Types of broths. Broths and their varieties

The Chinese say that good broth is the key to a tasty dish. Indeed, without a rich broth, you won’t get an appetizing soup, sauce or hot dish. Therefore, today we will learn how to cook broth according to all the rules.
Experienced housewives prefer meat and bone broths to all broths: when cooked, bones release a lot of extractive substances into the water, and the broth turns out incredibly rich. In addition, the key to a good broth is the right water. Don't pour it from the tap. If you don't have a filter, it's better to buy bottled water.

Advice:
Do not try to whip up difficult culinary recipes, first carefully study your culinary collection, gradually prepare for cooking, study the recipe more carefully, and you will definitely succeed, and to encourage your interest in preparing delicious broths, we will give you a few examples below:

Vegetable broth
Aromatic vegetable broth is the basis of all the basics. To prepare it, take soup vegetables and herbs: onions, a stalk of celery, carrots (at the rate of 70 g of vegetables - in a ratio of 2:1:1 - per 1 liter of liquid), several sprigs of thyme, parsley and dill, you can use cilantro. It’s good to add 2 bay leaves, a clove of garlic, 5 peas each of allspice and black pepper (per 3-4 liters of water). If desired, you can put 1 turnip, a small stalk of leek or 0.5 bunch of green onions, 0.5 bell pepper and tomato, 6 iceberg lettuce leaves or a bunch of lettuce. If you want mushroom broth, add 300 g of fresh or a handful of dried mushrooms.
Vegetables must be peeled, washed, coarsely chopped and filled with water. Add salt, bring to a boil and cook for 30-40 minutes, remembering to remove the foam. Then remove from heat and strain after 15 minutes.
You can pre-fry the vegetables in a dry, heated frying pan or bake them in the oven - then the broth will turn out yellow and piquant.

Meat broth
For broth, it is better to use meat on the bone: veal or lamb shank, veal brisket or soup chicken. To prepare a more rich broth, pour 1-1.5 kg of meat or chicken bones with 2 liters of water; for a less rich broth, use 3.5 liters of liquid.
If you put an unpeeled onion in a pan during cooking, you will get an amber broth
Set aside a few bones intended for the broth. Bake the meat and fry the chicken in a dry frying pan. 15 minutes before the end of cooking, add them to the broth - it will become much tastier.
Rinse the meat or poultry and put it in cold water, bring to a boil, remove the foam and reduce the heat to low (barely noticeable boiling). Then add coarsely chopped soup vegetables and herbs - the same as in the vegetable broth. Vegetables will not only help enrich the broth with useful substances and minerals, but also lighten it. 40-60 minutes before the end of cooking, add spices to the broth.
You need to cook poultry broth for 2-3 hours, veal and beef broth for 3-4 hours. Strain the finished broth, cool and leave in the refrigerator overnight, and in the morning skim off any fat that floats to the surface.

Fish broth
For the broth, use the heads, bones, fins of large fish (halibut, cod, salmon) and small fish. You should not buy fatty fish with a strong odor.
Heads (without eyes and gills) and other fish remains should be placed in a container of cold salt water for 10 minutes: this will help remove the blood and muddy smell. Then rinse and place in a pan with water (3-4 liters of water per 1-1.5 kg of fish). Add vegetables and spices. Bring to a boil and cook, skimming off foam, for 20-30 minutes. By the way, after boiling, try placing the pan on the stove so that it is not completely on the fire, but only one side. The broth will begin to circulate in a circle, and it will be easier for you to remove the foam. Strain the finished broth and cool.

A few secrets:
Let's concentrate:
A more concentrated version can be prepared from meat or fish broth for long-term storage. To do this, return the strained broth to the pan, bring to a boil and cook over low heat, periodically skimming off the foam, until the volume is reduced by half.
Brown broth:
This broth is made from baked veal or beef bones. For it you need to preheat the oven to 200-230° and bake the washed bones for 40 minutes. Under the influence of temperature, the bones caramelize, due to which they give the broth a rich color and aroma.
Stocking up:
Broths can be frozen in containers or ice trays, and then transferred to bags and stored in the freezer for up to six months. It is enough to throw the cubes into the frying pan while stewing, and to prepare the soup, put them in boiling water (2-3 cubes per 1 liter of water) and bring to a boil again.
To each his own:
For game broth, you can add fennel seeds and juniper berries to the standard set of spices; for lamb broth - mint stems, juniper berries, cumin, caraway or rosemary seeds; for pork broth - oregano stems, ground red pepper, cumin or mustard seeds.

Posted by: Arseniy Viktorovich Karbaev
Organization: Sardelas

Email: [email protected]

Bouillon is a decoction obtained by boiling meat, bones, poultry, fish, and mushrooms in water. Extractive substances, proteins, fats, minerals and aromatic substances pass from the products into the broth. The taste of the broth depends on the ratio of water and product in it, the degree of its grinding, and the duration of cooking.

