Ingredient

Consommé

A consommé is a stock made perfectly clear and intensely flavoured. The clarifying is done with a raft — egg white and minced meat that coagulates and rises through the liquid, trapping the particles that made it cloudy — and it is one of the most satisfying pieces of technique in classical cooking to watch work.

How the raft works

A stock is cloudy because it holds suspended particles — fragments of protein, fat and vegetable matter too small to settle out.

The clarification exploits what egg white does when heated. Egg white and finely minced lean meat, mixed with mirepoix and whisked into the cold stock, disperse throughout the liquid. As the pan is warmed very slowly, those proteins begin to coagulate — and as they do they form a mesh that traps every suspended particle it meets on its way up.

The coagulated mass rises and forms a solid crust on the surface: the raft. Once it has formed, the stock beneath is clear, and it is gently ladled out through a hole made in the raft rather than poured.

Starting cold is not negotiable. Egg white added to warm stock coagulates immediately, in lumps, on the surface, and traps nothing.

And it must never boil. A boil breaks the raft apart and drives the trapped particles back into the liquid, and once that has happened the batch cannot be rescued. A consommé is held at the barest possible tremble.

The method

1. Start with a good stock, cold, and with all fat removed. Chilling it and lifting the solid fat off is the easiest way.
2. Make the clearmeat: finely minced lean meat — beef for a beef consommé — mixed with egg whites, finely chopped mirepoix, and often tomato for colour and acidity.
3. Whisk the clearmeat thoroughly into the cold stock, so it is completely dispersed rather than sitting on top.
4. Bring it up very slowly over a low heat, stirring gently at first so nothing catches on the base.
5. Stop stirring as soon as the mixture begins to set and cloud. From here it must be left entirely alone.
6. Let the raft form and rise. Make a small hole in it with a ladle so you can see the liquid beneath and so steam has somewhere to escape.
7. Hold it at a bare tremble — barely a bubble — for around an hour. Never a simmer, never a boil.
8. Ladle the clear liquid out through the hole, carefully, without disturbing the raft.
9. Strain it through muslin, season, and serve. It should be brilliantly clear and taste far more intensely of itself than the stock did.

Variations and alternatives

Beef consommé

The classic. Rich, dark, deeply savoury.

Chicken consommé

Lighter and more delicate. A common base for clear soups with garnishes.

Consommé double

Reduced further after clarification for greater intensity.

Gelatin filtration

A modern alternative: freeze a gelatine-rich stock, then let it thaw in a cloth-lined sieve. The ice crystals hold the particles back and clear liquid drips through. Slower, no raft, and startlingly effective.

Garnish

Traditionally what names the finished soup — julienned vegetables, a royale custard, tiny dumplings. A consommé is served with very little in it, precisely so the clarity shows.

Is it worth it?

As a dish it is a demonstration of technique as much as a meal. As a technique it teaches more about protein coagulation than almost anything else in a kitchen.

What goes wrong

• Still cloudy. It boiled, or it was stirred after the raft began forming, or the clearmeat was added to warm stock.
• Raft broke apart. Too much heat. It needs the barest tremble.
• Greasy surface. The stock was not defatted first. Chill and lift the fat off before you start.
• Weak flavour. The starting stock was weak. Clarification removes particles, not flavour — it cannot improve a thin stock.
• Raft never formed. Not enough egg white or minced meat, or the heat came up too fast.
• Cloudy after straining. Disturbed while ladling. Take the liquid out gently and do not tip the pan.

Common questions