What are the brown bits in a pan called?
That’s fond!
What is the meaning of fond in cooking?
The term ‘fond’ comes from the French language, and it means ‘foundation’ or ‘base’. This is an apt term to use in cook, as ‘fond’ is used as the foundation of many sauces and is found at the base/bottom of your pan after cooking.
Fond is the brown bits that stick to the bottom of your pan when you are cooking. Fond does not develop well on non-stick surfaces. This stickiness isn’t a bad thing; in fact it can be quite a tasty thing. You can easily create a pan sauce by adding liquid (e.g. wine or stock) to your pan at the end of cooking, scraping up the fond, and reducing it into a sauce–a technique known as deglazing.
In order to develop a good fond, you’ll want a good stainless steel frying pan. We recommend the 10-inch and 12-inch All Clad triply stainless steel frying pans.
How do you not burn fond?
You will want to make sure that you don’t scorch the fond. Temperature can be maintained easily on a quality gas or induction stove. An electric range is a bit more difficult to maintain, so you’ll want to make sure your golden brown fond doesn’t turn black! If you are stuck with an electric range, I’d suggest setting a second burner at a lower temperature so that you can easily transfer it over if your main burner gets too hot.
Keep reading our food glossary for more culinary definitions.
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