Depending on the concentration of soluble substances, broths are prepared as normal and concentrated. To obtain a normal broth, take 4–5 liters of water per 1 kg of product, and 1.25 liters to obtain a concentrated broth. It is recommended to cook concentrated broths, as this saves fuel and production time, and allows you to use smaller containers, which are more convenient to store. From 1 kg of product you should get 1 liter of concentrated broth. Subsequently, to obtain a normal broth, 1 liter of concentrated broth is diluted with 3–4 liters of hot water.

Proper use of raw materials, compliance with the standards for their laying and preparation technology ensure high quality broth, and the taste and aroma qualities of soups depend on this.

You can use bouillon cubes to make broths. In this case, soups are boiled in water without adding salt, and the cubes are first dissolved in a small amount of hot water and added to the finished soup 15–20 minutes before leaving. For a serving of soup (500 g), use 2 cubes (8 g).

Bone broth. To obtain this broth, processed tubular, pelvic, breast, vertebral and sacrum bones, beef, pork and lamb are used.

Food bones are crushed to extract nutrients more completely. Young beef and pork bones are first lightly fried in the oven to improve the taste and appearance of the broth.

The prepared bones are placed in a cauldron, filled with cold water and brought to a boil over high heat. When the broth boils, remove the foam from the surface so that during further cooking it does not break up into small flakes and does not deteriorate the appearance of the broth. After this, the broth is boiled at low boil with the lid closed. During cooking, excess fat is periodically skimmed off as it emulsifies and breaks down to form free fatty acids, which gives the broth a cloudy and greasy taste.

The duration of cooking broth from beef bones is 3.5-4 hours, pork and lamb - 2-3 hours. Longer cooking worsens the taste and aroma of the broth. 30–40 minutes before the end of cooking, add lightly baked roots and onions; for flavoring, add stems of spicy vegetables tied in a bunch. The finished broth is filtered.

Meat and bone broth. To prepare this broth, bones and meat of the brisket, shoulder and subscapular parts and trim, weighing 1.5–2 kg, are used.

The prepared bones are poured with cold water, brought to a boil and cooked over low heat for 2–3 hours, then add the meat, quickly bring to a boil, skim off the foam and cook over low heat, periodically skimming off excess fat. The duration of cooking the meat is 1.5–2 hours. 30–40 minutes before the end of cooking, add lightly baked roots and onions, and a bunch of spicy vegetables. At the end of cooking, the finished meat is removed, the broth is drained and filtered.

Meat and bone broth can be prepared in another way. The prepared bones are placed in a cauldron, meat is placed on them, poured with cold water, brought to a boil over high heat, the foam is skimmed off and cooked over low heat, periodically skimming off the fat. After 1.5–2 hours, the meat is removed and the bones continue to be cooked. 30–40 minutes before the end of cooking, add baked roots and onions, and a bunch of spicy vegetables. The finished broth is drained and filtered.

Poultry broth. To prepare the broth, whole poultry carcasses, offal (heart, stomachs, necks, heads, legs, wings, neck skin), and bones are used. The poultry carcasses are seasoned, and the bones are finely chopped and washed. The prepared products are poured with cold water, brought to a boil, skim off the foam and cook at low boil, periodically skimming off the fat. After 20–30 minutes, add baked roots and onions. The broth cooking time depends on the type of bird, age and lasts from 1 to 2 hours. The finished broth is drained and filtered.

If whole carcasses, offal and bones are used simultaneously to prepare the broth, then the bones and offal are cooked first, and the whole carcasses are added later in accordance with the cooking time.

Fish broth. To prepare it, fish and fish food waste (heads, fins, skin, tails, bones) are used. Good broths are obtained from fish of the perch family (perch, pike perch, ruffe, etc.); it is not recommended to cook broths from carp, bream, carp, roach, as the broth will have a bitter taste. Large bones and heads of fish from the sturgeon family are cut into pieces, after removing the gills and eyes from the head.

The prepared fish waste and fish are placed in a cauldron, poured with cold water (3–3.5 liters of water per 1 kg of product), brought to a boil, skim off the foam, add raw white roots and onions and cook at low boil for 50–60 minutes. Then the broth is allowed to settle and filtered.

When preparing a broth from the heads of fish of the sturgeon family, an hour after boiling, the heads are removed, the flesh is separated from the cartilage, and the cartilage is poured with hot water and continued to cook until softened for 1–1.5 hours. The finished broth is filtered. The boiled pulp and cartilage are chopped, poured with a small amount of broth, brought to a boil and used when serving dishes.

