A chinois (; ) is a conical

sieve A sieve, fine mesh strainer, or sift, is a device for separating wanted elements from unwanted material or for controlling the particle size distribution of a sample, using a screen such as a woven mesh or net or perforated sheet material. T ...

with an extremely fine mesh. It is used to strain

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

s, purees, soups, and

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French word t ...

s, producing a very smooth texture. It can also be used to dust food with a fine layer of powdered ingredient.

Etymology

''Chinois'' is a

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...

from the French adjective meaning

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

. French cooks call it this not because this kitchen tool comes from China, but because it resembles an

Asian conical hat The Asian conical hat is a simple style of conically shaped sun hat originating in East, South and Southeast Asia; and notable in modern-day nations and regions of China, Taiwan, parts of Outer Manchuria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indo ...

Description

A related utensil is the

tamis A tamis (pronounced "tammy", also known as a drum sieve, or chalni in Indian cooking) is a kitchen utensil, shaped somewhat like a snare drum, that acts as a strainer, grater, or food mill. A tamis has a cylindrical edge, made of metal or wo ...

– a flat strainer through which food is pressed with a scraper or

pestle Mortar and pestle is a set of two simple tools used from the Stone Age to the present day to prepare ingredients or substances by crushing and grinding them into a fine paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory, and pharmacy. The ''mortar'' () ...

. A similarly-shaped utensil is the China cap, a reference to the

conical Asian hat A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines co ...

s that used to be common in China. It is a perforated metal conical strainer with much larger holes than a chinois. A China cap is used to remove seeds and other coarse matter from soft foods, but produces a coarser-textured product than the chinois.Kitchen and Cooking Stuff
/ref> Both the chinois and the China cap often are used with a cone-shaped

. With the pestle tip placed in the bottom of the strainer, it is rolled against the sides of the device to work liquids and soft food through it. In this way, the chinois functions much like a

, and the China cap functions similar to a

food mill A food mill (also called passatutto, purée sieve, moulinette, mouli légumes, or passe-vite) is a food preparation utensil for mashing and sieving soft foods invented in Brussels in 1928 by Victor Simon. Typically, a food mill consists of th ...

. A small ladle can also be used instead of a pestle, allowing scooping solids from the sides of the strainer as well as pressing liquid through the mesh.

References

External links

* Food preparation utensils Bartending equipment {{bartending-stub

Etymology

Description

See also

References

External links