> Sometimes also referred to as Kokotto-kiri (ココット切り) for smaller versions. I have no idea what that is in reference to.
This likely refers to “cocotte” [0], the French term for a kind of casserole that might be used for dishes for which that vegetable cut shape is typical — or maybe the shape of the cut is reminiscent of the shape of a cocotte.
I'm interested in how it's a kind of casserole, if you can expand on that (en anglaise svp!)?
English Wikipedia cocotte disambiguation suggests French oven, which redirects to Dutch oven, which is just what Americans call a casserole.
Is it the enamelling, which Wikipedia suggests is sometimes used as a distinguishing feature between 'Dutch' and 'French' ovens? (I've (British) never heard of the latter before.)
Apparently a cocotte is also an 'elegant prostitute'/courtesan, meaning 'small child' before that. So is a cocotte a small casserole, peut être?
Oh ok, in (British) English I'd just call that a casserole. (Which per sibling comment from GGP I understand is not the same/more specific than a casserole in French.) So I suppose it's correct that it ends up at 'Dutch oven' (the predominantly American term for the same) on Wikipedia.
I'm afraid my French isn't up to reading a Wikipedia entry, which is why I asked (GGP linked the same article).
While the “-tte” indicates a diminutive, cocottes aren’t particularly small. I wrote “a kind of” because I associate particular materials with them, including the enamel, which I don’t necessarily with what is called a casserole in English (which in turn is different from what is called a “casserole” in French, which is more a sauce pan). Maybe someone else has better knowledge about those cookware terms.
It seems cocotte = English 'casserole'; casserole = saucepan.
The enamel vs. cast iron interior of a cocotte IME in the UK is not significant, but in the US going by Wikipedia anyway enamel = French oven; pas d'enamel = Dutch oven.
...I suppose we've no hope of agreeing on all this if we can't even have a 'cup' be the same size! (Or convince Americans that they shouldn't be (and in many cases would find it easier if they weren't) using volumetric measures for everything anyway, for that matter.)
In Japan, I've known the term "Kokotto" to refer a ramekin vessel. Yeah, it's also a kind of french dish, though I don't think it's too commonly known in Japan.
As for the cut, I'd hardly call it a Japanese cutting technique.
This likely refers to “cocotte” [0], the French term for a kind of casserole that might be used for dishes for which that vegetable cut shape is typical — or maybe the shape of the cut is reminiscent of the shape of a cocotte.
[0] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocotte_(cuisine)