Cordon Bleu Was a Ribbon Before It Was a Chicken
A cordon is a line of guards or a cord. Cordon bleu means blue ribbon, and the cooking sense came from an order of knights.
A cordon is a line of people or barriers preventing access, and originally simply a cord. *Cordon bleu* means blue ribbon: it was the sash of the Order of the Holy Spirit, France's highest chivalric order, and its members were known for magnificent dinners. The ribbon became a mark of culinary excellence, and eventually the name of a stuffed chicken dish.
- A line of guards or barriers. *A police cordon.*
- To surround. *Cordon off the street.*
- A decorative cord. *A silk cordon.*
- Cordon bleu — of the highest culinary standard. *A cordon bleu chef.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | cordon | A tight cordon. |
| Plural | cordons | Police cordons. |
| Verb | cordon | Cordon off the area. |
| Phrase | cordon bleu | Cordon bleu cookery. |
| Phrase | cordon sanitaire | A cordon sanitaire. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Police cordoned off the square.Verb.
- A cordon sanitaire limits movement.Originally a quarantine line.
- Chicken cordon bleu is stuffed with ham and cheese.The dish.
Cordon phrases
- Cordon bleu — blue ribbon, meaning first class in cooking
- Cordon sanitaire — a quarantine line, or in politics a refusal to cooperate with a party
- Cordon off — to seal an area
- Blue riband — the English equivalent, used for the fastest Atlantic crossing
- Cordon — in gardening, a fruit tree trained on a single stem
From French *cordon*, a diminutive of *corde*, a cord, from Latin *chorda*, from Greek *khorde*, a gut string.
Why does cordon bleu mean excellent?
From the blue sash of the Order of the Holy Spirit, whose members were famous for their banquets.
What is a cordon sanitaire?
Originally a guarded line preventing the spread of disease. In politics it means an agreement to exclude a party from power.