gehakte

Gehakte is a Dutch adjective meaning chopped or minced, derived from the verb hakken (to chop) with the ge- prefix that forms the past participle. As a noun, gehakt refers to minced meat, typically beef, pork, or a mixture, used widely in Dutch and Belgian cooking. The term is common in recipe ingredients and grocery labeling, and it also appears in compound dishes such as meatballs and meatloaf.

In cooking and labeling, forms like fijngehakt (finely minced) and grofgehakt (coarsely minced) are frequently used to describe the texture of the meat. The adjective Gehakte is used in phrases such as gehakte ui (chopped onion) and gehakte peterselie (chopped parsley), with the form gehakte appearing before feminine singular nouns and plural nouns, and often in everyday usage for cutting or mincing other ingredients as well.

Common culinary uses include gehaktballen (meatballs), gehaktbrood (meatloaf), and various sauces and stews that rely on minced meat as the primary protein. In grocery stores, you will encounter product labels such as rundgehakt or rundergehakt (ground beef), mager gehakt (lean minced meat), and half-om-half gehakt (half beef, half pork).

Etymology traces gehakt back to hakken, with the ge- prefix marking the past participle in Dutch. The term is widespread in the Netherlands and Flanders and appears in recipes, menus, and food products to indicate chopped or minced preparation.