Mushroom broth. Fresh and dried mushrooms are used to prepare the decoction. Dried mushrooms are sorted out, washed, poured with cold water and left for 10–15 minutes to soak dried foreign particles. Then they are washed well, poured with cold water (7 liters of water per 1 kg of mushrooms) and left to swell for 3–4 hours. The mushrooms are removed, washed, poured with the water in which they were soaked, and boiled for 1.5–2 hours. Ready-made decoction drain, let it settle and filter not completely. Cooked mushrooms are washed to remove any remaining sand, after which they are chopped, chopped or passed through a meat grinder and placed in the soup 5–10 minutes before the end of cooking.

§ 2. Seasoning soups

Seasoning soups Soups are called soups in which vegetables, potatoes, cereals, legumes, and pasta are boiled in broth, mushroom broth or water until tender. These soups are seasoned with sautéed vegetables.

A characteristic feature of seasoning soups is that the prepared products are added in a certain sequence and boiled in a liquid base. Therefore, they acquire the taste and aroma of the products that are used for soup. Depending on the products used, dressing soups are divided into cabbage soup, borscht, rassolniki, vegetable soups, potato soups, soups with pasta and flour products, cereal soups, solyanka.

Dressing soups represent the most common group. To prepare them, you must first prepare the ingredients.

Processed vegetables are cut using the appropriate cutting form (slices, slices, strips, cubes) depending on the type of soup. Vegetables for soups are used raw or pre-heated. Sauerkraut and beets are stewed. Carrots, turnips, onions, tomatoes, and tomatoes are sautéed.

Sauté vegetables in a saucepan, pan or frying pan. First, fat (butter, margarine or cooking fat) is melted in a bowl - 10-15% of the mass of the products, then chopped vegetables are placed in a layer of 3-4 cm and sautéed at a temperature of 110-120 ° C, stirring occasionally. Soups seasoned with sauteed vegetables have a pleasant taste, aroma and good appearance.

Before use, tomato puree is diluted with a small amount of broth or water and sautéed with fat for 15–20 minutes. If it is necessary to sauté tomato puree together with vegetables, then first sauté the vegetables until softened, and then add the diluted tomato puree and sauté together.

Flour of the highest and 1st grades is sautéed without fat or with fat. When sautéing without fat (dry sautéing), the sifted flour is poured onto a baking sheet or frying pan in a layer of 2–2.5 cm and sautéed in an oven or on the stove at a temperature of 120–130 °C, stirring occasionally, until a light yellow color is formed. The sautéed flour is cooled, combined with a small amount of chilled broth or vegetable broth, stirred until smooth and filtered.

Pickled cucumbers are processed, cut and poached.

The grains are sorted and washed several times, changing the water. After washing, pearl barley is placed in boiling water, boiled until half cooked, the broth is drained, and the barley is washed, since broths from it have a dark color and a slimy consistency, which gives soups an unpleasant appearance. The pasta is sorted and broken.

When preparing soups, the following cooking rules must be observed.

1. Bring the broth or broth to a boil.

2. Prepared products are placed only in boiling broth or decoction in a certain sequence depending on the duration of cooking (Table 5) so that they are brought to readiness at the same time.

When cooking soups with sauerkraut, pickles, sorrel, vinegar and potatoes, first add the potatoes, cook until almost done, and then add acid-containing products, since potatoes do not boil well in an acidic environment.

3. Sautéed vegetables are added to the soup 10–15 minutes before they are ready.

4. Seasoning soups, except for soups with potatoes, cereals, and flour products, are seasoned with flour sauté or mashed potatoes 5–10 minutes before the end of cooking. Flour sautéing gives soups a thick consistency and helps preserve vitamin C.

5. Boil soups at a low simmer, since with vigorous boiling, vegetables become overcooked, do not retain their shape, and aromatic substances evaporate.

6. Spices (bay leaf, pepper) and salt are added to the soup 5-7 minutes before it is ready. It should be borne in mind that excess spices and salt impair the taste and aroma of the soup. Per serving use peppercorns - 0.05 g, bay leaf - 0.02, salt - 3-5 g.

The technology for preparing complex soups is useful to know for all those who are closely involved in studying culinary rules and subtleties. This article describes the process of preparing meat and fish broths for seasoning soups, and also provides some schemes for cooking soups.

To make the soup rich, aromatic and nutritious, you need to properly prepare its base - the broth. This will be discussed below.

What soups are called complex?

Any broth-based soup was initially considered complex. The fact is that previously broths were cooked in multi-component forms, from several types of meat or fish. Today, preparing the soup base has been greatly simplified.

This happened due to general modernization. Many different seasonings, ready-made dressings and broths have appeared. Humanity strives to speed up all processes, including culinary ones. You can only find a truly complex soup in an expensive restaurant, but not in a catering establishment.

TO complex soups include seasoned first courses cooked in a clear broth, otherwise called “consommé”. The name comes from France, the birthplace of haute cuisine. It means improved, brought to perfection. The ideal broth is deliberately clarified, making it transparent. This process is quite lengthy.

