Why Crown Roasts Are Served With Little Paper Hats

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Whimsy is hard to come by these days, especially when it comes to food. With grocery prices being what they are, it's easy to slip into the mindset that playful flourishes and tricks of presentation are a luxury we can do without. And, sure, we can — they don't even make Baked Alaskas at restaurants anymore, let alone in people's kitchens — but a little bit of decoration here and there can help make any meal truly memorable. That's why, if you're making a crown roast for the holidays, we implore you not to forget the manchettes.

What's a manchette? Well, it's just a fancy French word for those cute little paper doodads certain chefs place at the end of bones in a roast, whether it be beef, lamb, or chicken. Once upon a time, they were there for a practical reason, as they helped diners avoid getting grease all over their hands as they ate. Nowadays, though, they tend to be purely decorative. You're certainly not going to see them on the end of your drumsticks at KFC anytime soon (not even at the really fancy KFC in upstate New York), but they're a neat touch if you want to make your guests at Christmas dinner feel special.

So, how do you get your own little hats for your crown roast? Well, if you have a do-it-yourself streak, you can make your own by carefully manipulating little slips of paper and cutting slits in them. It's a little like origami, if you placed origami on the ends of animal bones and roasted them in a 400-degree oven. Alternatively, you can go to a specialty store (or Amazon, we suppose) and buy them pre-made, although this depends on your willingness to spend over $6 on eight tiny pieces of paper that offer only modest practical benefits.

Then again, there isn't much practical benefit to Lambeth-style cake piping, but people still do it anyway. Why? Because it looks nice, because it's fun to give yourself a project, and because you want to remind the people in your life that they're worth fussing over. The same goes for manchettes on dinner roasts — and hey, they do a pretty good job of keeping your hands clean of grease, too.