What is Rondelle?
Rondelle is a French word derived from the old French word "rondel," which means "small round." Oddly enough, or perhaps not at all, that is basically what the more recent French word "rondelle" means. In fact, many people actually use the word "round" or "coin" instead of "rondelle." The rondelle cut can be done easily to any round vegetable, like a carrot, parsnip, cucumber or zucchini. The rondelle can also be modified by slicing the rounds at a slight angle, called a bias, creating elongated ellipses. The skin or outer surface may also be scored or fluted to create an extra element of decoration. Cucumbers are often scored using a fork, or decorated by peeling the skin in alternating strips. This looks quite ugly on the whole vegetable, but once the vegetable is sliced into thin rondelles, it looks quite attractive. I cut the carrots into large rounds for the recipe Corned Beef Braised in Beer and Whiskey.