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Veal Broth in Cups
Cut two pounds shin of veal into very small pieces and place in a saucepan with a sliced carrot, two each sliced onions, leeks, branches celery, parsley, one branch chervil, one spring thyme, one bay leaf, two cloves and whites of two eggs. Sharply mix with the spatula for three minutes, pour in three quarts cold water, season with a tablespoon salt and half a teaspoon pepper, then let it come to a boil; add one pound knuckle raw veal, cover pan, shift it to corner of range and let slowly simmer two hours, strain through a double dampened cheesecloth into six cups and serve.
This is a clarified veal consommé served in cups rather than bowls — the egg whites are not a garnish but the clearing agent, and the whole method hangs on keeping the pot from ever reaching a rolling boil.
- The hinge: never let it boil after the eggs go inThe whites coagulate into a raft that traps particles and gives the broth its clarity. Bring it to a boil once to set the raft, then hold it at a bare tremble; a real boil breaks the raft and clouds the broth beyond saving. Do not stir after it sets.
- "Corner of range" means the coolest spotOn a coal or wood range the corner was the low-heat zone. On a modern hob use the lowest setting, and expect bubbles only at the edge.
- Reading the vegetable list"Two each sliced onions, leeks, branches celery, parsley" means two of each — two onions, two leeks, two celery stalks, two parsley sprigs, plus one sprig of chervil and one of thyme. Chervil is seasonal and rarely stocked; a little tarragon or extra parsley stands in acceptably, though the anise note is lost.
- The cuts of vealShin is the cross-cut lower leg, sold as osso buco; knuckle is the joint end, all collagen and cartilage. Both are order-ahead items at most butchers. The shin goes in cold with the eggs so the proteins release into the water; the knuckle goes in later purely for gelatin.
- Chop the shin small and mix it coldThe three minutes of "sharp mixing" with the egg whites before any water goes in is what coats the meat and vegetables so the raft forms around them. Fine dice, not chunks — a food processor pulsed a few times works, but do it before adding liquid.
- Salt is high for the volumeA tablespoon of salt in three quarts is about right for a broth drunk on its own, but if you reduce the finished liquid at all it will be too salty. Add half at the start and correct after straining.
- Two hours is the minimumModern practice generally gives veal bones considerably longer than this for full body. Two hours will give a clean, light cup; longer gives a broth that sets to jelly when cold, but you must keep the heat just as low or you will cloud it.
- Yield does not matchThree quarts is twelve cups, so "six cups" most likely means six cup-sized portions for service rather than the total volume, unless the pot reduced by half. Refrigerate or freeze any remainder; use within about four days chilled.
- StrainingDampen the cheesecloth so it does not absorb broth, ladle rather than pour, and take the liquid from beneath the raft without disturbing it. Do not press the solids.
Clear veal broth served in handled cups belongs to the formal service of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when a consommé opened the meal and was often drunk from a two-handled cup rather than spooned — a form that carried over into the invalid cookery of the same period, where veal broth was the standard restorative for someone off solid food. Veal was the preferred base for clear soups because it is mild enough to taste of little but itself while shin and knuckle supply an unusual amount of gelatin, giving body without fat or colour; a beef broth, by contrast, comes out brown and assertive. The egg-white clarification described here is the classic raft method codified in French professional kitchens. That the recipe assumes a range with hot and cool zones, and a butcher who will sell you both shin and knuckle, tells you roughly how the book expected its readers to cook.