Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
also chiffonnade, food preparation technique, 1877, from French chiffonade, from chiffon (see chiffon) + -ade. In reference to the condition of the leafy stuff after it is so treated.
Wiktionary
n. A culinary preparation of herbs or leafy vegetables cut into long, thin ribbons. vb. To prepare a (l en chiffonade).
Wikipedia
Chiffonade is a chopping technique in which herbs or leafy green vegetables (such as spinach and basil) are cut into long, thin strips. This is accomplished by stacking leaves, rolling them tightly, then slicing the leaves perpendicular to the roll. The technique can also be applied to crepes or thin omelets to produce strips.
This technique is unsuited to small, narrow, or irregularly shaped herb leaves such as coriander, parsley, thyme, or rosemary due to there being less surface area for the knife to do a practical job.
"Chiffonade" means little ribbons in French, referring to the little ribbons you create while cutting.
Usage examples of "chiffonade".
You chiffonade Belgian endive for eight hours, and you might get some idea what my life is like.
How he finds the time and the strength to keep up with deliveries, the nuts and bolts of deep prep, like cleaning squid, washing mussels and spinach, dicing tomato, julienning leek, filleting fish, wrapping and deboning pigs' feet, crushing peppercorns and so on, and yet still finds time to make me beautiful, filament-thin chiffonaded parsley (which he cuts with a full-sized butcher's scimitar) is beyond me.