A Macédoine is a French cooking term meaning a mixture of vegetables, or fruit, or both, cut or chopped up, and served raw or cooked, cold or hot.
The size that the food item is cut into can vary, depending on the intended application.
Fine Macédoine of Vegetables
For a fine vegetable mixture, the vegetables should be chopped into cubes 4 mm x 4 mm x 4 mm (⅙th inch each side.)
To do a Macédoine of vegetables, the first step is to peel and wash the vegetable. If possible, regularize its shape into a rectangle or square by topping and tailing it and squaring off the sides. Then cut it into long pieces, then cut each of those pieces into 4 mm (⅙th inch) thick slices. Stack those slices, then cut them lengthwise into 4 mm (⅙th) wide sticks. Then stack the sticks about three to four high, and using your knuckles as a guide for the blade of the knife, slowly and deliberately slice off pieces 4 mm (⅙th) wide. That will give you your cubes.
Macédoine of Vegetables with Butter (Hot)
(Macédoine des légumes au beurre) Take carrots and turnip, washed and peeled, and use a scoop to cut balls out of them, or dice them finely. Cut French beans into lozenges, or dice them. Dice green asparagus tips. Cook each of these vegetables separately in boiling salted water, along with some green peas, also cooked separately in boiling salted water. Drain all the vegetables, mix them together, heat them, stir butter in and serve hot. from Larousse
Macédoine of Vegetables (Cold)
(Macédoine des légumes froids) Take carrots and turnip, washed and peeled, and use a scoop to cut balls out of them, or dice them finely. Cut French beans into lozenges, or dice them. Dice green asparagus tips. Cook each of these vegetables separately in boiling salted water, along with some green peas, also cooked separately in boiling salted water. Drain all the vegetables, mix them together with either mayonnaise, or a dressing made from oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
Macédoine of fruit (Chilled)
(Macédoine de fruit rafraîchis) For a Macédoine of fruit, the fruit is usually cut differently. It is usually sliced instead of cubed, as fruit is softer than many vegetables, or made into balls with a small scoop. A classic fruit Macédoine in the French tradition consists of a mixture of in-season fruit, with blanched almonds. Typical fruit used includes peeled pears, peeled bananas, apricots, strawberries, whole raspberries, etc. The mixture is either layered with caster sugar in between layers, or tossed with a heavy sugar syrup. Additional flavouring is a small amount of a liqueur such as kirsch or maraschino. It needs to be chilled for at least two hours.
Language Notes
Macédoine refers to the historical region of Macedonia north of Greece, which Alexander the Great and his father Philip II formed by conquering and cobbling together many small states.