consommé: an education

As promised, here is my tribute to the art form that is the production of a consommé. Upon being presented with a consommé, most people would think to themselves "Well, it's just a broth, what's the big deal?" In actuality, it really is a big deal. A lot of time and effort goes into the production of this traditional french dish that is often served at the beginning of a long multi-course meal as a way of whetting the diner's appetite.

I'd like to break this down into two sections; first is the recipe and procedure for Chicken Stock, and the second is the recipe for Consommé. Both of these recipes are adapted from my textbook, called On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals, 6th Edition.

Before you go through the following recipe, here are a few terms and facts you should know:

MIREPOIX is a combination of onions, celery and carrots that is added to chicken stock while it's simmering as an aromatic. It's easiest to remember the ratio of Mirepoix when preparing a stock (who knows, you could be making stock from one carcass or 30). 50% Onions, 25% Celery, 25% Carrots. The carrots can also be substituted with Parsnips - which will impart less color if you were aiming for more of a blond stock.

The ratio of the STOCK should be:
8 pounds of bones : 1 pound of Mirepoix : 1 sachet d'epices : 6 quarts of water.

The best parts of the chicken to be included in stocks are the carcasses and necks. The richness and body of a stock/Consommé is attributable to the collagen in the cartilage/bones and connective tissues gelatinizing during the cooking process.

Younger animals are ideal candidates for stocks, as they have more connective tissues which makes for a richer, full-bodied stock.

It's super important to wash your bones in COLD WATER. As soon as warm/hot water hits the bones, the collagen begins to gelatinize, and you could be washing away vital ingredients to your stock.

a SACHET D'EPICES is made up of 1 bay leaf, 8 peppercorns, and 3 parsley stems, which are all bunched together and tied up within a piece of cheesecloth - resembling a small purse! The reason that parsley STEMS are used is because the leaves of parsley would break down over time in the simmering water and bitter the stock. The stems are much more durable.

Minimum cooking times for stocks:
Vegetable: 3-45 minutes
Fish: 45-60 minutes
Chicken: 3-4 hours
Beef/Veal: 6-8 hours

In part two for the comsommé, the recipe calls for 3 tomatoes concassé (pronounced CON-KA-SAY). Here is the procedure for concasséing a tomato:

1. Bring a pot of water to a simmer, and prepare an ice bath
2. Score (cut a small, shallow x) at the point of a Roma tomato
3. Drop the tomato into the water, blanching it for 8 seconds
4. Plunge tomato into ice bath
5. After the tomato has cooled, peel off the skin
6. Slice the tomato in half, remove seeds
7. Slice tomato into slivers, and then dice

The recipe also calls for an onion brulé. Did you know, by the way, that brulé simply means burnt?

An onion brulé is prepared by peeling an onion, slicing it in half, and then placing the half onion directly on an stovetop burner so that it chars and blackens. The blackened onion helps the consommé develop its rich color.

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PART ONE:
Chicken Stock
Yield: 1 Gallon

Ingredients
8 lbs. chicken bones
6 qts. water -- cold
1 lb. mirepoix -- prepared
1 ea. sachet d'epices -- small

Procedure:
1. Rinse the chicken bones under cold running water, drain and place them in a stock pot.
2. Add the cold water and bring the stock to a simmer over moderate heat, skim the surface, removing the fatty foam that accumulates as it is simmering.
3. Simmer the chicken stock for approximately 3 hours, degrease the stock periodically.
4. Add the mirepoix and sachet d'epice in the last hour of simmering.
5. Strain, cool, wrap and label
6. Refrigerate

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PART TWO:
Consommé (Chicken)
Yield: 1 Gallon

*The best way to understand the 'raft' to which this recipe refers is to go ahead and make it! The raft is formed when the acid from the tomato concassé and egg whites causes the proteins to coagulate and pull together any impurities that remain in the stock.

For the clarification aka 'clearmeat'
1 lb. mirepoix -- prepared
3 lbs. chicken meat, lean -- ground
10 egg whites
3 ea. Roma tomatoes -- concassé
1 ea. onion brulé

5 qts. chicken stock -- cold
1 ea. sachet d'epices -- prepared
1 tsp. Kosher salt -- to taste

Procedure
1. Prepare all the ingredients for the clearmeat and blend well.
2. Place the cold chicken stock into a stockpot, add the clearmeat and blend well.
3. Place the stockpot on a moderate flame and bring the mixture to a slow simmer, stirring frequently until it reaches 110°F to 120°F, stop stirring and let the raft form, "Do not let the raft boil over", turn down the flame, so only small bubbles are visible on the surface of the liquid.
4. Cut a window at the hotspot and baste the raft once it has formed. Add the sachet d'epice and onion brulé and simmer the consommé for approximately 1 hour.
5. Remove the consommé from the heat and let it stand for two minutes, slowly strain the consommé through a coffee filter, degrease with paper towels and adjust the seasonings with salt to taste.

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Traditionally, consommé is served with tiny cuts (called bruniose, measuring 1/8 x 1/8 x 1/8in which have been flash cooked to remove the bite) of the the vegetables that were used to flavor it such as carrot or celery. The attached picture is from my friend and fellow chef Alex Jaeger, who learned to make consommé at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

My hope is that this entry has provided you with an appreciation for all of the work that goes into the production of a consommé. If you ever come across this dish on the menu of a restaurant, you can rest assured that you are a) about to enjoy a very fine meal and b) the restaurant is doing well because they can spend the money to pay their staff to cook such a labor-intensive menu item!