Shelf · Knife & prep · No heat
Brunoise
The smallest honest cube — about the size of a peppercorn — made by julienning first and then cutting across the sticks.
Why it works
At this size a vegetable stops being an ingredient you chew and becomes seasoning you taste. It is the cut for a garnish that has to disappear into a sauce without vanishing from it, and for aromatics that must soften in the two minutes before the liquid goes in.
The tell
The pile reads as texture rather than as pieces, and a spoonful spread on the board shows no piece obviously bigger than its neighbours.
- Chunk
- Baton
- Matchstick
How it fails
Trying to reach this size by chopping smaller and smaller just bruises it into paste. The size comes from the julienne being right first — get even sticks, and the cubes are automatic.
In the app, the card opens on the recipe step that names it, with the tell drawn.
Learning is free on every plan.