Cutting Tourner and deep fry birds nest potatoes

15 March 2011

Today I learned how to cut Tourner (vegetable cut) of potatoes using the turning knife.

Tourner - A method of cutting vegetables into a football or barrel-like shape that forms six or seven sides on the length of the item being cut. Most often used to enhance the presentation of various vegetables such as carrots or potatoes, the food item is typically cut into 2 to 3 inches in length, the sides are carved equal with 6 or seven tapered cuts from end to end so that each end almost comes to a point, and then the points on the ends are sliced off.

What is a potato in French?

Pomme de terre is French for potato (translates as earth apple)

We also used the mandolin to cut different shapes using a potato. A mandolin is a cooking utensil used for slicing and for cutting juliennes with suitable attachments; it can make crinkle-cuts. It consists of two parallel working surfaces, one of which can be adjusted in height.  A food item is slid along the adjustable surface until it reaches a blade mounted on the fixed surface, slicing it and letting it fall.

We had to use a bird’s nest to fry julienne potatoes. It is demonstrated on the picture below. The potato julienne is put into the birds nest and deep fried in oil until golden brown. The birds nest has to be sprayed with cook and spray to prevent the potato from sticking. Another chef tip is that you must not cut the potato julienne into to large pieces otherwise it will break apart after it has been deep fried.