A technique for cutting foods into long strips. Though the food does not have to be a vegetable, it is most often applied to vegetables. You may also see the technique as referred to as allumette, or a French cut. Occasionally, you will see it described as being cut like matchsticks.

Now, you may see that the julienne is described as being the same as a baton cut or a batonnet. This is not quite accurate. It is true that these are the same types of cuts, but the thickness of these cuts are not the same. In case you are wondering, in order of thickness (thinnest to thickest) it goes in the following order:

1. Julienne
2. Batonnet
3. Baton

The term itself is French in origin. This is possibly related to a use of the term that is more obscure in America. Julienne can also refer to a consommé that is made with vegetables cut in the julienne manner. The first known use of the term in English was used in 1841 in reference to this consommé. It is more difficult to say where it came from before this. A cursory search indicates that the term can be found in Francoi Massialot’s Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois.