cordon bleu

n., pl., cor·dons bleus (kôr'dôN blœ').
A person highly distinguished in a field, especially a master chef.

[French : cordon, ribbon + bleu, blue.]

(kawr don BLOO)

adjective
Of the highest class.

noun
A person of great distinction in a field, especially applied to a chef.

Etymology
From French, literally, blue ribbon. Under the Bourbon kings in France, a blue ribbon was worn by knights of the highest order

Usage
"On the one table was the university lecturer, applying critical faculties with academic rigour; on the next was the basic skills lecturer, on auto-pilot to praise every effort, even if the results were not quite cordon bleu." — Gill Moore; If You Want Respect Then Wear a Suit; The Times Educational Supplement (London, UK); Sep 22, 2006.

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First class or gourmet cooking. Originally the blue sash worn by senior students at the Institut de Saint-Louis, founded in 1686 for the daughters of impoverished nobility; cookery was one of the subjects taught. The Ecole de Cordon Bleu was founded in Paris in 1880 by Marthe Distel, and Le Petit Cordon Bleu cooking school and restaurant in New York in 1942.

[kor-dohn-BLUH] 1. A French term (literally translated as "blue ribbon") that referred originally to an award given to women chefs for culinary excellence. The term now can apply to any superior cook. 2. The term also refers to a dish-chicken (or veal) cordon bleu-in which a thin scallop of veal or chicken is topped with a thin slice each of prosciutto or other ham and Gruyère or other Swiss cheese, then another meat scallop. The stacked meats and cheese are then breaded and sautéed until golden.

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Chicken Cordon Bleu