La Cintura di Orione Sauteuse

Overview

Design by Richard Sapper and Gualtiero Archesi, 2006.
By Alessi.

The sauteuse is a utensil of truncated-conical form with a connecting radius at the base and a long handle. The flared or sloped shape of the body and the curvature where it joins the base are, in fact, designed to facilitate the movement made by the spatula or whisk in mixing the ingredients. The metal of which the body of the sauteuse is made, heavy-gauge copper, with its excellent heat conduction properties, enables the exact amount of heat to be obtained, maintaining an even temperature all over the surface, which can be varied quickly according to the different stages of cooking. The long handle makes it possible to hold the casserole steady on the hot plate when necessary. A utensil with very specific features, the sauteuse is the most suitable for all those culinary operations, usually performed over heat, requiring frequent stirring of foods of unstable or delicate consistency such as butter, cream, eggs and sweet and savory creams. Its shape, with sloping sides, also makes it the ideal pan for purées and some types of sautéing or tossing. In designing this sauteuse, Alain Chapel determined the size, the proportions of the body and the slant of the sides which he believed were exactly right.