For each type of broth, its own guy (clarifier) ​​is prepared.

Types of guys for broths

Broth preparation technology

Preparing broth for soup is the most difficult and important stage, so let’s look at it in more detail.

As a rule, broths are prepared normal or concentrated. To prepare a normal broth, use a proportion of 1 kg of product per 4.5 liters of water. The product refers to bones, meat, fish or mushrooms. For concentrated broth, take 1 kg of product per 1.25 liters of water.

In order for the soup to be of high quality and healthy, you must follow the rules for adding products to it, grinding the ingredients and adjusting the cooking time of the components.

Broth on the bones

For bone broth, you can use processed beef, lamb, and pork bones.

Types of bouillon bones:

• pelvic
• tubular
• vertebrates
• chest
• sacral

1. First, the bones are crushed and fried in the oven until the color changes to slightly golden.
2. Then they are filled with the required amount of cold water and brought to a boil at maximum power of the stove.
3. Remove foam from the surface of the broth, because it breaks up into many small flakes and impairs aesthetic properties.
4. Reduce the heat and cover the broth with a lid. Periodically remove excess fat so that the broth does not become cloudy.
5. Beef bones are boiled for 3.5-4 hours, pork and lamb bones - 2-3 hours. Half an hour before cooking, add baked vegetables and roots to the broth. Spicy herbs are tied into a bouquet using twine and lowered to the bottom of the pan.
6. When the broth is cooked, it must be strained.

Meat and bone broth

Types of meat required for compound broth:

• brisket
• subscapularis
• scapular part

Broth preparation process:

1. The bones are prepared and boiled as in the previous case.
2. 1.5-2 hours before the broth is ready, add meat. Remove newly formed foam in a timely manner. Cook under a closed lid over low heat, periodically removing excess fat.
3. Onions and roots are baked in the oven and added to the broth 30 minutes before cooking. Spicy herbs are also tied into a bouquet and placed in a pan along with vegetables.
4. The finished broth needs to be strained.

Poultry broth

To prepare such a broth, they take both whole bird carcasses and offal: heart, necks, heads, stomachs, etc.

Broth preparation process:

1. The prepared carcasses are washed, the bones are chopped and cleaned. Pour in cold water and bring to a boil at high heat on the stove.
2. Skim off the foam and continue cooking at low power for 1-2 hours, depending on the toughness of the poultry meat.
3. 30-40 minutes before readiness, add seasonings, onions and roots to the broth.

Fish broth

Fish broth is perhaps the fastest to prepare. It only takes 50-60 minutes to cook.

The most delicious broths are made from fish:

• zander
• perch
• sturgeon
• salmon

Types of fish whose broth will have a bitter aftertaste:

• carp
• vobla

Broth preparation process:

1. When using the head, the gills and eyes are first removed from it. The remaining parts, tail, fins, bones and fillets are thoroughly washed.
2. Fill the fish with cold water at the rate of 3.5 liters per 1 kg of product and bring to a boil.
3. Skim off the foam and immediately throw in raw white roots and onions. Cook over low heat for 50-60 minutes.
4. The finished broth is infused for 15 minutes under the lid and filtered.

Mushroom decoction

To prepare mushroom broth, use fresh or dried mushrooms.

1. Fresh mushrooms are washed and cleaned. The dried ones are poured with water and left for 10-30 minutes so that the dried particles of leaves and sand are separated. They are then washed under running water. Fill with cold water at the rate of 7 liters of water per 1 kg of mushrooms and leave for 3-4 hours to swell. Fresh mushrooms will be cooked immediately.
2. Cook the mushrooms for 1.5-2 hours. Then they are removed from the broth, washed and crushed.
3. Return to the broth for 5-10 minutes until it is ready.

Spices with a strong aroma are not used in mushroom broths so as not to overpower the smell of mushrooms.

Vegetable broth

Types of vegetables used to make vegetable broth:

• carrot
• parsnip
• parsley root
• celery
• bell pepper
• potato
• tomatoes

The process of preparing the decoction:

1. Vegetables are peeled and washed under running water. You can cook them either raw or baked.
2. Adding vegetables to a pan of water depends on the duration of their boiling. Pour cold water over the vegetables and bring to a boil.
3. Remove the foam, reduce the power of the stove and cook for 30-40 minutes.
4. 10 minutes before readiness, add bay leaf, garlic, allspice or peas, dill, parsley, etc. to taste.
5. After cooking is completed, the broth is infused under the lid for 10-15 minutes.

Schemes for preparing some seasoning soups

This section schematically shows the stages of preparing soups with dressings using three examples. A separate section is devoted to this topic, which describes in detail the rules for cooking seasoning soups and the process of preparing dressings.

Technological map for preparing cabbage soup

We introduced you to the basic processes for preparing complex soups. If you have questions about this topic, ask them in the comments below this post.

