No. 418

Braise Stock for Braising Meats

Fond de Braise

Cover the bottom of a saucepan with bardes of fat pork, one pound of minced onions, one pound of minced carrots, and on top place either a leg of mutton, a piece of poultry, a tenderloin of beef or a kernel of veal. Moisten to the height of the meat with some beef stock (No. 194), add a bunch of parsley containing a bay leaf and as much thyme, a clove of garlic and two cloves; season with salt and whole peppers, and after it has cooked, strain it through a fine sieve, and return the stock to the braised meats to simmer until it is reduced to half. This braise may be replaced by a mirepoix stock for braising meats.

← No. 417 Fish Stock for Lean Espagnole and Veloute Sa Stocks, Essences & Auxiliaries No. 419 Mirepoix Stock and Dry Mirepoix →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer is describing a working method rather than a fixed formula: the braise stock and the meat cooked in it are one operation, and the finished liquid becomes both cooking medium and sauce base. A few of his terms and omissions need filling in.

The hinge: strain, then reduce with the meat back inThe point of the recipe is that the vegetables and aromatics are discarded once they have given everything up, and the clarified liquid is returned to the meat to reduce by half. Skipping the straining leaves you with a cloudy, vegetal braise instead of a glossy one.
Bardes of fat porkThin sheets of cut fatback, used here to line the pan so the vegetables and meat do not scorch. Substitute sliced fatback, unsmoked salt pork blanched to remove salt, or a good layer of pork caul or belly fat. Bacon will work but stamps smoke on everything.
Kernel of vealThe noix de veau, the rounded muscle from the top of the leg — sold today as veal top round or a boned leg cushion. Ranhofer gives no weight; a 3-4 lb piece is a reasonable modern choice.
Beef stock, No. 194Ranhofer's cross-reference is to his plain beef stock. Any unsalted brown beef stock works; if using commercial stock, choose a low-sodium one, because reducing by half concentrates whatever salt is already there.
Seasoning restraintSalt lightly at the start. The liquid is reduced by half at the end and again if you glaze the meat, so a properly seasoned braising liquid becomes an oversalted sauce.
Whole peppers and clovesWhole peppercorns and whole cloves are used because everything is strained out. Two cloves is all the recipe asks for; clove dominates quickly, so do not increase it in proportion to a larger roast.
Heat and time, neither of which is givenBraise at a bare simmer, never a boil: on the stove at the lowest steady heat, or in a 300-325F oven. A leg of mutton needs roughly 3 to 4 hours, a veal cushion 2 1/2 to 3, a chicken about 1 1/4. Judge by a skewer sliding out with no resistance rather than by the clock.
Liquid level"To the height of the meat" means the liquid comes level with the top of the joint, not over it. Ranhofer does not mention a lid; covering the pan, or pressing down a cartouche of parchment, will keep the exposed surface from drying.
YieldThe recipe fixes only the pound each of onion and carrot; the stock volume depends on the joint. Expect on the order of 2 to 3 quarts of braise, reducing to 1 to 1 1/2 quarts of concentrated liquid — enough to sauce the meat and leave a surplus to freeze as the base of a brown sauce.

A Little History

This is entry 418 in Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894), the enormous compendium of the cooking he oversaw at Delmonico's in New York. The numbered cross-references are the book's signature: a fond de braise is not a dish but a component, and Ranhofer expects it to be read alongside No. 194 for the stock and No. 419 for the mirepoix alternative he offers in the last line. That structure comes straight out of the French professional tradition Ranhofer trained in, where the kitchen was organized around a small number of mother preparations from which everything else descended. The mention of a leg of mutton as an unremarkable choice dates the page as clearly as anything: mature sheep was by all accounts common on American butchers' counters in the 1890s and has since largely vanished from retail in favour of young lamb.