Frenching

Frenching (also called a french trim) is the process of exposing and cleaning the rib bones that extend above the eye of meat on a rack of lamb, pork, or veal. The butcher or cook first scores the fat cap at the point where bone meets the loin muscle — typically 2–5 cm above the eye — then strips back the fat flap and uses the spine of a knife or a cloth to scrape every trace of intercostal meat, connective tissue, fat, and membrane from each individual rib bone. The result is a rack of gleaming white bones that radiate above a compact cylinder of meat. When two frenched racks are interlocked bone-to-bone, the presentation is called a crown roast. Frenching has no culinary function beyond aesthetics: the thin meat on those bones would anyway char before the eye reaches the correct internal temperature, and removing it prevents bitter, overcooked bits from tainting the plate. Paper or foil frills (manchettes) are traditionally slipped over the tips to keep them pristine during service.

“She frenched each rack until the bones were bone-white, tied the two together into a crown, and seasoned the exposed eye generously with herbed breadcrumbs.”

• CutRack of Lamb
• TechniqueCrown Roast
• ConceptChine Bone

1. 1.The Professional Chef, 9th ed. — The Culinary Institute of America
2. 2.Meat: Everything You Need to Know — Pat LaFrieda & Carolynn Carreno
3. 3.The French Laundry Cookbook — Thomas Keller

Confidence: high