Let cooking bring you only pleasure and joy! Prepare healthy food and delight your loved ones with delicious food!

Broth... It would seem that what could be simpler? Water, meat ingredient, some vegetables and bay leaf. Since childhood, we have become accustomed to liquid, not rich broths, on which even thinner soups are prepared. We remember the average Soviet kindergarten, public canteens or hospital food, who had a chance to taste it? Those soups have the image of being a means of processing leftovers, being far from being a gourmet first course.

I remember homemade soups and Sunday cabbage soup that my mother prepared using meat broths. For my father and I, the most long-awaited action was to pluck meat pieces from boiled bones in secret from my mother... Very tasty! Well, now that the picture has been drawn, do you remember the tastes? It's not that difficult - broth?

But no! Well-prepared broth is the basis of a good soup or sauce, since without it most dishes lack flavor, strength or subtlety. The broth can act as an independent dish, and also serve as a basis for cold aspic dishes. The modest ingredients that go into the pan to prepare the broth give a misleading idea of ​​its simplicity and importance in cooking in general.

I hope you want to make a real, strong and flavorful base broth for your soup or sauce. But first, let's talk in more detail about the types and varieties of broths, their purpose, methods of preparation, the size, quantity and quality of products, the utensils for cooking, the important nuances and difficulties that you may encounter when creating a flavorful brew and how you can fix it. own mistakes.

Broth is usually called a clean, transparent broth obtained from the meat and bones of slaughtered animals, poultry, game or fish, as well as broth from vegetables and root vegetables. In most cases, the key to a successful soup or sauce is a clear broth that expresses the flavor of its main ingredient as well as the ingredients from which the soup or sauce is made. Strong, highly flavorful base broths bring an element of complexity to soups that are made primarily with just starches and vegetables.What a quick-cooking item (like grilled chicken breasts) lacks in depth and intensity of flavor, it makes up for in broth-based gravy or sauce.It is important that the products and flavorings used for the broth take into account its purpose. Broths should highlight the characteristics of a particular dish, so the same seasonings in the same proportions cannot be equally suitable for all broths.

As you know, meat broths occupy the leading place among broths. Vegetable broths are also common in preparation, but occupy a distant third place in the ranking after meat broths and rarely used fish broths. In this article I will talk in detail specifically about meat broths, which will give a general theoretical idea of ​​broths in general and will add a few words about vegetable and fish broths,

Meat broths.

There are three types of basic meat broths: white, yellow and red.

White broth (FondsBlanc)- base for dressing soups, creamed soups and some white sauces. It should not have an intense aroma of roots, onions and spices, so as not to drown out the taste of the soup or sauce that is prepared on its basis. This broth is prepared with unroasted bones and a small amount of unroasted white root vegetables, or without adding roots at all. The color of this broth is transparent, light, without yellowness.

White broth

Yellow broth (Fonds)serves as the base for all seasoning soups with side dishes and jellied dishes. This broth can be served as a stand-alone soup with various pies. It is made from uncooked bones and meat with the addition of white and bright root vegetables, fried until golden brown. The broth is transparent and golden in color.

Yellow broth

Red (dark) broth (FondsBrun) used for sticky soups and fume (glaze), for preparing thick, rich sauces and gravies. Made from bones, meat and root vegetables, fried until light brown. The degree of darkening when roasting ingredients affects the finished broth in the same way that the degree of roasting of coffee beans affects the drink: the darker the roast, the stronger, but also a little more bitter. Be extremely careful when frying the ingredients for the broth so that it does not turn out bitter and have a burnt aftertaste. As a rule, red broth is not served as a separate dish. Despite the name, this broth does not have a red tint, it turns out to be a rich red-brownish color.

Red (dark) broth

Some characteristics are true for all meat broths: they should be transparent and low-fat. Because fat boiling in the broth will lead to the formation of an emulsion, which will be reflected in its cloudy texture and vague taste, which will subsequently affect the taste of the main dish. However, broths must accumulate enough gelatin to harden when cooled, so soups and sauces prepared with them create a more satisfying and enveloping feeling in the mouth.

We will talk about soups and sauces prepared with meat broths in the relevant sections of my blog, within the framework of culinary theory, but for now we will continue talking about broths.

We know the main ingredients for preparing meat broths: bones, meat, water, roots, herbs and spices. You can choose the bones and meat of any animal, poultry or game for your broth. Choose your starting ingredients based on your final goals. Traditionally, broths are cooked with beef or veal bones or with them added to pork, poultry or game broths. All products that we will use must be fresh, of good quality and used in the correct proportions. Parts of the meat carcass and bones, the size and quantity and ratio of other products from which the broth is cooked depend on its subsequent purpose. It is inconvenient to cook a small portion of broth; the proportions of the products will be too small, so it is better to cook it in larger quantities and freeze the excess for later use.

