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A rondeau sounds like a French ballet step, a graceful movement that follows a ronde de jambe or pas de chat. Actually, the word has two definitions, and both do convey a certain elegance, even if they have nothing to do with dance. A rondeau is a type of French poem—and also one of the kitchen’s most versatile pieces of cookware. As you might have guessed, I’m here to tell you about the kitchen rondeau, and why you should definitely consider adding this pan to your arsenal.
What exactly is a rondeau?
A rondeau is a flat-bottomed pan with raised, straight sides. It’s not quite as deep as a cocotte or Dutch oven, but it’s also not as shallow as a frying pan. It’s typically constructed of stainless steel, so it’s much lighter than cast-iron cookware. And instead of a long arm like a frying pan, it has dual curved handles like a stock pot.
Why should you consider cooking with one?
The short answer? It’s versatile.
Think of a rondeau as a kind of perfect pan/pot hybrid. “I’m picky when it comes to tools; my equipment has to be streamlined,” says Emshika Alberini, chef and owner of Chang Thai Cafe in Littleton, New Hampshire. For her, a rondeau is particularly useful because she can braise meats in it like she would in a Dutch oven; she can stir fry ingredients in it like she would in a stainless-steel skillet; and she can simmer curries, cook rice, and boil noodles in it like she would in a saucepan. All off that happens using this one pan. And the rondeau’s weight is much more manageable than a cast-iron Dutch oven.
Evan Hennessey, the chef and owner of Stages at One Washington and the Living Room in Dover, New Hampshire, echoes this sentiment.
“It is highly versatile. If I could only choose three or four pans to have in my arsenal, a rondeau would absolutely be one of them,” Hennessey says. He uses his own rondeau for shallow frying; braising; making soups, stews, and sauces; blanching, and poaching. “It offers good surface area for even heating.” Hennessey worked at Per Se, and during his time there he made “hundreds and hundreds of pounds” of buerre monté, a classic French butter sauce. You guessed it, he used a rondeau to do it. Now, at his own restaurant, the rondeau is perfect for preparing poached mussels with a cartouche lid, which keeps the mollusks cooking evenly.
Rondeaus may be more commonly found in restaurant kitchens, but that versatility makes them super functional for home kitchens, too. For Hennessey and his kids, using the rondeau at home is all about the shallow fry. “I’ve made chicken tenders, fried fish,” he says, “and then tons of stews, especially with stew and soup season approaching. I always use my rondeau during the holidays,” he says. Market disrupting appliances, pots, and pans may aim to streamline the pieces of cookware you need, but the rondeau has quietly been around this whole time, lurking in the backs of restaurants like the casually-cool French dancer its name evokes.
Where can you get a rondeau?
Most of the major stainless-steel cookware brands make rondeaus, and I’d recommend opting for one from Epi’s tested favorite brands, like All-Clad or Made In. At the restaurant, Hennessey relies on All-Clad; at home he’s used both Hestan and Caraway. Alberini is partial to Made In’s rondeau. Here are a few links to shop those recommended models:
