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POT-AU-FEU (another way)
"The pot-au-feu," says Mr. Buckmaster, "is an economical and wholesome dish, and is well-suited either to a large or small family. It is the standard dish of all classes in France, and the origin of beef stock." Mr. Buckmaster's recipe for making pot-au-feu and bouillon is as follows. "Take a piece of fresh beef weighing six pounds, and about a pound of bones. Tie up the meat neatly with a tape or string. Put all into a saucepan holding six quarts, fill it up with enough rain-water to cover well both meat and bones, and set the pan on the fire. Carefully remove the scum as it rises, and do not let the liquid boil. At intervals add small quantities of cold water, which will have the effect of checking the ebullition and helping the scum to rise. When the scum is all removed, put in an ounce of salt, a salt-spoonful of whole pepper and allspice, one onion stuck with three cloves, one leek, three carrots of average size cut in two-inch lengths, two turnips of average size, each cut in four, and a bouquet garni (bunch of herbs). These vegetables should not be put in all at once, but at short intervals, so as to keep the contents of the saucepan at the same temperature. Skim now for the last time, and set the pan by the side of the fire to simmer gently for three or four hours. According to the season, both or either of the following vegetables may now be added. A small head of celery cut in two-inch lengths, and a couple of parsnips. When about to serve, strain the broth, skim off the fat, and add a small tea-spoonful of pounded loaf sugar. Make the broth boiling hot, and pour it into the soup tureen over small slices of toasted bread, adding, according to taste, a portion of the vegetables cut into thin slices. Remove the tape or string, and serve the meat, garnishing with mashed potatoes, spinach, or other vegetables in season. Do not be too liberal in the use of pepper and salt; these can be added according to taste after the soup is ready."
A straightforward long-simmered beef and vegetable pot that yields two courses: a clear broth and a platter of boiled beef. Nearly everything in Buckmaster's method still holds; only the vessel, the water and the cut need translating.
- Never let it boilThis is the hinge. A rolling boil emulsifies fat and drives fine protein into the liquid, and the broth turns cloudy and greasy for good. Hold it at a bare shiver — the odd bubble breaking the surface, around 180F — for the whole three to four hours.
- Rain-waterCollected rain-water was valued as soft water, and hard water was widely thought to tell against the flavour of broths. Bottled still or filtered water is a reasonable substitute; do not collect rainwater today.
- The cut of beef"Fresh beef" here means unsalted, and for six pounds on the bone the intended cuts are the working muscles: brisket, top rib, shin or a boned-and-rolled chuck. Anything from the loin will be dry and stringy after four hours.
- BonesA pound of bones means marrow or knuckle bones, sawn open so the gelatine can escape. Ask a butcher; supermarket "soup bones" are usually fine.
- Cold-water trickSplashing in cold water is not superstition — the temperature drop slows convection so the coagulated scum rises and holds together instead of dispersing. Skim with a shallow ladle rather than a slotted spoon.
- MeasuresA salt-spoonful is about a quarter teaspoon. An ounce of salt is roughly one and a half tablespoons, which for six quarts is restrained; Buckmaster's advice to under-season and correct at the table is sound. Pounded loaf sugar is simply granulated or caster sugar.
- Vessel and heatA six-quart saucepan filled to the brim leaves no margin; use an 8-quart stockpot. "By the side of the fire" means the coolest steady heat you have — the lowest gas ring with a diffuser, or a 200-225F oven, uncovered or barely ajar.
- Vegetable timingAdding the vegetables in stages was to avoid a sudden temperature drop, not for texture. Even so, carrots, turnips and parsnips given the full four hours will collapse; add the root vegetables in the last hour if you want to serve them sliced.
- YieldSix pounds of beef and four to five quarts of liquid feeds eight to ten across the two courses. Chill the strained broth overnight and lift the fat off as a solid cap.
Pot-au-feu — literally "pot on the fire" — stands close to the roots of French restaurant cookery: the same operation that produced dinner in a farmhouse produced, in a professional kitchen, the bouillon from which sauces and consommés were built. Buckmaster's point that it is "the origin of beef stock" reflects the Victorian conviction that French cooking was cheaper as well as better, and that English households wasted money by roasting what they should have simmered. John Charles Buckmaster taught cookery at the South Kensington schools in the 1870s and took part in the campaign to teach working-class women economical French method; his lectures were widely reprinted, and he is quoted at length in Cassell's. The two-course service — broth poured over toasted bread, then the meat brought out with vegetables — was the ordinary French arrangement, and the toast in the tureen is the older habit generally said to have given soupe its name, the sop being the bread rather than the liquid.