Matchstick-shaped cuts called “julienne” are not rocket science. They just require you to use a system. For hard vegetables like carrots, first cut two-inch lengths, then slice those lengths into thin slices, then lay the slices flat and crosscut them into thin strips.

I used to hate julienning curved vegetables like celery, but an Italian chef helped me let go of that anger. He said that vegetables are a natural product, and that all pieces aren't identical in nature, so if your julienne are uneven, no big deal. Hey, it's only food! Cut two-inch lengths, slice the lengths into planks as flat as you can make, starting with the top of the arched back part of the celery (Step 1), then crosscut just as you would a carrot (Step 2).

Of course, julienne of onions will be curved. Cut off the polar ends of the onion and halve it through the root end. Separate two or three petals at a time, and cut them into as close a semblance of ⅛-inch sticks as you can. That's all Julia Child would do.

For the easiest, most uniform julienne, shave off the blade of a mandolin. Mandolins are flat boards with cutting blades and crosscutting blades. You just slide your vegetable across these blades (using the plastic hand guard for safety!) and clean, uniform julienne tumble onto a waiting plate below. Inexpensive Japanese mandolins, which cost about $25 at a kitchenware shop, are about an inch thick, and as long as a wine bottle.

Step 1

Step 2