Varieties of the Chaud-froid Sauce

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4 to 5-quart wide heavy saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve lined with damp muslin
• •Two small saucers for consistency tests
• •Flexible heatproof spatula
• •Wire rack set over a rimmed tray

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the coating test

   Choose one variation and set two small saucers in the cold. Have the poultry, game, or fish fully cooked, thoroughly chilled, and blotted dry before the sauce approaches it. Surface moisture dilutes chaud-froid and makes the coating slide. Strain the chosen fumet, a concentrated essence from the animal itself, until perfectly clear; clouded stock gives a clouded finish.

   Choose only one variation for a batch. The quantities preserve the formula for about two quarts of finished sauce rather than asking a home cook to produce three brigade-sized pans.
2. 2

   Build the duck sauce

   For duck, place the Brown Chaud-froid Sauce (No. 34) in a wide saucepan and melt it over low heat, stirring from the bottom. Add the duck fumet in several small additions, letting each disappear before adding the next. Bring the sauce only to a bare simmer and hold it there for 5 to 8 minutes, until it regains nappage, the coating consistency that leaves an opaque film on the back of a spoon. Never boil it hard; prolonged fierce heat weakens the jelly and flattens the fumet.

3. 3

   Finish with orange

   While the duck sauce loosens, drop the orange rind, cut in julienne (fine matchsticks), into the simmering water and scald it for 5 minutes. Drain and blot it well. Take the sauce completely off the fire, then stir in the strained orange juice and scalded rind. The off-heat finish keeps the orange fresh and prevents its rind from turning harsh. Taste only after the juice is incorporated, then correct the salt and white pepper.

4. 4

   Build the game sauce

   For feathered game, gently melt the Brown Chaud-froid Sauce (No. 34) in a wide saucepan. Stir in the matching game fumet a little at a time, then hold the sauce at the barest simmer until it coats the spoon again. Pheasant fumet belongs with pheasant, partridge with partridge, and so on; this matching taste is not ceremony, it is the reason the variation exists. Remove the pan from the heat and correct the seasoning.

5. 5

   Make the fish variation

   For fish, use the method of Brown Chaud-froid Sauce (No. 34) as written, making only the source's three substitutions. Replace the half-glaze with the fish Espagnole, the fish-based brown foundation; intensify it with the very clear fish essence; and use Lenten jelly instead of meat jelly. Keep the truffle essence in its proper sequence, reduce the mixture by a good third, and finish away from the fire with the Madeira or Port. Pass it through a fine-mesh sieve lined with damp muslin without pressing. Pressing forces sediment through and costs the sauce its clarity.

6. 6

   Cool with attention

   Transfer the chosen sauce to a clean bowl and stir it occasionally with a flexible spatula as it cools, scraping the sides back into the center before they set. Use a cool-water bath if time is short, but do not whisk; bubbles become pale holes in the finished coating. The sauce is approaching the right point when it falls from the spatula in a broad ribbon and the surface closes slowly behind it.

7. 7

   Test and rescue

   Drop a spoonful onto a chilled saucer and wait 1 minute. It should set into a smooth, opaque film that does not run when the saucer is tilted. If it slides, the sauce is too warm, so cool it and test again. If it lands in ridges or drags from the spoon, warm the bowl briefly over barely warm water. If it remains thin even when cold, melt it gently and reduce it for a few minutes before retesting. Ça se rattrape. Never guess from the hot pan, because jelly reveals its true consistency only as it cools.

   A thermometer can guide you, but the chilled saucer decides. Different jellies set at different temperatures, while the test shows exactly what the sauce will do on the food.
8. 8

   Coat the food

   Set the cold, dry pieces on a wire rack over a rimmed tray. Immerse small pieces where practical, or pour the chaud-froid over larger pieces in one continuous pass, letting the excess fall away. Do not brush back and forth. If the first film leaves a bare spot, let it set before applying a second thin coat; working wet sauce over half-set sauce tears the surface. Transfer the coated pieces to their serving platter and chill until the film is firm.

9. 9

   Melt for later use

   For advance use, press parchment or reusable wrap directly against the sauce and chill it. Reheat it over barely simmering water, stirring gently, only until it becomes fluid enough to coat. It must not become hot again. Test on a chilled saucer, adjust by cooling or warming, and coat the food close enough to serving that the film remains fresh and glossy. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Make Brown Chaud-froid Sauce (No. 34) before beginning the duck or game variation and treat it as the finished foundation the book intends. Rebuilding half-glaze, jelly, and truffle essence inside this recipe would erase the useful division between the formulas.
• •Duck fumet must come from the carcass and remains of roast duckling. Roast flavor gives the sauce its backbone, but skim every trace of surface fat; loose fat forms dull spots in a cold coating.
• •For feathered game, match the fumet to the bird on the platter. A generic poultry stock may produce a competent sauce, but it removes the characteristic taste this variation was written to preserve.
• •Lenten jelly is the meatless aspic of the fish variation. Use a clear fish-stock jelly set with fish gelatin if available; ordinary meat jelly brings the wrong flavor, while a cloudy jelly hides the fish sauce's finish.
• •Cold dulls seasoning. Taste the sauce once warm for balance, then taste a fully set spoonful before coating the food; that second taste is the one your guests will meet.

Advance Preparation

• •The foundations and fumets can be prepared two days ahead, strained, chilled quickly, and kept covered in the cold.
• •Finished duck or game chaud-froid keeps for up to three days in the cold. The fish variation is best used within two days. Melt any variation gently over warm water and repeat the chilled-saucer test before coating.
• •The food can be coated up to 6 hours before serving. Keep the platter covered without letting the covering touch the sauce, and return it to the cold until the buffet is ready.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 60g)