Dan Abel > wrote:

> No sense guessing. Look it up. That way you'll know the real answer,
> not what somebody else might guess.

It really depends on where you look it up.

> My dictionary failed me,

No wonder.

> but:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fond
>
> The pan scrapings.
>
> "Foundation" was close. The French word for "base".

What Wikipedia tells you in this case is nonsense. The person who
decided to "invent" this particularly confusing and unnecessary term
must have been stupid, ignorant, or both.

In French, the word does mean "foundation" (or "base" if you prefer),
among some other things. In the culinary context, the word means either
"stock" or "bottom" (of the pan). The former usage is familiar to
nearly everyone who has ever opened a French cookbook, whether
translated or not - they all tend to include such French terms as
"fond(s) brun", "fond(s) blanc de volaille", etc.

I do not think there are any bona-fide chefs of any standing who would
use the word "fond" in the sense of "pan scrapings". The correct
English term is either "glaze" (hence "deglazing") or "drippings".

Quoting from _Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home_:
"The juices from any roast - poultry or meat - caramelize in the pan,
leaving a residue of brown glaze with intense flavor. In the process
called "deglazing," we melt these brown bits in hot liquid (wine, stock,
and/or water), to create a quick sauce of concentrated natural
essences."

Victor