How to Julienne.
The slender cousin of the baton and matchstick
cuts, the julienne cut takes its name from
the extremely skinny chef who pioneered this
technique.
Ok, we made that up.
Sorry.
You will need A chef's knife A cutting board
and a vegetable to cut.
Step 1.
Wash and peel the vegetable, if necessary.
Step 2.
Grasp the knife in your dominant hand, holding
the handle close to the blade with three fingers:
your middle, ring, and pinkie.
Curl your forefinger around one side of the
blade while holding your thumb on the opposite
side.
Step 3.
With your non-knife-wielding hand, hold the
vegetable firmly on the cutting board close
to the area you will cut.
Curl your fingers so that the tips are firmly
planted on the vegetable and the knuckles
point outward—in the food world, this is
called the 'claw grip'.
Step 4.
Cut off the ends of the vegetable.
Step 5.
Determine the length of julienne your recipe
calls for—2 inches or smaller is the standard—and
cut the vegetable crosswise into sections
of that length.
Step 6.
Cut off the sides of one section.
It should now resemble a block with 4 long
flat surfaces—this will make it easier to
cut uniform pieces.
Keep the point of the knife on the board and
use a steady rocking motion to slice—not
saw—the vegetable with the full length of
the blade.
Step 7.
Cut the sections lengthwise into uniform slabs
1/16 of an inch thick.
Try to hold the sections together evenly—it
makes for a neater cut.
Step 8.
Stack the slabs on top of each other and—again
holding them evenly—cut them lengthwise
into sticks that are 1/16 of an inch wide.
Did you know Julienne is a popular French
girl's name meaning 'youthful'—and that's
true.