Escoffier At Home

Category: Basics

Sirop Simple, Simple Syrup

Recipe for making simple sugar syrup sirop simple, at home.

Simple syrup, or sugar syrup, is a basic sweetener in beverages. For regular simple sugar syrup, combine equal parts sugar and water. For a ‘rich’ simple syrup, combine two parts sugar to one part water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes until the solids have dissolved. Let cool to room temperature and transfer to a squeeze bottle or other sealed container. Keeps, refrigerated, for at least a week.

For more flavorful cocktail syrups, try using Demerara,/em> Turbinado, or Muscovado sugar.

This syrup is used in recipes for Punch Latier (Escoffier, 908), and Bavaroise (Escoffier, 4995).

Ingredients
227g (1 cup) granulated white sugar
227g (1 cup) water

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Measuring cup
Medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Small funnel
Sealed container or squeeze bottle

Total time: Prep: 1 minute, Cook: 3 minutes

Yields: 16 oz simple syrup.

7 September 2019
0016. Sauce Espagnole, Spanish Sauce

Escoffier recipe for making sauce espagnole, Spanish sauce, at home (Escoffier, 16).

Sauce Espagnole, or Spanish Sauce, is a rich brown sauce — one of Auguste Escoffier’s mother sauces — and the basis for many others. Why is it called Spanish sauce? One of those things that’s lost to history for sure, but there are several theories.

“Spanish cooks of Louis XIII’s bride, Anne, helped to prepare their wedding feast, and insisted upon improving the rich brown sauce of France with Spanish tomatoes. This new sauce was an instant success, and was gratefully named in honor of its creators.” — Louis Diat.

“When the Bourbons made their way to the Spanish throne under Louis XV, and when Spanish fashions came back to Paris, the French cooks took a hint from the Spanish pot-au-feu — the olla podrida — and produced a variation of their brown sauce which they called Spanish.” — Auguste Kettner, 1877

“Espagnole sauce was imported as a celebratory salute to honor Louis XIV’s son, Philip V, in 1700 when he was placed on the Spanish throne.” — Glenn Gary Gamboa, 2011

You’ll find that most modern recipes (even Lagasse’s) for sauce espagnole start out with a brown stock, then add a mirepoix of carrots, onions, celery — rather than carrots, onions and mushrooms — and omit the meat. What the…

To heck with that! We’re doin’ it up right.

Caveat: this is shortened to six hours from Escoffier’s two-day recipe.

Classic Sauce Espagnole

brown stock + brown roux + mirepoix + bouquet garni + salt pork + butter + wine + tomato

Modern Sauce Espagnole

brown stock + brown roux

Classic Sauce Espagnole Maigre

fish stock + brown roux + mirepoix + bouquet garni + mushrooms + butter + wine + tomato

Sauce Espagnole

In a large stockpot, sauté the meat until browned. Add carrots, onion and mushrooms, and sauté in the butter until translucent. Then add the tomato paste and let all brown. Deglaze the pot with the white wine and reduce until almost dry.

Add the estouffade (brown stock), thyme and bay leaf. Gently simmer, skimming off any foam from the surface, for about 5 hours.

Strain and add the roux brun (brown roux) to the reduced stock.

Simmer gently for another hour, stirring so it does not stick. Brown roux can sometimes have a pronounced flavor. Try the sauce, and if it has a floury flavor, simmer some more.

Remove from heat, strain, and stir occasionally until the sauce has cooled to room temp. Use immediately, or place in plastic containers and reserve in the freezer.

Ingredients
225g (1/2 lb) diced salt pork, pork belly, smoked hamhock or bacon
65g (1/2 cup) diced carrots
40g (1/4 cup) diced onions
65g (3/4 cup) diced button or brown mushrooms
35g (7 1/2 teaspoons) unsalted butter
100g (1/2 cup) white wine
33g (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
1000g (4 cups) estouffade (brown stock)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
125g (about 1 cup) roux brun (brown roux)

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Measuring bowls
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Large stock pots
Wooden spoon
Chinois, strainer or sieve
Spoon or small strainer for skimming
Small bowl
Plastic containers

Total time: Prep: 15 minutes, Cook: 6-8 hours

Yields: 2-4 quarts of stock, depending on how long you simmer it.

