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Broth and consommé
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Making a good broth is a real acid test for gourmet chefs, requiring a lot of time and care to prepare, and require the right ingredients. And it always makes a great basis for a first course, rich in flavor and nutritional value, even if you only add a simple little egg pasta.
In addition to mixed-meat broth, which we happen to feel is the best one to start learning how to use, there are plenty of others (chicken, fish and vegetable versions), capable of satisfying even the most sophisticated palates. |
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| 1. |
Every region in Italy uses different ingredients to prepare a steaming pot of broth, but generally speaking, you use beef together with chicken. Any (Italian) butcher will be able to give you advice, but it's worthwhile noting some of the most flavorful cuts: middle rib and chuck, hind brisket, flat rib, flank, part of a bladebone and tongue. As for chicken meat, the best is capon, but duck and goose also lend themselves to fortifying any type of broth, assuming you want a robust broth with lots of character. Bones are not indispensable, but they do confer greater depth to the brew. Otherwise, all you need is celery, carrots, onion, water (figure 3 liters per kg of meat) and a little patience.
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| 2. |
First of all, you have to find a fairly large pot with high sides so the water can always cover all the meat. You start cooking with cold water (you would ruin the broth if you put the meat in after the water had started to boil). And you must always keep the flame very low (a flame-reducing trivet can be helpful), allowing the pot to come to a very low boil slowly.
At this point you add the vegetables, which must always be accompanied by a bunch of bay leaves and thyme, indispensable if you like flavors that are a little different than usual. Speaking of which, some people also like to stick a few cloves into the onion or add a few cloves of garlic to the vegetables. Obviously, there are an infinite number of variations.
Using a ladle or skimmer, collect and remove the froth from the surface repeatedly during the cooking process. In order to obtain a clear broth, once it has finished cooking you must let it set for 3 - 4 hours so that the remaining froth has a chance to collect on the surface.
A pressure cooker may be used to speed things up, making it possible to obtain a good broth in around forty minutes. Obviously, opting for this method you cannot remove the froth, so you must select leaner meat. Otherwise the preparation is the same, except instead of 3 liters of water per kg of meat, you only need 1.5.
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GETTING RID OF THE EXCESS FAT |
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| 3. |
The fat that is released during cooking tends to rise to the surface. If you want a leaner broth all you have to do is cool it and remove the whitish layer of fat that has formed on the surface with a skimmer. This operation is especially necessary if, instead of a stewing hen or capon, you have used a goose or duck. But when performing this operation, you must remember that many essential flavor components tend to bond with fat and so it is necessary to strike a balance between too lean and too greasy in order not to remove too much flavor.
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CONCENTRATED OR SOME OTHER WAY? |
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| 4. |
As we already said, in addition to the classic broth we just described, you can prepare may other kinds, including consommé, which is basically a concentrated, clarified broth.
To obtain a liter you have to chop 250-300 grams of very lean meat and mix in the white of one egg, add some finely chopped carrot and onion and cover with 1.5 liters of classic broth, cold and with the fat already removed. Bring to a boil over a low flame for at least an hour, after which you filter the consommé before serving it. The presence of the egg white, which combines with the particles suspended in the liquid, ensures that the concentrated broth is perfectly clear and a lovely amber color. You can flavor it in a number of ways, adding a spoonful of whisky, port, Madera or sherry.
If you like chicken, you can prepare an excellent broth using nothing but that, covering a stewing hen with a couple liters of cold water and boiling it for around two of hours together with the usual vegetables.
Very delicate and highly aromatic, fish broth is indispensable for seafood risotto. To make it, just boil a fish (weighing 500-600 grams) together with the head, bones and various scraps for 30-40 minutes (starting out, as usual, with cold water). In addition to celery, onion and parsley, add a glass of white wine, making sure you filter the mixture once it has been cooked.
If, on the other hand, you want to prepare a completely vegetarian broth instead of a meat-based brew, you'll have to boil some potatoes, onions, celery, carrots and tomatoes for a couple of hours, starting them out in the usual cold water.
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| 5. |
It's difficult to decide which one to use, given the enormous variety available. They range from Tortellini to Tagliolini and the small egg pastas.
Grattoni, for instance, go quite well with meat broth, while Sorprese were created to bring out all the flavor of fish broth and consommé. And, of course, there are also Farfalline, Risi, Stelline and Quadretti, offering a practically unlimited range of options for our soup dishes. Patience is a fundamental element in the preparation of broth, because cooking too quickly over too much heat will only make the broth cloudy and unrefined. Hardly what we expect from this time-honored winter favorite, capable of restoring a warm glow after a cold winter day.
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