Course Chopping:

As you work in the kitchen preparing foods and following recipes, you will invariably need to chop foods coarsely as you prepare them. When you coarsely chop foods, the finished pieces of food should be approximately 1/2-inch square; however, coarsely chopped foods are not perfectly uniform in appearance. When you coarse chop food, strive to produce chunks of food that are smaller than cubed foods and larger than minced foods. Coarsely chopped ingredients have a texture between cubed and minced. Achieving a coarse chop is easy with a chef's knife. It's even more easily done by pulsing the ingredients a few times in a food processor.

Mincing:
Mincing is a preparation strategy used in cooking. Essentially, any food that is minced is dividing into extremely fine and more or less evenly sized units. The technique can be used with spices and herbs as well as fruits, vegetables and even meats. One of the main benefits of mincing is that the process helps to release the flavor of various foods evenly throughout the dish. For example, preparing minced garlic releases the juices into a casserole or other type of dish in a manner that allows the flavor and aroma of the garlic to distribute throughout the food rather than be confined to the area immediately around the garlic clove. As a result, it takes much less garlic in a given recipe to achieve the same level of taste.

Julienne and Botonett

Julienne:
A julienne (also called a "matchstick") is a type of cut that makes a long thin strip. It's a good technique to use for vegetables and other ingredients when you want to heighten their presentation.
With a sharp knife the raw vegetable is sliced to length and trimmed on four sides to create a thick rectangular stick 6-7cm long, then cut lengthwise into thin (1-2mm) slices. Stacking these slices and again cutting lengthwise into thin (1-2mm, equal to the thickness) strips creates thin uniform square sticks. Julienne usually applies to vegetables prepared in this way but it can also be applied to the preparation of meat orfish, especially in stir fry techniques.

Batonnet:
Could you be thinking of the word btonnet, which literally means small stick in French? In the language of food, it has several meanings a loaf of bread that is shorter than a baguette, a vegetable or a pastry that is shaped more or less like a stubby stick, and vegetables that are cut into small sticks. Occasionally weve also seen it simply as bton. But is there a difference between a btonnet and a julienne? (Would we ask if there werent?) Indeed, the difference is so great, there is another category that fits in between them. A btonnet is the largest cut 1/4 of an inch by 1/4 and 1-1/2 to 2 inches long. Next is the alumette, literally a "matchstick," that is 1/8th of an inch on the sides and 1-1/2 to 2 inches long. Finally, the tiny julienne is 1/16th of an inch on the sides and the same length as the others.

Dice:

A diced vegetable is cut into small cubes. It's easy to dice quickly and evenly once you have the knack. Just think "slices, sticks, and cubes." Is a vegetable cut that produces 1/4? x 1/4? square or triangle-shaped pieces. This type of cut is slightly smaller than a rondelle. The word means "farmer's style" in French and refers to the farmer's rather rough manner of cutting vegetables to be added to soups or stews
To cut food into thin squares measuring approximately 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/8 inch in dimension. To make a paysanne, slice and cut food into 1/2 x 1/2 in thick sticks. Cut the end of the sticks at an 1/8th inch spacing to produce flat squares. You can also cut cubed food into 1/8th inch slices. Used primarily for vegetables and garnish.

Rondelle:
Rondelle cutting is to cut something into a circular shape. It is basically cutting a round food into round slices. For example, cutting a carrot crosswise (90 degrees) so you end up with round carrot slices is rondelle cutting. Used for carrot coins and other round foods like zucchini and summer squash. Related to both the bias and chip cuts. Rounds, or rondelles, are simple to cut. The shape is the result of cutting a cylindrical vegetable, such as a carrot, crosswise. The basic round shape can be varied by cutting the vegetable on the bias to produce an elongated or oval disk or by slicing it in half for halfmoons. If the vegetable is scored with a channel knife, flower shapes are produced.

Diagonal:
You may have noticed that many Chinese recipes call for vegetables to be cut "on the diagonal." Diagonal cutting is a simple Chinese cooking technique that can be used with many vegetables. Cutting vegetables on the diagonal exposes more of the vegetable's surface area to the heat. Besides making the vegetable cook more quickly, it allows it to absorb more of the sauces and seasonings it is cooked with. In this photo of Chicken With Ginger, the thicker parts of the scallion have been cut on the diagonal