From the Book:

16. Sauce Espagnole

Ingredients:
625g (1 lb 6oz) brown roux – using 285g clarified butter and 340g sifted flour
12 litres (2 5/8 gal or 3 1/4 U.S. gal) estouffade, brown stock
150g (5oz) roughly diced salt belly of pork
250g (9oz) roughly diced carrots
150g (5oz) roughly diced onions
2 sprigs thyme
2 small bay leaves
500g (l lb 2oz) tomato purée or 2000g (4.5 lb) fresh tomatoes
2 dl (7 fl oz or 7/8 U.S. cup) white wine

Preparation:
Place 8 litres (1 3/4 gal or 2 1/4 U.S. gal) of the stock in a heavy pan and bring to the boil; add the Roux, previously softened in the oven. Mix well with a wooden spoon or whisk and bring to the boil mixing continuously. Draw the pan to the side of the stove and allow to simmer slowly and evenly.

Meanwhile, place the salt pork in a pan and fry to extract the fat, add the vegetables and flavourings and fry until light brown in colour. Carefully drain off the fat and put the ingredients into the sauce; deglaze the pan with the wine, reduce it by half and also add to the sauce. Allow to simmer gently for 1 hour skimming frequently.

Pass the sauce through a conical strainer into another pan, pressing lightly. Add another 2 litres (3/4 pt or 9 U.S. cups) stock, bring to the boil and allow to simmer gently for a further 2 hours. Pass the sauce through a fine strainer and stir occasionally until completely cold.

The next day, add the remainder of the stock and the tomato purée; bring the sauce to the boil stirring continuously with a wooden spatula or whisk, then allow to simmer gently and evenly for 1 hour skimming carefully.

Pass through a fine strainer or tammy cloth and stir occasionally until the sauce is completely cold.

Notes
1) The time required for the preparation and refining of this sauce cannot be indicated exactly as it depends to a large extent on the quality of the stock used in its making. The refining of this sauce will be quicker if the stock is of very good quality in which case an excellent Espagnole can be prepared in five hours.
2) Before adding tomato purée to this sauce it is advisable to spread the required quantity on a tray and to cook it in the oven until it turns a light brown colour. This will destroy most of the excess acidity found in tomato purées, and when prepared in this way, the purée assists in clarifying the sauce and at the same time gives it a smoother taste and a more agreeable colour.

A. Escoffier. Le guide culinaire, 1921

17 December 2015
0202. Sauce Mayonnaise

Easy, 30-second recipe for making your own mayo, sauce mayonnaise, at home (Escoffier 202).

Escoffier’s traditional recipe for Sauce Mayonnaise takes a little time and elbow grease to complete. He tells us to whisk, whisk, whisk. That’s fine and dandy… but with an immersion blender you can do it in 30 seconds.

I use a Cuisinart SmartStick brand immersion blender to emulsify the mayo.

You can use a light oil like canola, or a heavy oil like olive. You can use vinegar or lemon juice, or a combination of both. Just as long as you have enough acid for the emulsion to work. Some people add pepper, dijon mustard or sugar to taste (personally, I don’t like sweet mayos like Miracle Whip). But it doesn’t matter. Whatever suits your own taste. It’s up to you!

Mise en place for mayonnaise:

Sauce Mayonnaise, Mayo

Add the egg yolks, lemon juice or distilled white vinegar, and salt into a tall, narrow container. Pour in the oil and allow to settle.

Position the immersion blender head in the oil at the bottom of the container. Pulse gently several times to get the emulsion going, then longer until all the oil is blended. It will be very thick.

If you let ’er rip too fast at the beginning, the emulsion will break, and you’ll get nothing usable.

