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Stocks
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Stocks are an important part of any professional kitchen. Stock is an essential ingredient in many soups and sauces. If you can make a great stock, you can make a great soup and sauce. When preparing stocks, flavor, clarity, and body are most important.
There are four essential parts to all stocks:
A major flavoring ingredient
A liquid, most often water
Mirepoix (meer-PWAH)
Aromatics
Mirepoix is a French word that refers to the mixture of coarsely chopped onions, carrots, and celery that provide a flavor base for stock. The mixture is usually 50 percent onions, and 25 percent each of carrots and celery. For pale or white sauces, such as fish fumet, chefs usually use white mirepoix, in which they substitute parsnips, additional onions, leeks, and even chopped mushrooms for carrots.
Aromatics, such as bouquet garni and sachet d’épices, are the herbs, spices, and flavorings that create a savory smell. Bouquet garni (boo-KAY gahr-NEE), French for “bag of herbs,” is a bundle of fresh herbs, such as thyme, parsley stems, and a bay leaf tied together. Sachet d’épices (sah-SHAY day-PEESE) is similar to bouquet garni, except it really is a bag of herbs and spices. The chef places the spices, including parsley stems, dried thyme, bay leaf, and cracked peppercorns, together in a cheesecloth bag. If the stock is going to be strained, these ingredients do not need to be contained in a bag.
Stocks are often called the chef’s “building blocks.” They form the base for many soups and sauces. A stock is a flavorful liquid made by gently simmering bones and/or vegetables. This extracts the flavor, aroma, color, body, and nutrients of the ingredients. Some stocks may take up to 24 hours to properly cook, but stocks are one of the most cost-effective ways to use vegetable, meat, and fish trimmings.
How to Prepare Stock
There are many types of stock:
White stock: This is a clear, pale liquid made by simmering poultry, beef, or fish bones.
Brown stock: This is an amber liquid made by simmering poultry, beef, veal, or game bones that have been browned first.
Fumet (foo-MAY): Very similar to fish stock, this is a highly flavored stock made with fish bones.
Court bouillon (court boo-YON): This is an aromatic vegetable broth used for poaching fish or vegetables.
Glace (glahs): Sometimes referred to as “glaze,” this is a reduced stock with a jelly-like consistency, made from brown stock, chicken stock, or fish stock.
Remouillage (ray-moo-LAJ): This is a weak stock made from bones that have already been used in another preparation, sometimes used to replace water as the liquid used in a stock; remouillage is the French word for “rewetting. Bouillon (BOO-yon): This is the liquid that results from simmering meats or vegetables; also referred to as broth.
Jus: This is a rich, lightly reduced stock used as a sauce for roasted meats.
Vegetable stock: This is usually made from mirepoix, leeks, and turnips. Tomatoes, garlic, and seasonings may also be added to flavor or darken the stock, but tomatoes must be strained with a cheesecloth or filter so that no seeds or skins get into the stock. This is referred to as tomato concassé (kawn-ka-SAY). A chef might roast the vegetables or add a large amount of a particular vegetable, such as mushrooms for a mushroom stock.
Stocks VS. Broths
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