Table of Content

I. When certain connective tissues (called collagen) break down, they form gelatin. This gives body to a stock, an important feature of its quality. A well- made stock will thicken or even solidify when chilled.

2. Cartilage is the best source of gelatin in bones.

Younger animals have more cartilage in their skeletons. As they become older, this hardens into solid bone, which is harder to dissolve into stocks. Knuckle bones, on the joints of major bones, have a lot of cartilage and are valued in stock making. Neck bones and shank bones are also used a great deal.

Cut large bones into pieces about 3 inches (8 centimeters) long. This exposes more surface area and aids extraction. Also, the bones are easier to handle.

Occasionally a broth is produced as a result of simmering meat or poultry, as when fowl is cooked for dishes like creamed chicken. This broth can then be used like a stock. However, the chicken is considered the object of the game in this case. The broth is just a by-product.

~ Mirepoix ~ Aromatic vegetables are the second most important contributors of flavor to stocks.

Mirepoix is a combination of onions, carrots, and celery. It is a basic flavoring preparation that is used in all areas of cooking, not only for flavoring stocks, but also for sauces, soups, meats, poultry, fish, and vegetables. (The classical mirepoix of decades ago contained a wider variety of ingredients, sometimes including ham or bacon, leeks and other vegetables, and one or more fresh herbs. The modem version is considerably simplified.)

Learn the following proportions well. Mirepoix is a basic preparation that you will need throughout your career.

A white mirepoix, made without carrots, is used when it is necessary to keep the stock as colorless as possible. Mushroom trimmings may be added to white mirepoix. When cost permits, it is a good idea to include some leeks in the mirepoix, in place of part of the on- ions. They give an excellent flavor.

The size depends on how long it will cook. If the mirepoix will cook a long time, as for beef stock, cut into large pieces (I to 2 inches). Cutting into small pieces is necessary for releasing flavors in a short time, as when used for fish stock.

Tomato products contribute flavor and some acid to brown stocks. They are not used for white stocks, because they would give an undesirable color. Also, when making brown stocks, be careful not to add too much tomato, because this may make the stock cloudy.

Wine is occasionally used, especially for fish stocks. Its flavor contribution is probably more important than its acidity.

In some kitchens a stock pot is kept going all day, and various scraps are constantly being thrown in. This mayor may not be a good idea.

Scraps may be used in stocks if they are clean, wholesome, and appropriate to the stock being made. If done correctly, stock making is a good way of utilizing trimmings that would otherwise be thrown out. It is better to save trimmings and use them in a planned way, rather than to throw them into the stock randomly.

A stock pot is not a garbage disposal, and the final product is only as good as the ingredients and the care that go into it.

I. Salt is usually not added when making stocks. Stocks are never used as is, but are reduced, concentrated, and combined with other ingredients. If salt had been added, it might become too concentrated. Some chefs salt stocks very lightly, because they feel it aids in extracting flavor.

2. Herbs and spices should be used only lightly. They should never dominate a stock or have a pronounced flavor.

Herbs and spices are usually tied in a cheese- cloth bag called a sachet. The sachet is tied by a string to the handle of the stock pot so it can be removed easily at any time.

Bouquet garni is another important term, generally used fur a sachet that contains no spices, but only herbs, such as parsley, thyme, bay leaf, and celery leaves. The word "bouquet" derives from the practice of tying fresh herbs in a bundle with string rather than in cheesecloth. Obviously, this cannot be done with dried herbs.

The following seasonings, in varying amounts, are commonly used for stocks: Thyme, Bay leaves, Peppercorns, Parsley stems Cloves, whole Garlic (optional)

Culinary terms:                               

Simmer: To cook in water or liquid that is bubbling gently,

about 185 to 200 F (85 to 93 C)

Culinary terms:                               

Mirepoix; A mixture of rough cut or diced vegetables, Herb’s, and spices used for flavoring.

Stock; A clear, thin liquid flavored by soluble substances extracted from meat, poultry, and fish, and their bones, and from vegetables and seasonings.

Boil:  To cook in water or other liquid that is bubbling rapidly, about 212 F ( 100 C )

Simmer: To cook in water or liquid that is bubbling gently,

about 185 to 200 F (85 to 93 C)

The second cooking of a basic stock is called remouillage. It is used in the preparation of meat ex- tract (glace de viande). The cooked chicken and game are added to the basic stock and a mirepoix.