Here’s a video of how easy it is:

Store in a sealed container or squeeze bottle in the fridge, just as you would for store-bought mayo.

Ingredients
2 egg yolks
200g (1 cup) canola or olive oil
16g (1 tablespoon) distilled white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
2g (1/8 teaspoon) salt

Equipment
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Salter digital scale
Measuring cup
Cuisinart SmartStick immersion blender
Rubber spatula
Plastic container

From the Book:

202 Sauce Mayonnaise
Many composed cold sauces are derived from Mayonnaise and it is therefore classified as a basic sauce in the same way as Espagnole and Velouté.
Its preparation is very simple provide note is taken of the principles outlined in the following recipe:

Ingredients:
6 egg yolks (these must be unblemished)
1 litre oil
10g fine salt
pinch ground white pepper
1 1/2 tbs vinegar (or its equivalent in lemon juice if the sauce is required to be very white)

Method:
1) Whisk the yolks of egg in a basin with the salt, pepper and a little of the vinegar or a few drops of lemon juice.
2) Add and whisk in the oil, drop by drop to begin with, then faster in a thread as the sauce begins to thicken.
3) Adjust the consistency occasionally by adding the vinegar or lemon juice.
4) Lastly add boiling water which is added to ensure that the emulsification holds if the sauce is to be reserved for later use.

25 November 2012
0282. Flour Panada

Recipe for making Flour Panada for all meat and fish forcemeats, les farces (Escoffier, 282).

Flour Panada

Used as a general base to thicken all meat and fish forcemeats, les farces in French cooking, this simple mixture of bread and milk is called a panada, (not to be confused with the Italian bread soup of the same name). There are five types of panada described by Escoffier, each suitable for thickening different types of forcemeats: bread panada, flour panada, Frangipane panada, rice panada and potato panada. They are generally used in a 1:2 ratio with the ingredient they are thickening, sometimes with eggs and butter added.

In a small saucepan, bring the water, salt and butter to a simmer over medium heat.

Turn down the heat, whisk in the flour, return to medium heat and stir.

Turn out onto a prepared flat surface (buttered cookie sheet, Silpat mat, or cutting board) to cool.

Store the panada in a covered plastic container in the refrigerator.

Ingredients
305g water
50g Challenge unsalted butter
salt, to taste if you like
150g Gold Medal all-purpose flour, sifted

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Measuring bowls
Kitchen knife and cutting board
Small saucepan
Wire whisk
Rubber spatula
Cookie sheet or Silpat mat
Plastic container

From the Book

282 Flour Panada
Suitable for all fish and meat forcemeats.

Ingredients:
3dl (1 1/4c) water
pinch of salt
50g (3oz) butter
150g (5oz) sifted flour

Method:
Place the water, salt and butter in a pan and bring to the boil; add and mix in the flour away from the fire, then return to a good heat and mix with a wooden spoon as for Chou Paste. Turn out onto a buttered tray or dish to allow to cool.

A. Escoffier. Le guide culinaire: the complete guide to modern cookery, H.L. Cracknell & R.J.Kaufmann, transl.

24 November 2012
0281. Bread Panada

Escoffier recipe for making Bread Panada for les farces de poisson, fish forcemeats (Escoffier, 281).

Used as a base to thicken firm-textured fish forcemeats, farces de poisson in French cooking, this simple mixture of bread and milk is called a panada, (not to be confused with the Italian bread soup of the same name). There are five types of panada described by Escoffier, each suitable for thickening different types of forcemeats: bread panada, flour panada, Frangipane panada, rice panada and potato panada. They are generally used in a 1:2 ratio with the ingredient they are thickening, sometimes with eggs and butter added.

Bread Panada

In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Remove their crusts and then cube the bread slices.

Soak the cubed bread in boiled milk until very soft.

Process the soaked bread in a food processor to form a smooth paste.

Store the bread panada in a covered plastic container in the refrigerator.

