Kitchen terms · French cuisine
Brunoise
Vegetables cut into very small, even dice, used as a garnish, decoration or aromatic base.
At a glance
- Production
- Vegetables are cut into tiny, even cubes.
- Ratio
- Purdue Extension: about 1/8 inch per side (roughly 3 mm); other schools give different sizes.
- Use
- Garnishes for soups and sauces, decoration, a delicate aromatic base.
- Substitutes
- Mirepoix is an aromatic preparation that Escoffier cuts into more or less fine dice; julienne are sticks.
In French cooking brunoise means very small dice. The Larousse dictionary defines it as a garnish of vegetables cut into dice, and Escoffier, in the glossary of the 1907 English edition of his guide, explains cutting “brunoise-fashion” as cutting a product into small dice. In his Italian sauce, for example, he cuts cooked ham this way.
The size of the dice differs between schools. A teaching chart from Purdue Extension gives brunoise as 1/8-inch cubes, about 3 mm; the larger cubes on the same chart are called small, medium and large dice. Brunoise is the smallest dice on that chart.