The stock is simmered for 5 hours.

This meat extract is prepared by reducing the brown stock to a gelatinous consistency. The glaze is used to improve the flavor of sauces and to coat certain meats, game, poultry, and aspics.

The meat extract is made by straining the remouillage or brown stock into a heavy stock pot. The stock is allowed to simmer over low heat to a syrupy consistency. Towards the end, the remaining liquid should be strained into a smaller, heavy bottom saucepan. The heat should be very low, and the glaze should simmer until thick enough to coat a spoon.

The hot glaze should be poured into containers, covered tightly, and refrigerated. Glace de poisson and Glace de gibier are obtained by reducing a Fumet de poisson and a Fond de gibier, respectively.

The cost, both in time and materials, of making stocks in modern kitchens has lead to the widespread use of concentrated convenience products known as bases. These are diluted with water to make flavored liquids similar to stocks.

Glazes can be considered to be bases, and in fact they are the original bases, used long before to- day's manufacturers started producing convenience products.

Bases are also added to stocks to supplement them when there is only a small quantity of stock on hand.

In addition, bases are sometimes added to weak stocks to give them more flavor, but this is not as good a practice as making the stock properly in the first place.

Using bases requires taste and judgment, just as in other areas of cookery. If used without care and re-straint, they can detract from the quality of your cooking. But, used carefully, bases can be a valuable tool in some situations. Always taste and evaluate as you cook.

There is no substitute for a well-made stock. But it is also true that a good base may be better than a poorly made stock. It all depends on the skills you are learning now.

Liquid Thickening Agent Leading Sauce - also known as Mother Sauces

Milk + White roux = Bechamel Sauce

White stock + White or blond roux = Veloute (veal, chicken, veloute, fish) chicken veloute, fish veloute)

Brown stock + Brown roux = Brown Sauce or Espagnole

Tomato plus stock + (Optional roux) = Tomato Sauce

Butter + Egg yolks = Hollandaise

Note: Roux is not used in all tomato sauces, since tomato puree is naturally thick.

To these five sauces, we add one more Fond Lie, meaning "thickened stock." It is sometimes used in place of Espagnole.

Brown stock + Cornstarch = Fond Lie

Most of these sauces have a few other ingredients for flavoring. Yet, knowing this basic structure is the key to making sauces.

Let's expand our sauce family chart one more generation to include some examples of the Small Sauces, to show the relationships is probably a little more complicated than you had expected, because of the extra arrows and the extra category of Secondary Leading Sauces. These are relatively easy to explain.

These three sauces-Allemande, Supreme, and White Wine-are really finished sauces, like other Small Sauces. But they are used so often to build other Small Sauces that they rate a special category.

For example, to make Supreme Sauce, you add cream to Chicken Veloute.

To make Albufera Sauce, you can add meat glaze to your Supreme Sauce. Or, if you don't have Supreme Sauce, you can make it by adding both cream and meat glaze to Chicken Veloute.

a. Demiglaze is defined as half brown sauce plus half brown stock, reduced by half. Most chefs prefer Demiglaze to Espagnole as a base for Small Sauces because of its more concentrated, more fully developed flavor .

It is possible to make Small Sauces directly from Espagnole, but they will not be as fine.

b. Some modern chefs, especially those who practice Nouvelle Cuisine, feel that Espagnole is too heavy for modern tastes and that lighter sauces are required. These chefs prepare De-miglaze from Fond Lie, by reducing it with mirepoix, white wine, and seasonings, or by sim- ply reducing by half a very flavorful brown stock.

In other words, Demiglaze may be considered to be a well-flavored brown stock, reduced by half, thickened with roux or cornstarch or left un-thickened (except by natural gelatin).

To be even more confusing, there is, in addition, a Mushroom Sauce made with Brown Sauce. There are also both a white and a brown sauce called Bercy. These should be considered unrelated sauces that happen to have the same name.

4. Hollandaise and Bearnaise

These are essentially two variations of the same kind of sauce, with different flavorings. Each has its own small family of Small Sauces.

