Why Seven Sides to Tourne?

Question

As all culinary students know, tourned vegetables have seven equal sides....but why seven? Why not six or eight, etc.?

Answer 1

For good luck =)


I think it was just created by someone that wanted a "unique" style.

Tourne is a French word that literally means, “to turn.” In the cooking world it refers to the process of cutting a vegetable (usually a root like carrot, potato, turnip) into a 7 sided football shape. It’s a very classic cut in the French kitchen and is rarely seen in the US other than in very high-end kitchens.

Answer 2

Tourne Vegetables

Answer 3

According to Steven Shaw:

Turning vegetables in general does have a purpose: it aids in even cooking. It's a real pleasure to saute a well-turned carrot or potato, because you can create a great looking exterior that is almost totally uniform. The classic seven-sided football-shaped turned vegetable, however, has no practical advantage over a number of other possible arrangements. It just happens to look nicer, not least because the lack of symmetry and good technique combine to make the seven-sided vegetable look more rounded than an eight- or six-sided cut would.

Answer 4

Ok, I had to look it up to find out what youre talking about.
I cant answer your question regarding 7 sides vs 6, etc, but below is a brief description of the cutting or Tournée vegetables:

Answer 5

One simple explanation as to why.

Because it's French. Some stuffy French Chef said it must be so and passed it on to the vast generations of chefs which became the standard for culinary students to follow.

Answer 6

It represents the seven station in the kitchen

Answer 7

To make it hard for culinary students to chpo them evenly!