Cookware · Tools
Mezzaluna
A crescent blade with two handles: herbs and soffritto chopped the way an Italian board still wants.
The journey
Mezzaluna means half-moon. The blade rocks. Parsley, garlic, and the battuto for a soffritto are crushed rather than sliced, so the board smells like the pot already. French kitchens have a cousin called a hachoir.
A chef's knife can do the work. The rocking blade is faster on a pile of herbs and kinder to the board.
In the kitchen
Gather the herbs. Rock, turn, rock. Stop before they become a paste unless the sauce wants that.
The Italian volume's sauces start here more often than they name the tool. Keep it sharp. Wipe, do not soak.