A cartouche is a parchment-paper lid that allows for some evaporation during braising while keeping the meat (or other food) submerged. It's a French technique that's also handy for poaching fruit and other long-simmering applications, when you want just a bit of liquid to escape.

What is a cartouche and what is it used for?

Cartouche (Egyptian: shenu): an oval shape, used by the ancient Egyptians to write the names of their kings. In hieroglyphic texts, you often see signs enclosed in oval shapes, which are called cartouches.

What does a cartouche tell about a person?

Traditionally, the cartouche was written on tombs and coffins to mark who was inside. The ancient Egyptians believed that each person had two souls, the Ba and Ka, which used the cartouche to identify the body they belonged to so that an Egyptian would move on to the afterlife.