Soup season is finally here! While the weather is getting colder, stocks and broths warm our bellies and fill our souls.
Get started on your own classic stock this winter with help from this culinary insight and advice!
The following is an excerpt from Mastering Stocks and Broths by Rachael Mamane. It has been adapted for the web.
At the highest level, classic culinary stocks can be categorized into four types: meat, poultry, fish, and vegetable. The French refer to stocks as the fond, or base, by which the foundation of a dish is developed. From here, technique determines the depth of flavor and color your stock will exhibit: The decision to blanch or roast bones, or sauté or roast vegetables, establishes the purpose of the stock in your final dishes—whether to be prominent or to blend in the background.
All stocks have the addition of mirepoix and other aromatics in common, which mellows the forward flavors of the main ingredient and brings a stock to a balanced state. As you become proficient with the technique, considering the purpose of the stock before making it will become an ingrained part of the process.
After a stock is made, you can adjust its clarity and concentration to achieve other fundamental states. We’ll review the main stock types below, as well as their derivatives, before digging deep into each category in subsequent chapters.
A white stock, or fond blanc, is light in color and silky in texture. It is made by cleaning bones to remove impurities without adding color. Sometimes bones are clean enough to require only a thorough rinse, though most bones need to be blanched to achieve purity.
The bones often used are full of collagen—such as veal bones for a white veal stock or supplemental chicken feet for a white chicken stock—and result in a gelatinous finish. A mirepoix of common vegetables—either raw, or lightly sautéed—is introduced to the liquid in order to maintain a delicate hue in the finished stock.
The main types of broth are chicken, beef, fish, and vegetable, which is made by simmering just vegetables and seasonings.
Cooking With White Stocks
Due to their light color, white stocks are commonly used as a neutral cooking component. They can blend with, rather than overpower, the ingredients of a dish, allowing a main ingredient to remain the feature. White stocks are also great for adding liquid to, or finishing a dish; a splash of a gelatinous stock will bring ingredients together in the pan, making it ideal for risotto or other grain dishes.
With their silken texture, white stocks are an excellent foundation for soups or other dishes where a well-developed broth is essential. White stocks also make an ideal poaching liquid, which can be stored after use as a compound stock, also known as a double stock.
In classic French texts, fond blanc typically refers to poultry stocks, but has come to mean any stock made with ingredients that have not been roasted for color, including all types of animals and vegetables.
A brown stock, or fond brun, is rich in color—ranging from a golden brown to a deep mahogany—and full in body. It is made by roasting bones, and often vegetables, which add a caramelized flavor to the stock. For some brown stocks, tomato paste is roasted with the bones or folded into the stock to brighten the hue and further develop texture. In the case of lamb and duck stocks, the vegetables are sautéed instead of roasted; this variation prevents the liquid from becoming too dark.
With their rich, dark shade, brown stocks are intended to guide the flavor and texture of a dish. They can be featured in a stew or served as a rich soup base, where the broth is a main ingredient. Roasted stocks are often used for braising meat and vegetables; the braising liquid can be strained and reduced at the end to make a velvety sauce for the dish.
This reduction step applies to brown stocks as well, not just braising liquids: After straining, the stock can be significantly reduced to make a glace de viande, or meat glaze. This process further concentrates flavor—it’s reduced about eight to ten times, and a little goes a long way. A small scoop is the ideal base for gravies and sauces.
In classic French texts, fond brun most commonly refers to veal stocks, but has come to mean any stock made with ingredients that have been roasted for color. As with white stocks, this expansion includes all manner of animals and vegetables.
Similar to all animal-based stocks, fish stock is made by simmering meaty fish bones that have been leached, blanched, or roasted with aromatics. Fish bones, however, impart a unique quality to liquid—both piscine and briny—unlike the characteristics gleaned from any land animal.
The French refer to fish stock as fumet, which commonly contains white wine and is reduced to concentrate the flavors. Stocks made from shellfish are also included in this category.
Fish Stocks & Aromatics
Aromatics play a versatile role in the making of fish stock. The buttery flavor and texture of leeks softens the intensity of the piscine flavor. Sometimes carrots are omitted from the aromatic base, in order to preserve a neutral color in the stock; parsnips can be a flavorful substitute that won’t alter the hue. Fennel is a superb match with seafood and is regularly featured in stock recipes. At times, it is further highlighted in finished dishes with a splash of an anise-based spirit. Similarly, tarragon, an herb with a subtle licorice aroma, lends itself well to shellfish stocks.
Simple Tips for Stocks & Broths – Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph
FAQ
What are the 4 types of stock soup?
What are the 4 main components of a chicken stock?
What are the 4 basic parts to all stocks?
What are the four 4 ingredients of a stock?
What are the different types of broth?
Chicken broth, beef broth, vegetable broth, bone broth – there are many different types of broth. We have specific guides and recipes for each of these, but use the following steps as a general guide to how to make broth at home. Poultry and beef broth are the two most common types of broth used in recipes.
What is chicken broth?
Chicken broth is made by boiling chicken bones or meat in which other ingredients such as herbs, spices and seasonings are added to enrich the taste. As the meat and bones of the chicken are boiled, nutrients from the bones and meat leak out into the water and this makes the broth itself nutritious.
What is broth?
But what is broth, anyway? Broth, stock, and bouillon are all terms used for a rich liquid made by simmering poultry, meat, and/or vegetables in water and seasonings. You can purchase broth in cartons, cans, or cubes, but our Test Kitchen relies on making homemade broth to control what goes into a dish—especially the sodium count.
What type of broth should I use?
Poultry and beef broth are the two most common types of broth used in recipes. Bones contribute rich flavor to the homemade broth; choose about 3 pounds of meaty bones (leftovers work great for this!), such as roast chicken or turkey, beef roast, and T-bone steaks. Use a tall, heavy stockpot, just wide enough to hold the pieces.