Category: Culinary School: Classical French Techniques

White Stocks (Fonds Blancs)

• Clean and degorge bones.
• Blanch and drain bones.
• Cover bones with cold water.
• Bring to a simmer and skim.
• Add mirepoix and bouquet garni.
• Simmer and skim frequently.
  • Chicken Stock: 2 hours.
  • Veal Stock: 4-6 hours.
• Drain through fine chinois.
• Discard solids.

Fumets

• Cleand and degorge bones.
• Sweat vegetables.
• Add bones and continue to sweat.
• Cover with cold water.
• Add bouquet garni.
• Simmer and skim frequently for 30 minutes.
• Drain through fine chinois.
• Discard solids.

White Veal Stock (Fond de Veau Blanc)

• Blanched Veal bones.
• Carrots.
• Onions.
• Leeks.
• Celery.
• Bouquet Garni.

White Chicken Stock (Fond de Volaille Blanc)

• Blanched chicken bones.
• Carrots.
• Onions.
• Leeks.
• Celery.
• Bouquet Garni.

Fish Stock (Fumet de Poisson)

• Fish bones.
• Onions.
• Leeks.
• Bouquet garni.

Fonds, or stocks, are the starting point for many sauces, it’s critical that stock quality be the absolute best possible (in flavor and color), especially when reduced.

Brown stock—made with browned beef or veal bones and classic vegetable aromatics (classically, onion, leek, carrots, and celery).

White veal stock—prepared with veal bones and classic vegetable aromatics, but the bones and vegetables are not browned.

Chicken stock—made with skin-on chicken meat, chicken bones, and classic vegetable aromatics.

Vegetable stock—typically made with classic vegetable aromatics and sometimes leftover bits of other mild vegetables, such as mushrooms.

Fumet—fish stock made with fish bones, heads, tails, and classic vegetable aromatics, except the carrots.

Court-bouillon—a quickly cooked broth prepared with classic vegetable aromatics that serves as a poaching liquid for meat or fish.

Demi-glace—any kind of stock—white or brown, typically using veal, chicken, pork, or beef—reduced down to a glaze (about 20 percent of its original volume) and later reconstituted in various sauces.

Glace de crustace—or crustacean stock, made with crustacean shells, such as shrimp, crab, lobster, or crayfish that is cooked with classic vegetable aromatics and cooked down to a glaze (about 20 percent of its original volume).

Guidelines for Stock Preparation 

• Use the highest quality ingredients.
• Trim excess fat from meat and bones.
• Always blanch Beef and Veal bones when making White stocks.
• Never blanch fish bones when making a fumet, wash only.
• Begin cooking process with cold water.
• The higher the ratio of solids to liquids, more intense the flavor.
• Simmer stocks slowly and uncovered.
• Never allow a stock to boil, it will become cloudy.
• Do not stir from the bottom, it will become cloudy.
• Skim and degrease frequently, always use a clean ladel
• Taste throughout the cooking process.
• Stop the cooking process when the ingredients have released their maximum flavor.
• Stocks should be poured out carefully through a chinois.
• Stocks should be cooled quickly in an ice bath.
• A properly prepared stock will be bright and clear.

Bouquet Garni: Fresh thyme, parsley stems, bay leaf, a few peppercorns tied together in leek greens.

Deglaze ( Déglacer): To loosen sucs from the bottom of a roasting pan using liquid: water, stock, vinegar, wine or juice.

Dégorger: To soak bones to remove blood to help produce a clearer, cleaner stock.

Degrease (Dégraisser): To remove grease from the top of a stock or sauce with a ladle or metal spoon.

Mirepoix: Equal parts of onions and carrots uniformly Cut, or 50% onions, 25% carrots, 25% celery or equal parts onions, carrots and celery.

Moisten (Mouiller): To Add water to bones and aromatics to produce a stock.

Mother Sauce (Sauce Mères): Group Of basic sauces of the Classical French repertoire.

Mount, to (Monter): Swirl in butter or other emulsifying agent to enrich the flavor and texture, gives a glossy finish.

Pass (Passer): To strain or pass a stock through a chinois.

Plug (Tamponner): To dot the top of a sauce with butter to prevent the formation of a film.

Reduce (Réduir): To boil a stock or sauce until the volume is reduced.

Remoisten (Remouillage): To Add water to cooked bones to extract their maximum flavor.

Roast (Rôtir): To cook in direct, radiant heat in the dry atmosphere of a preheated oven.

Simmer (Frémir): To cook gently so bubbles just break the surface.

Skim (écumer): To remove coagulated blood and impurities from a stock through skimming them off the top with a ladle or skimmer.

Sucs: Caramelized proteins that form on the bottom of a pan as ingredients are browned.

Sweat (Suer): To cook vegetables in a small amount of fat so that the ingredients cook in their own juices without taking on any color.

Winnow (Vanner): To stir a stock or sauce, either while it is cooking or in an ice bath, to facilitate cooking or cooling.