Special Consommés for Suppers

Consommés Spéciaux pour Soupers (special supper consommés) teach the discipline of leaving nowhere for weakness to hide. Because the consommé is drunk from a cup without garnish, the stock must taste complete before clarification begins. Clarity refines a good foundation; it cannot give character to a thin one. The perfume should arrive quietly after the first sip, never enter the room ahead of the broth.

The brigade formula assumed a saucier, a stockpot never off the fire, several roast game birds when the menu called for them, and enough guests to justify the labor. Here, twelve cups of gelatin-rich stock become about eight cups of finished consommé in one heavy pot. One roast partridge carcass replaces several whole birds, and a single raft performs the clarification. The repeated handling belonged to brigade service and can go. The heavier meat clarification, restrained perfume, perfect clarity, and tender cold set are the dish, so they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.

Choose one character only: celery for Consommé au Céleri, a restrained pinch of curry for Consommé à l’Indienne, or roast partridge for Consommé au Fumet de Perdreau, its fumet being the essence extracted from the game. Do not combine them. The step that decides everything is the slow raising of the clarification: stir while the stock is cold and warming, then stop completely when the raft gathers.