On 11/3/2017 at 1:16 PM, boilsover said:
This shape is known by several names: "sauteuse evassee", "Windsor", "Fait Tout". You are correct that this shape is of venerable history in the classical French batterie. The one on the right had no place in that history, although now it's called "saucier" (or less frequently here, a "sauteuse bombee").
The splayed shape was adopted for two main reasons: (1) it allows increased evaporation; and (2) as pan contents are reduced, the surface-to-volume ratio remains relatively constant. That constancy relieves the cook from making as many transfers to progressively smaller straightwall saucepans/casseroles when doing a reduction. The increased access with utensils and specifically whisks was incidental, IMO.
The Windsor can be made using both the old joinery and the lathe-turning that was later adopted. The bombee would be very difficult (and wasteful) to do the old way, but easy on a lathe with the right mandrel. Only if the curvature turns back on itself (think bean pot or Ruffoni stocker) does it become harder. But it is still do-able--you just need to use what's called a "split chuck" in the turning. In the modern world of die pressing, you can stamp out either shape, but you can't turn the curve back to narrow.
For use, I consider the two shapes mostly interchangeable. The Windsor is more linear in the surface:volume sense. I suppose, if you're one of those cooks who buys the theory of whisks better "fitting" into the bombee (I don't), you might be happier going that route. Note that even these compound-curved pans still have a bottom corner, and many whisks are fine and flexible enough to work in even a vertical wall "corner" (all of which have some radius anyway). The bombee probably would be better as a makeshift wok on the cooktop and as a zambaglione/sabayon pan.
The Windsor is so versatile it would be my Desert Island pan.
boilsover, I just want to double check that the splayed sauté pan is the same as the sauteuse évasée?
In other words, this pan here is actually a traditional Windsor: http://www.abt.com/product/115701/Mauviel-M250c-3.7-Qt.-Copper-And-Stainless-Steel-Splayed-Saute-Pan-654324.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=sc&utm_campaign=654324&camptype=cpcUSGooglePLA&pt_source=google&pt_medium=sc&pt_campaign=[PLA] [US] Manufacturer&pt_adgroup=[PMX] [PLA] [US] Manufacturer&pt_keyword=
I'm asking because per the slkinsey article from wayback, they are different pans with different traditional functions. Specifically, the splayed sauté pan would have higher sides than the sauteuse.
I'm not trying to be challenging, I'm just trying to clarify my understanding.
