Mincing

Mincing cuts food, most often meat or vegetables, into small, uniform pieces, a technique documented in English as far back as 1381. It was originally done by hand with a knife or a mezzaluna, a curved double-handled chopper, and became far faster after the meat grinder, or mincer, was invented in the 1850s. Some cooks and food writers, including Elizabeth David, have argued that hand-mincing with a mezzaluna produces better minced meat than a mincing machine because it does not squeeze out the meat's juices, though few cooks still use the older method.