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chiffonade
Jan. 27th, 2026 07:44 amchiffonade (shif-uh-NAYD, shif-uh-NAHD) - n., leafy vegetables or herbs cut into fine, curly strips.
Generally used as a garnish, but also sometimes as the bed for a dish. Created by rolling leaves then slicing perpendicular to the roll, thus the curl. From French, from either chiffonner, to crumple, from chiffon, scrap/rag, or directly from chiffon, which in turn is from Middle French chiffe, from Old French chipe, rag, from Middle English chippe, chip/shard/fragment, from Old English ċipp, chip/splinter/shaving, from Germanic roots, ultimately from PIE *ǵeyb-, to split/sprout. Making this one of those rare cases where a word went from Middle English to Old French instead of the other way around.
---L.
Generally used as a garnish, but also sometimes as the bed for a dish. Created by rolling leaves then slicing perpendicular to the roll, thus the curl. From French, from either chiffonner, to crumple, from chiffon, scrap/rag, or directly from chiffon, which in turn is from Middle French chiffe, from Old French chipe, rag, from Middle English chippe, chip/shard/fragment, from Old English ċipp, chip/splinter/shaving, from Germanic roots, ultimately from PIE *ǵeyb-, to split/sprout. Making this one of those rare cases where a word went from Middle English to Old French instead of the other way around.
---L.