Ingredients
270g stale white bread, cubed
305g Strauss Family Creamery whole milk

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Measuring bowls
Kitchen knife and cutting board
Small saucepan
Wire whisk
Food processor
Rubber spatula
Mixing bowl
Plastic container

From the Book

281 Bread Panada
Specially suitable for forcemeats of firm textured fish.

Ingredients:
3dl (1 1/4c) boiling milk
250g (9oz) stale white breadcrumbs
5g (1/6oz) salt

Method:
Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until the milk is completely absorbed, add the salt, then mix with a wooden spoon over a good heat so as to dry it out and leave the sides of the pan clean. Turn out onto a buttered tray or dish to allow to cool.

A. Escoffier. Le guide culinaire: the complete guide to modern cookery, H.L. Cracknell & R.J.Kaufmann, transl.

20 November 2012
0013. Roux Brun, Brown Roux

Escoffier recipe for making roux brun, brown roux, at home (Escoffier, 13).

What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux brun (“roo BROWN”), is made the same way as roux blanc and roux blond. The only difference is it’s cooked longer, until the flour turns a strong brown color. Its taste is described as very toasty or nutty.

Mise en place for brown roux:

Roux Brun, Brown Roux

Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 30-35 minutes — or until the flour turns a strong brown color.

This dark roux may used to thicken up many types of gravies and heavy, darker sauces. When you cook the roux for this length of time, the clarified butter separates from the flour. Escoffier even suggests the butter may be saved for another use. I just stir it up to re-incorporate the oil a bit before using.

When mixing a roux into sauce, be careful to either a: mix cold roux into a hot sauce, or b: mix hot roux into a cold sauce. This activates the starch so it will thicken your sauce.

White roux and blond roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for shorter lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

Ingredients
225g clarified butter, unsalted
275g sifted, all-purpose flour

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Plastic container

20 November 2012
0014. Roux Blond, Blond Roux

Escoffier recipe for making roux blond, blond roux, at home (Escoffier, 14).

What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blond (“roo BLON”), is made the same way as roux blanc. The only difference is it’s cooked few minutes more, until the flour starts turning a golden blonde color. Keep cooking it and you get roux brun.

Mise en place for blond roux:

Blond Roux

Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 15-20 minutes — or until the flour smells nutty and begins to turn a golden color. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

This roux is used to thicken up lighter-colored sauces, like fish velouté.

White roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for different lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

Ingredients
225g clarified unsalted butter
275g sifted, all-purpose flour

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Plastic container

20 November 2012
0015. Roux Blanc, White Roux

Escoffier recipe for making roux blanc, white roux, at home (Escoffier, 15).

What is roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blanc (“roo BLONK”), is cooked much shorter than roux blond and roux brun. This can be made in just a few minutes.

Mise en place for white roux:

Roux Blanc, White Roux

Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for 5-10 minutes — or until the flour smells a little nutty and takes on a sheen. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

Remember, you want to cook it just long enough to cook out the real floury taste.

This roux may used to thicken up white sauces.

Blond roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked longer until the flour browns more. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

Ingredients
225g clarified unsalted butter
275g sifted, all-purpose flour

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Plastic container

20 November 2012
0175. Beurre Clarifié, Clarified Butter [1907]

Escoffier recipe for making beurre clarifié, clarified butter, at home (Escoffier, 175 [1907 ed]).

What is clarified butter? It’s one of the easiest things to make in your kitchen, and so useful in a wide variety of recipes. You’ve no-doubt already had it in some American seafood restaurant as ‘drawn butter’ with trout, steamed lobster tail or crab claws.

It’s easy as 1-2-3!

1. Melt some butter.
2. Skim the foam from the surface.
3. Save the clear yellow liquid.

This is called ‘clarifying’ the butter. What’s left is the actual butterfat, also known as ‘butter oil.’

If you heat it until it’s a little nutty smelling, you have Indian ghee. If you heat it some more, you have brown butter, or French beurre noisette. And if you whisk butter into a little boiling water, you have beurre monté.

