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Soup

The Clarification of Game Consommés

A method for clarifying game consommé using pounded lean game, egg white, and browned bones to produce a clear soup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Auguste Escoffier · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,193 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

The Clarification of Game Consommés

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the game

  1. Bone the game thoroughly and pound the meat.

  2. Pound the meat together with the white of an egg per four quarts of consommé.

  3. Add about two oz. per quart of dried mushrooms if they can be procured.

Brown and mix the bones

  1. Brown the bones and game carcases in the oven.

  2. Drain the browned bones and carcases of all grease.

  3. Mix the bones and carcases with the cold game consommé.

Clarify and finish

  1. Place the clarification over an open fire, stirring incessantly.

  2. As soon as the boil is reached, move the saucepan to a corner of the fire.

  3. Let the contents gently boil for three-quarters of an hour.

  4. Remove the fat from the consommé.

  5. Strain the consommé through muslin.

  6. Cover the consommé until wanted.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

12Calories
0 gProtein
0 gFat
3 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 5 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Waternot in our table0
Vealnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Auguste Escoffier. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,193 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Celery + vealtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,336 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Thyme + vealtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,812 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Game meat (in the method)
Pounded with egg white, it forms the raft that gathers impurities and clears the consommé.
Egg white (in the method)
Coagulates when heated, trapping fine particles so the consommé comes out clear.
Bones and carcases
Browned and simmered, they release gelatin and flavour that give body and depth to the stock.
Dried mushrooms (in the method)
Add earthy, savoury aroma to the consommé.

The step that matters

Stirring while bringing to the boil. Stirring constantly as the clarification heats keeps the egg-white raft from setting on the bottom and burning. Once the boil is reached, moving the pan off the heat lets the liquid simmer gently, so the raft stays intact and the consommé stays clear rather than cloudy.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, veal):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Sagefits better
  4. Thymethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, veal. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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