Mincing is a food preparation technique in which

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...

ingredient An ingredient is a substance that forms part of a mixture (in a general sense). For example, in cooking, recipes specify which ingredients are used to prepare a specific dish. Many commercial product (business), products contain secret ingredie ...

s are finely divided into uniform pieces. Minced food is in smaller pieces than diced or chopped foods, and is often prepared with a chef's knife or food processor, or in the case of meat by a specialised

meat grinder A meat grinder (also called a "meat mincer" in the UK) is a kitchen appliance for fine chopping ('mincing') and/or mixing of raw or cooked meat, fish, vegetables or similar food. It replaces tools like the mincing knife (which are also use ...

. For a true mince, the effect is to create a closely bonded mixture of ingredients and a soft or pasty texture. However, in many recipes, the intention is for firmer foods such as

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

s and other root vegetables to remain in individual chunks when minced. Flavoring ingredients such as

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...

, and fresh

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

s may be minced in this way to distribute flavor more evenly in a mixture. Additionally bruising of the tissue can release

juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...

s and oils to deliver flavors uniformly in a sauce. Mincemeat tarts/mince pies and pâtés employ mincing in the preparation of mouldable paste. Meat is also minced and this cooking technique is used in Greek cuisine.

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Cutting techniques (cooking) Food preparation techniques Culinary terminology {{cooking-stub