Beurre Clarifié, Clarified Butter

Cut some butter up in cubes. I like Challenge Dairy brand, but use your own favorite unsalted butter. Don’t use salted or sweet butter. And margarine is right out — that’s a no-no.

Melt the butter over slow heat in a saucepan. Be careful not to heat it too quickly. You don’t want to burn the butter.

Cooking until a salty foam separates to its surface. This is salt and casein, which has separated from the pure yellow butterfat.

Remove from the heat and skim off the top layer.There will be a clearer liquid layer at the bottom – water and whey.

You can strain the butter through a sieve or damp cheesecloth if you really feel like it, but it’s not necessary. When saving, leave the last watery layer in the pan.

Clarified butter may be saved just as regular butter in the fridge. If you’re planning on using it in a recipe, keep it warm while preparing your other components, as it will start to solidify at room temp. I keep mine on the stovetop, nearby a burner (not on direct heat).

Ingredients
16oz unsalted butter

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Strainer and/or cheesecloth
Plastic container or pan

Total time: Prep: 1 minute, Cook: 5 minutes

Yields: 14 oz clarified butter.

From the Book

175—Clarified Butter

A certain quantity of clarified butter should always be kept ready and handy.

To prepare this butter, put one lb. to melt in a saucepan large enough to hold twice that amount. Place the saucepan on the side of the fire, over moderate heat; remove all the scum which rises to the surface, and, when the butter looks quite clear and all foreign substances have dropped to the bottom, put the liquid carefully away and strain it through muslin.

— A. Escoffier, A guide to modern cookery, 1907.

20 November 2012
0001. Estouffade, Brown Stock

Recipe for making estouffade, a simple brown stock, at home (Escoffier, 1).

This brown beef stock is the basis for pretty much all other dark sauces in French cooking. It is used as the base stock in sauce espagnole, one of Escoffier’s five mother sauces…

Estouffade

Ingredients
6000g shin of beef on the bone
6000g knuckle of veal (or lean veal trimmings)
1 knuckle of raw ham, blanched
650g fresh pork rind, blanched
650g carrots, roughly chopped
650g onion, roughly chopped
100g fresh parsley
10g fresh thyme sprigs
5g whole, fresh bay leaves
1 clove garlic
14 litres water

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Measuring bowls
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Large stock pots
Wooden spoon
Chinois, strainer or sieve
Spoon or small strainer for skimming
Small bowl
Plastic containers

Total time: Prep: 15 minutes, Cook: 12-15 hours

Yields: 2-4 quarts of stock, depending on how long you simmer it.

From the Book:
1 Estouffade — Brown Stock

Preparation:
Bone out the meats. Break the bones small and lightly brown them in the oven. Fry the carrot and onion brown in a little fat. Prepare the stock by placing these bones, vegetables, ham, pork rind and Bouquet garni into a stockpot, add the cold water, bring to the boil, skim and simmer very gently for at least 12 hours keeping the liquid at the same level throughout this time by adding boiling water as required. Cut the meat into very large dice, fry brown in hot fat and place in a pan. Cover with some of the prepared stock and boil until it is reduced to a glaze; repeat this process two or three times. Add the remainder of the stock, bring to the boil, skim to remove all fat and allow to simmer gently until all the flavour has been extracted from the meat. Pass through a strainer and reserve for use.

Note: When preparing brown stock which includes bones, especially those from beef, it is recommended that the procedure should be in accordance with the above recipe by first preparing a stock from the bones, simmering it gently for 12-15 hours and using it as the liquid for moistening the meat.

It is incorrect to place all the ingredients in the stockpot and fry them together in fat before adding the water as there will be a danger of over-colouring the ingredients thus spoiling the flavour of the stock. In practice the principle of diffusion is sufficient in itself to colour the stock; this is the most natural and suitable method of obtaining the required colour.

A. Escoffier. Le guide culinaire: the complete guide to modern cookery, 1921.

18 July 2012