Chef’s Tip: Cover or spread melted butter on surface to prevent skin formation. Keep hot in bain marie, or cool in cold water bath for later use 

Boil:  To cook in water or other liquid that is bubbling rapidly, about 212 F ( 100 C )

Simmer: To cook in water or liquid that is bubbling gently,

about 185 to 200 F (85 to 93 C)

Culinary terms:                               

Mirepoix; A mixture of rough cut or diced vegetables, Herb’s, and spices used for flavoring.

Chef’s Tip: Cover or spread melted butter on surface to prevent skin formation. Keep hot in bain marie, or cool in cold water bath for later use 

Simmer: To cook in water or liquid that is bubbling gently,

about 185 to 200 F (85 to 93 C)

Chef tip:                               

If necessary, thin the sauce with a few drops of warm water

Stock;

The popularity of soups today may be due to increased nutrition consciousness, to a desire for simpler or lighter meals, or to an increased appreciation of how appetizing and satisfying soups can be.

  After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Soups, according to the dictionary, is a liquid food derived from meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables. This definition is all right as far as it goes, but there’s a lot it doesn’t tell us.  Is a stock, straight from the stock pot, a soup? Is beef stew liquid enough to be called soup?

We’re interested more in production techniques than in definitions.  However, a few definitions will be necessary before we can go into the kitchen, so that we can talk to each other in the same language. Definitions aren’t rules, so don’t be alarmed if you hear other books or chefs use these terms differently. What matters is that you learn techniques and are able to adapt them to many uses.

Soups can be divided into three basic categories:

These soups are all based on a clear, un-thickened broth or stock.

Broth and bouillon are two terms used in many different ways, but in general  they both refer to simple, clear soups without solid ingredients.

Vegetable soup is a clear, seasoned stock or broth with the addition of one or more vegetable, and sometimes meat or poultry products and starches.

Consommé is a rich, flavorful stock or broth that has been clarified to make it perfectly clear and transparent.

Cream soups  are soups that are thickened with roux, beurre manie,  liaison, or other added thickening agents, and have the addition of milk and / or cream.

Puree soups are naturally thickened by pureeing one or more of their ingredients. They are not as smooth and creamy as cream soups.

Bisques are thickened soups made from shellfish. They are usually prepared like cream soups and almost always finished with cream.

Chowders are hearty American soups made from fish, shellfish, and /or vegetables.

Potage is a term sometimes associated with certain thick, hearty soups, but it is actually a general term for soups. A clear soup is called a potage clair in French.

This is a catch-all category that includes soups that don’t fit well into the main categories and soups that are native to particular countries or region

Specialty soups are distinguished by unusual ingredients or methods, such as Turtle Soup, Gumbo, Peanut Soup, and Cold Fruit Soup.

This term generally refers to bouillon’s or consommés made from beef.

Special consommés such as poultry or fish should be identified as such on the menu.

Rule number one for preparing consommé is that the stock or broth must be strong, rich, and full flavored. Clarification is second in importance to strength.

The mixture of ingredients we use to clarify a stock is called the clearmeat or the clarification.

Lean ground meat is a major source of protein that enables the clearmeat to do its job.

Egg whites are included in the clearmeat because, being mostly albumin, they greatly strengthen its clarifying power.

Mirepoix and other seasoning and flavoring ingredients add flavor to the  finished consommé.

Acid ingredients tomato products for beef or chicken consommé, lemon juice or    white wine for fish consommé, are added because the acidity helps coagulate the protein.

Start with well-flavored, cold, strong stock or broth.

Combine the clear meat ingredients in the soup pot and mix them vigorously.

Gradually add the cold, degreased stock, mix well, do not cover

Set the pot over moderately low fire and let it come to simmer very slowly.

Stir occasionally to avoid clear meat from burning to the bottom.

Once liquid reached simmering point, lower heat, let simmer for 1-2 hours.

Strain the consommé through a china cap lined with layers of cheesecloth.

Degrease, remove all traces of fat from surface.

Chef’s Tip: If the bouillon is being prepared for a dish with boiled beef, the meat should be put in boiling water. First brown the onions and add them with the skin in order to give the bouillon a good color.

Boil:  To cook in water or other liquid that is bubbling rapidly, about 212 F ( 100 C )

Simmer: To cook in water or liquid that is bubbling gently,

about 185 to 200 F (85 to 93 C)

Combine the beef, Mirepoix, Onions, Egg Whites, Tomatoes, Herb’s, and spices in a tall, heavy stock pot.

