No. 38

Court-Bouillon, Plain

Court-Bouillon Simple

Plain court-bouillon is used for cooking large fishes, such as salmon, halibut, bass and lobsters.

This court-bouillon is prepared with vinegar, roots and sliced onions, a large bunch of parsley, salt and water. If the fish has to be plunged into boiling water, cook the court-bouillon for seven or eight minutes previous to putting it in, and if on the contrary, then pour the liquid over the fish, and bring it to a boil.

← No. 37 Vegetable Colors Elementary Methods No. 39 Court Bouillon with Wine →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer gives a method rather than a formula, which is normal for a stock in a professional kitchen but leaves a home cook without numbers. The proportions below are conventional for a plain court-bouillon and the rest is a matter of reading his shorthand.

The hinge: cold start or boiling startRanhofer gives two procedures without saying which fish gets which. Standard practice is that whole large fish goes into cold or barely warm court-bouillon and is brought slowly up, so the flesh sets evenly and the skin does not split, while cut portions, steaks and lobster go into liquid already simmering.
No quantities are givenA workable plain court-bouillon is 4 quarts water, 1 cup white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons salt, 2 sliced onions, 2 carrots, a piece of celery or celery root, and a large bunch of parsley stems. Scale to cover the fish by an inch or two.
"Roots"Most likely the usual aromatic root vegetables: carrot, turnip, parsnip, celery root. Any two of them will do; carrot and celery are the usual pair.
Seven or eight minutes is not enough for flavourRanhofer gives no reason for the brief boil; the likeliest one is to take the raw edge off the vinegar before the fish goes in. If you want the vegetables to contribute anything, simmer the liquid 20-30 minutes first, then cool it if the fish is to start cold.
Never let it boil with the fish in itNever let it boil hard with the fish in it -- Ranhofer does say to bring the cold start up to a boil; modern practice is to stop short of that and hold the liquid at 175-180F, where the surface only shivers. A rolling boil shreds salmon and turns halibut cottony. Allow roughly 8-10 minutes per inch of thickness at the thickest point.
LobsterLobsters are on Ranhofer's list, and the boiling start is the usual way they go in; a 1 1/4 lb lobster needs about 10-12 minutes at a simmer.
Vinegar and the panAn acidic liquid will pick up metal from bare aluminium or unlined copper and grey the fish. Use stainless, enamel or a tinned fish kettle.
AfterwardsStrained, the liquid is the base for the sauce that goes with the fish and for the aspic if you are serving it cold. It keeps three days refrigerated and freezes well.

A Little History

Court-bouillon is literally "short broth" — short, it is often said, because it is built in minutes from water, acid and aromatics rather than simmered for hours from bones, and because it is used at once rather than kept. Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's for over thirty years, put it near the front of The Epicurean (1894) among the elementary methods precisely because so much else in the book depends on it: the poached salmon, the cold bass in aspic, the lobster for salads and Newburg all begin here. The vinegar in the plain version seasons the flesh, and is traditionally said to firm the surface of a large fish so that it holds together through a long slow poach. A wine version follows as No. 39. The distinction Ranhofer draws between starting a fish cold and plunging it into boiling liquid is still taught in professional kitchens today.