Ingredients for meat broth.

Bones. Meat. Types of meat.

Bones are the most important component in making broth. It is thanks to the gelatin contained in the bones that the broth acquires its familiar gelatinous quality. Bones, especially large ones intended for cooking broth, should be chopped or sawn lengthwise in order to extract maximum flavor and aroma from them during long cooking. With this preparation, the bones will boil well and give the broth a deep taste and a special strength. If your bone stock contains marrow bones, then the bone marrow should be removed from them, otherwise the broth will become very cloudy. The bones of adult animals, such as beef, do not contain as much gelatin as the bones of young calves, and they also require particularly long boiling. Therefore, give preference to veal bones as the base for making your broth. You should also know that pork and chicken bones cook much faster than beef or veal bones, and fish bones cook much faster than others. Bones prepared for broth should be placed at the bottom of the pan to ensure that they remain in the liquid at all times.

Meat for the broth, which will be used as a basis for seasoning soups or served as an independent dish, is taken of the 2nd grade (shoulder part of the carcass, brisket, flank, shank). This meat is used only for boiling and is not served in portions in soups. However, such meat contains all the substances necessary for the broth, as well as marrow bones, which give the broth a better taste and strength. Broth for sour or fatty dressing soups (cabbage soup, borscht), cooked with 2nd grade meat, from brisket with spongy bones, soaked in red marrow, will have a special pleasant sweetish taste, and the boiled meat can be used for portion serving with the main soup. If you want to cook broth intended for clear or seasoning soups, which are served with good portions of boiled meat, then use grade 1 meat, ham with bone, which contains marrow bone and a lot of tasty extractive substances.

When selecting meat for broths, special attention should be paid to veal shanks. As I said above, the bones of older animals do not contain as much gelatin as the bones of a young calf. Although veal shank is one of the non-essential products for preparing the broth, it is it that gives it a more delicate taste and stickiness. It is recommended to use veal shanks in the amount of ¼ of the total amount used for meat broth. You shouldn’t add more, otherwise the broth will turn out too cloudy and sticky.

Bones and meat for broth

The best broths are made from hot, steamed meat from a freshly killed animal. These broths are very tasty and rich, but also very cloudy and require stretching. In this case, boiled meat is so hard that it is almost impossible to chew it. However, nowadays in big cities, in supermarkets, you cannot find such meat; even the meat comes to markets already aged, “ripe”. Broths made from such meat do not have the same characteristics as broths made from hot-steamed meat; they are less cloudy, but they turn out to be quite thick, rich and aromatic, and the cooked meat is quite soft and edible.

If you use frozen meat for the broth, then you should not defrost it first, otherwise it will lose its meat juice during thawing, which contains valuable flavors and nutrients. Let it thaw already in the pan, during the heat treatment process. Broth made from frozen meat will be cloudy and not the richest, so do not use it for clear soups. Of course, this broth can be cleaned with a pull and made transparent, but still, it clearly loses in taste to broth made from fresh meat and fresh bones.

The ratio of bones, meat and water in the recipe, in my opinion, is a guideline. The general culinary rule for preparing broths is: the more bones, the better, the stronger your broth will be. Therefore, if you need the strongest and most gelatinous broth, feel free to fill the pan with bones to the top (only on the condition that all the bones are covered with liquid, with a small margin for evaporation); if you need a broth that is less strong and gelatinous, vary the ratio of bones, meat and water in accordance with your goals. Meat and bones prepared for broth need to be washed, but they should not be kept in water for a long time, otherwise these main ingredients will lose their taste.

Roots, herbs and spices for broth.

Another important flavor base in making broth is roots, herbs and spices. The proportion of roots is determined by the intensity of their aroma. For example, carrots, onions, leeks can be taken in equal parts, and celery and parsley can be reduced in proportion to other vegetables. Master the basic taste and aroma properties of various root vegetables, feel their impact on the final result. The basic ingredients for preparing broths are onions, carrots, and leeks; second place is given to celery and parsley stalks. You can use any root vegetables and vegetables (tomatoes, mushrooms and even nuts) in preparing broths if you know their aroma and taste well and are sure that the added active ingredient will not overshadow the flavor notes of the main dish prepared in the broth.

It is also worth remembering that brightly colored root vegetables will add color to the broth. So, if you are going to prepare white broth, you should not use carrots and tomatoes for it. If you are cooking a dark, red broth, then feel free to add intensively fried carrots, tomatoes and onions to the broth. But remember that carelessness in observing taste proportions will lead to a predominance in the broth of the taste of those root vegetables that are added more. Before immersing in the broth, prepared root vegetables must be thoroughly fried until golden brown in hot fat. Do not simmer, do not stew, but rather fry thoroughly, in order to reveal their color, taste and aromatic properties, which will subsequently go into the broth. Before you fry the root vegetables, remember what kind of broth you are making: yellow or red; If the degree of roasting is inappropriate, the broth will not receive the desired pleasant color. Prepared root vegetables should be immersed in a pan when the water has already boiled and the subsequent heating of the liquid is reduced to a minimum.