Mix the ingredients vigorously with a wooden paddle or a heavy Tomato (crushed)   whip.

Add halve cold stock, rest for 30 minutes, Gradually stir in the rest bring to simmer, reduce heat and slowly simmer for 1-2 hours.    

Strain through cheese cloth Cold Beef, 

Chef’s Tip: If clarification fails because you let it boil, strain, cool down, then slowly add it to the mixture of ice cubes and egg whites.

Carefully return to simmer and proceed with clarification. For Chicken Consommé use Chicken Stock and Chicken trimmings (such as wing tips and necks) which have been chopped and browned. Omit tomatoes.

Culinary terms:                               

Mirepoix; A mixture of rough cut or diced vegetables, Herb’s, and spices used for flavoring.

Stock; A clear, thin liquid flavored by soluble substances extracted from meat, poultry, and fish, and their bones, and from vegetables and seasonings.

Learning to cook professionally, as you have already heard, is not learning recipes but learning basic techniques that you can apply to specific needs.

In the great kitchens of several decades ago, cream soups were exactly as we have described: diluted; flavored sauces. In fact we now call cream soups were divided into two groups, Veloutes and Creams.

Veloute Soups consisted oft: Veloute sauce Pureed flavoured ingredients White stock, to dilute Liaison, to finish

Cream Soups consisted oft: Bechamel sauce Pureed flavored ingredients Milk (or white stock), to dilute Cream, to finish

These methods were natural to large kitchens that always had quantities of Veloute and Bechamel sauces on hand. Making a soup was simply a matter of finishing off sauce.

Since cream soups contain milk or cream or both, curdling is a common problem. The heat of cooking and the acidity of many of the other soup ingredients are the cause of this curdling.

Fortunately, there is one fact we can use to avoid curdling: roux and other starch thickeners stabilize milk and cream.

Soups made from dried or fresh vegetables and then put through a sieve or food mill are known as 'puree soups ".

Vegetables with high starch content or potatoes, rice and flour can be used for binding puree soups.

Cream is used for enriching them. These soups are garnished with chives, parsley, or croutons.

Variation: Some soups made from dried legumes, such as bean soup, are not pureed but are served as is or slightly mashed up.

Puree soups are generally not bound with an added starch but rely on the starches present in the vegetables. Some fresh vegetable purees, however, settle out. These may thickened with a little starch if desired.

Add cream if required.

Adjust seasoning.

Bisques are made basically like other cream soups, but they seem more complex because of the handling of the shellfish and the variety of flavoring ingredients often used.

Expensive to prepare and rich in taste, they are considered luxury soups.

Chowders are chunky, hearty soups that are so full of good things that they sometimes

are more like stews than soups. Many chowders are simply cream soups or puree soups that are not pureed or strained but left chunky. Like other specialty soups and regional soups, chowders resist being categorized. However, most of them are based on fish or shellfish or vegetables, and most contain potatoes and milk or cream.

A Chowder needs time and tender care and is made in three steps;

1. Seasoned Salt Pork F at

Mix 2lb of rendered Salt Pork with 4 oz of Garlic, 4 oz Onions, 4 oz Celery and 1 cup of Water and bring to boil, simmer for 1 -2 hours.

Make a roux with 1 cup of Fat and 1 lb of Bread flour, add Clam stock and cook for 1 Hour. Stain make sure Veloute is very smooth.

Sauté 1 lb each of Celery, Onions, Bacon, Leek in little fat, add to Veloute

Cook 2 lb of Diced Potatoes al dente. Bring to simmer and cool over night.

Dice: To cut food into one-eight inch cubes.

Place ingredients in a small soup pot and bring to a boil slowly.

Do not cover pot.

Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes

Add the scallions, cilantro and chilies, lower heat to just below boil, and simmer for another 2 minutes.

Remove pot from heat add Lime juice and fish sauce to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until liquefied.

Add Salt, Pepper and Cayenne Pepper to taste.

Cut Onions, Cucumbers and Green Pepper into small dice

Gazpacho; A cold Spanish soup made of pureed raw vegetables

Dice: To cut food into one-eight inch cubes.

Garnish:

Fresh Tarragon or Chives