A conflict in the sources. Hic says, "French fries aren't named for France. Rather, 'to french' means 'to cut into thin strips before cooking'."

Hic cites AHD, which says, "french: 1. To cut (green beans, for example) into thin strips before cooking. 2. To trim fat or bone from (a chop, for example)." But OED differs. It says only "5. Cookery. (See quot.) ? U.S.: 1895 Standard Dict., French v. To prepare, as a chop, by partially cutting the meat from the shank and leaving bare the bone so as to fit it for convenient handling."

OED has nothing about slicing vegetables into strips. And with the lack of a definition and the paucity of cites, one would gather that even the cookery definition that it does give is a rare term.

So what gives here?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: wordnerd,

I see OED says it's an American term, which may explain why its definition isn't complete. Perhaps the AHD is more reliable in this instance?

So far as I know, it's not a term used in cooking over here.

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So far as I know, it's not a term used in cooking over here.

I wonder if it is a French term, or just an American one. There also are French beans, which are beans that are especially slender. Do you have those in the UK?

I have never heard the term french used to mean vegetables cut into strips.
Over here we describe them as "Julienne", which my fench dictionary confirms as meaning cut into battons like certain legumes. It goes on to apply it to a soup containing finely chopped vegetables.

I would guess that "french" has been applied to many culinary terms by people too lazy to remember the french word. Cooking is just one are in which english draws heavily on french.

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There also are French beans, which are beans that are especially slender. Do you have those in the UK?

French beans are like runner beans although the plant is rather lower.

Quark, I don't think "french" (for cutting thin strips) is just a laziness, because "julienne" is common here too. However, I do wonder where it comes from. Of the online dictionaries in dictionary.com, I only find it in the AHD. It is not in the online etymology dictionary nor in OED. The AHD for this definition of "french" reads, "To cut (green beans, for example) into thin strips before cooking. To trim fat or bone from (a chop, for example)." I don't think "julienne" is used for trimming fat, is it?

Not that I have ever heard. This is more my brother's department as he trained as a chef. Over to you Doad.