Vegetables for broth

The final chord among the ingredients for the broth are herbs and spices - garni bouquets, garlic, different types of peppers and spices. Just please be extremely attentive and careful - do not forget about the main purpose of your broth and think carefully about whether adding additional active ingredients will lead to an undesirable result or, on the contrary, will improve it.

Bouquets garni are a bunch of green parts of onions, parsley, celery, bay leaves, sprigs of herbs, which are tied with kitchen string so that it is easy to immerse them and remove them from the broth when they give it all their flavor. Bouquets garni are composed depending on the main ingredients of various broths. The simplest bouquet garni consists of a sprig of thyme, bay leaf and parsley stems - a combination that is always appropriate.

It is better to take dry spices and spices (pepper, cloves, coriander or cumin seeds) that you are going to use not ground, but in whole or, even better, crushed form. To reveal their aroma, spices and spices can be fried in a dry frying pan. But spices and spices are added to the pan not in loose form, but placed in a cloth bag or tea strainer to make it easier to remove spices from the broth in time; the main thing is that these are materials that will not add foreign impurities and odors to your brew.

Just add the arranged bouquet garni and a bag of spices to the pan where the broth is already simmering, and feel the wonderful aroma that will instantly surround you!

Bouquet garni and spices for broth

But you shouldn’t add salt to the broths! Broths are the basic building blocks for subsequent preparation of independent dishes. The broths are boiled down greatly, as a result of which their salinity increases significantly. When you subsequently season dishes prepared from already salted broths with salt or add other, already salted ingredients to them, your masterpiece will be irreparably spoiled. In addition, adding salt increases the boil and promotes the formation of abundant foam.

It remains to say a few words about vegetable And fish broths As you know, there are no vegetables that provide a slightly thickened, jelly-like broth. The maximum you can get is a flavorful but watery broth. Using this broth instead of regular water will significantly improve the taste of the dish. If your dish involves the presence of vegetable broth (for example, vegetable risotto, stew or light vegetable soup), cook it, following the general rules of preparation, which relate to the choice of ingredients for the broth, their quantity and quality, and the use of spices. To reveal the flavor of vegetables, fry them in butter. You should not use potatoes for vegetable broth - the high starch content in this product will make the broth opaque and give it a specific taste. Vegetable broths are cooked quickly until the vegetables are soft (it is important to ensure that they do not turn into porridge). Strain the finished broth thoroughly.

Fish broths are not as versatile as meat or chicken broths, and are only good with fish dishes, while chicken broth is suitable for fish dishes, poultry or vegetables. However, preparing fish broth requires special preparation of ingredients. The best fish broths are made from the bones of white fish, which contain little fat. The most preferred choice is flounder, turbot, hake, hake (codfish order), sea bass, and salmon. The bones of fish such as herring or mackerel are of little use because they have a specific bright taste and contain a lot of fat. Fish bones must be stewed in butter to enhance and bring out their flavor before adding water. You should feel the aroma of cooked fish, not raw fish. Bring the broth to a boil and carefully remove any foam that has formed. Add root vegetables and herbs to the fish broth; unfried white roots, leeks, fresh parsley stalks, and white peppercorns work well. The quality of the broth will improve significantly if part of the water is replaced with the same amount of dry white wine. Cook the broth, uncovered, over low heat. After boiling, cook for no longer than 20-30 minutes (depending on the volume of the original ingredients), otherwise prolonged cooking will remove the bitterness from the bones and make the broth taste unpleasant. Strain into a container and remove any excess fat and impurities that will settle to the bottom. High-quality fish broth is quite liquid and its taste is moderate.

Fish broth

General principles for preparing broths.

The cooking utensils must be thick-walled and voluminous, certainly enameled, otherwise the foam and fat that will settle on the edges of the non-enameled utensils will be absorbed into the walls and give your broth a rancid smell of lard.

In order for the broth to get a good strong taste, the prepared ingredients should be poured with cold water so that they heat up along with the water, releasing their flavoring and extractive substances into it. If you pour hot water over meat and bones, a protein crust will instantly form on their surface, which “seals” the meat and prevents the release of meat juices, as a result of which your broth will have a weak taste. It is necessary immediately, even before the start of cooking, to take into account the addition of water for boiling, but in such an amount that there is no excess, otherwise the broth will turn out watery. But adding water (neither cold nor hot) while cooking the broth is strictly not recommended!

