the Miami, Florida area. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/Miami for more information.
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