Consommé is one of those classic French techniques anyone who attends culinary school learns to do. I’ve heard all sorts of chefs roll their eyes at consommé as boring or overly fussy. But at its best, this powerfully flavored broth is so clear you can read the Bible through it. I’m here to walk you through a real-deal French consomme recipe.
A well-made consommé is also one of those dishes that is far harder to execute than it looks. It shows skill and panache without shouting, like a Saville Row shirt: Crisp, understated, but oozing style and class. Consommé is the Grace Kelly of soups.
Tragically, consommé died about the same time as Princess Grace, in the early 1980s. What happened? Why do we not see it on menus anymore? To too many chefs, consommé is passé, like sole meuniere or steak Diane. But I ask you to consider consommé with fresh eyes.
A perfectly executed consommé is almost entirely devoid of fat — although I prefer just enough fat floating on the surface to make it look like there are a sprinkling of gleaming jewels adorning the broth. It will taste powerfully of whatever it is made from, and, of course it will be crystal clear.
It is that clarity that is so difficult to achieve — in life, in writing and in soup.
For years, I’d had the basic consommé recipe in my head, but never dared try it. It seemed impossibly difficult, and, more importantly, expensive. And this may be why few restaurants make it anymore. Yet it was at a restaurant where I first learned the technique. Those of you who ate at Grange’s Duck Dinner several years ago will remember that Chef Michael Tuohy and I did dueling consommé courses.
Mine was a classic duck consommé with duck liver ravioli.
Back home, I made the dish again. And again. I finally nailed it, and this version is even better than the one we made at Grange. Walk with me for a bit, and I will show you how to make magic with bones and broth.
Every proper consommé recipe requires a couple days, but most of the time you can be doing other things, and you can store the broth in the fridge for several days if you get busy. Ideally, you start on a weekend and finish the consommé either during the week or even the following weekend. Sound like a lot of work? It’s worth it.
First, you need to make stock. Pretty much any animal can be made into consommé, as can many vegetables. Here I am starting with duck stock, but other good options are venison stock, pheasant stock, crab stock or fish stock. Once you have your stock you must chill it in the fridge, preferably overnight or up to several days.
Now you must make a raft. A wha? A raft. You’ll see why it’s called that in a minute. Remember I said how hard it is to achieve clarity? This is where the raft comes in. You cannot make a perfectly clear consommé without some sort of fining agent. Nowadays I hear there are high-tech hydrocolloids you can use in modernist cuisine to clarify broths, but for centuries the answer has been egg whites.
Egg whites are primarily protein and water, but it’s the proteins we’re looking for. Put egg whites into a liquid and heat it and the proteins will form a molecular mesh that will act like a magnet, attracting the suspended solids that cloud your broth. The egg whites will rise to the surface of the liquid, drawing all the solids with them. Once strained, the liquid will be clear.
But it will also have less flavor, because a lot of those suspended solids taste good. This is why a raft is made from not just egg whites, but also finely chopped vegetables, tomato for acid, herbs and some spices, plus an additional hit of meat.
This is another reason I suspect restaurants don’t make consommé: It is undeniably expensive. You not only need meat and bones to make the stock, but you also need lean meat to grind with the raft to finish the consommé. If your customers don’t appreciate the work that goes into consommé, then charging them $13 for a bowl — for what looks like clear, unadorned soup — might cause a ruckus.
To finish a consommé, you pour your cold stock into a stockpot — the pot needs to be taller than it is wide — stir in the cold raft and turn the heat to medium. It is vital that the stock heat up gradually, and it is important to stir everything frequently until you see the raft start collecting on the surface of the stock.
Once the raft forms, simmer very gently for at least 1 hour, and no more than 90 minutes. If you are making fish consommé, no more than 45 minutes.
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Finally, you ladle your consommé through the raft into a clean container — the soup needs to be poured through a paper towel set in a sieve.
Unless I am making it as a base for pasta, like I did at Grange, I don’t garnish it. I want those who drink it (yes, you can drink consommé, without a spoon) to experience the full glory of the soup. But you can garnish if you want. A traditional garnish for wild game consommé is julienned mushrooms.
I urge you to try making this consommé recipe, whether you use duck or chicken or beef or fish — you can even make a vegetarian consommé with mushrooms. Serve it to people you love, and take a little pride in explaining to them what you went through to achieve clarity. It can be a religious experience.
Classic French Consommé
Ingredients
- 5 quarts duck broth (or other broth, see above)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 2 large celery stalks, chopped
- 3 pounds lean duck or goose meat, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 ounce dried mushrooms, any kind, soaked and chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 10 egg whites
- A 2-inch piece of fresh rosemary, chopped
- 6 to 8 fresh sage leaves chopped
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 12 ounces tomato puree
Instructions
- Make the raft by running the onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms and duck meat through a meat grinder, or by pulsing in a food processor until you have a rough mash. Don't puree it.
- Mix in the garlic, egg whites, rosemary, sage and bay leaves and chill for at least 4 hours, or up to overnight.
- Pour the cold duck broth into a stockpot and add the salt.
- Mix the tomato puree with the raft and add to the stock. Turn heat to medium and bring slowly to a simmer. Do not let it boil under any circumstances or you will ruin your consommé. Stir every couple of minutes until the raft begins to float on the surface.
- When the raft has formed, poke a 1-inch hole in its center and let the consommé simmer gently for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Put a fine-meshed sieve over a container large enough to hold the consommé and line the sieve with a paper towel. Turn the heat to low on the consommé and ladle the soup through the sieve into the container. When you get to the bottom of the stockpot, pick out the raft and discard, then pour the remaining consommé through the sieve.
- Chill the consommé or serve immediately. Add salt to taste before serving.