The stove on which you are going to cook the broth requires special attention and control of the heat. At the beginning of cooking, before removing the foam, the pan is placed in the middle of the stove, on high heat, and after boiling and the initial foam is removed from the broth, the pan should be placed on the slowest heat or even moved to the edge of the stove and periodically rotate it around its axis, ensuring very slow but uniform heating of the brew. Remember that when cooking slowly, more flavor substances pass from the meat into the broth than when boiling strongly. The bubbling and boiling of the liquid will certainly make your broth cloudy, it will boil too much and will not be boiled down enough. It is also not recommended to cover the pan with a lid; this may cause more active boiling than you expect, as a result the broth will also turn out cloudy, and the lid prevents constant visual monitoring of cooking. Therefore, I do not recommend cooking broths in modern multicookers and pressure cookers. Broth requires attention, does not tolerate neglect in preparation, and certainly does not forgive saving your time and effort.

Since one of the most important characteristics of broth is its color and transparency, it is very important to monitor its cleanliness: frequently and promptly remove fat and foam from the surface of the brew, prevent boiling and regularly monitor the intensity of heating of the pan. By the way, careful removal of foam and fat should be done with a spoon, not a slotted spoon, otherwise all the foam and fat will not be sufficiently removed. If the foam is not removed in a timely manner, during further cooking it will turn into small flakes, which sometimes produce a cloudiness in the broth that is very difficult to correct, and excess fat will give an unpleasant taste to the finished dish.

The time required to cook the broth is determined by the ingredients you choose as the main ones: bones and parts of the carcass of an animal, bird or game. Remember that beef bones take the longest to boil, veal bones - a little less, pork bones - faster than veal bones, and poultry bones cook the fastest. So, for example, beef will require 8-10 hours for boiling, veal - 6-8 hours, pork - 4-6 hours, poultry - 3-5 hours (depending on the volume of initial ingredients, but in an amount no less than calculated for 3 liters of prepared broth). In restaurant kitchens, broth can be cooked continuously for up to 36 hours straight!

So, your long-awaited broth is cooked! Beautiful, transparent, aromatic, strong, rich - just a sight for sore eyes! The time spent preparing it was worth it, wasn't it? Now all that remains is to strain the broth, cool, use as intended or save for later use.

Carefully remove the bones, meat and root vegetables from the pan without stirring the broth. If cloudy flakes still rise from the bottom, leave the broth alone for a while - the flakes will settle to the bottom and you can start straining. Strain the broth through a fine sieve lined with several layers of gauze or a very thick cloth (the more layers, the better). You need to strain carefully, without stirring or shaking the broth, so that cloudy flakes and residual fat do not leak out. The very remains at the bottom of the pan can be poured out without regret. Then cool the broth to room temperature and put it in the refrigerator. The next day, take out the pan with your broth and very carefully, carefully remove all the fat that has frozen on the walls of the pan. This fat can be saved for later use and is great for frying meats or root vegetables. Pay attention to how strongly your broth has gelled, and whether the degree of gelatinization corresponds to your initial idea of ​​​​the purpose of the broth. Now the broth is ready for further use as a base for your dishes.

If you followed the cooking technology, did everything correctly, did not make mistakes or inattention, then the result should be excellent: the broth is rich, aromatic, strong, beautifully colored and, most importantly, transparent as amber!

If, however, you made a mistake, were distracted or overlooked the boiling point, did not carefully remove the foam and your broth turned out cloudy, then there is an opportunity to correct this situation.

There are different ways to clean the broth: using lemon juice, carrots, onions, egg whites, minced meat with cold water, and each cook has his own proven method. I prefer to clear broths with an absorbent made from beaten egg whites with the addition of lemon juice and crushed shells. In my experience, this is the best way to correct a cloudy broth situation.

For 3 liters of broth you need to take the whites and shells of 2 large eggs. Beat the whites into a fluffy foam, add a few drops of lemon juice to them, and finely crush the eggshells. Bring the strained but still cloudy broth in a saucepan on the stove to 60-65 0 C, place eggshells in it, pour in the beaten whites, bring the broth to a boil and boil the mixture of broth, shells and protein foam for about 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let the mixture sit undisturbed for 10-15 minutes. During this time, a dense egg foam forms on the surface of the broth, which absorbs all the smallest cloudy particles from the broth, and a heavy cloudy sediment remains at the bottom. Carefully and thoroughly remove the egg foam from the surface of the broth and filter through a finea sieve lined with gauze or cloth. You need to try very hard not to disturb the sediment that remains at the bottom. If necessary, the broth cleaning procedure can be repeated 2-3 times.

In his article I clearly demonstrated the process of purifying the broth using the described method.

You can store the broth in the refrigerator, but no longer than 2 days before use. The finished broth can be frozen and stored in the freezer for 3 to 6 months.

That's probably all you need to know about broths within the framework of culinary theory. The article turned out to be voluminous and quite informative. I hope you found it useful and now you can put the knowledge you have gained into practice.

I wish you great results!

I will also be glad to receive feedback on your cooking experience based on the materials in my article.