Fond

Fond is the brown residue that sticks to the bottom of a pan when you sear meat, brown vegetables or cook a roast. It looks like a crust of dark brown spots and smells savory and roasted. Fond is where much of the flavor in a pan sauce or gravy comes from. In French, fond also means "base" and is the word for stock.

How to do it

1. Use a stainless steel, cast iron or carbon steel pan. Nonstick pans release food so well that little fond forms.
2. Heat the pan and fat well before adding the food, then let the food sit undisturbed so it browns.
3. Do not crowd the pan. Crowded food steams and leaves pale, watery juices instead of fond.
4. After cooking, lift out the food and check the bottom of the pan.
5. Deglaze: add liquid and scrape until the fond dissolves.

How to tell it is done

Good fond is golden to deep brown. If it is black and smells acrid, it is burnt and will make your sauce bitter. Wipe the pan and skip the sauce, or start one from fresh.

Why it works

As food browns, its proteins and sugars react in the Maillard reaction and form hundreds of flavor compounds. Some of those stick to the hot metal along with juices that dry out. They dissolve in hot water, wine or stock.

Common mistakes

• Cooking over heat that is too high, which burns the fond before the food is done.
• Cooking over heat that is too low, which leaves no fond at all.
• Washing the pan before making a sauce.
• Letting the pan go dry while roasting. Add a splash of water or some onions to the roasting pan if the drippings start to scorch.

In recipes

"Scrape up the browned bits", "loosen the drippings" and "lift the sucs" all mean dissolving the fond. A recipe for stock may call it fond brun (brown stock) or fond blanc (white stock), the older French use of the word.