Consommé à l’Essence de Truffle

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6 to 8-quart (5.7 to 7.6 L) tall, heavy pot
• •Mortar and pestle or a small food processor
• •Flat wooden spoon
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Clean muslin or tightly woven cotton cloth
• •Ladle
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the foundation

   The stock must be refrigerator-cold and free of every cap or bead of hardened fat. Scrub the fresh truffles briefly under cold water with a firm brush, dry them at once, and pare only crevices that still hold soil. Finely chop or grate the truffles, then pound them in a mortar with ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) of the measured stock until you have a damp, coarse paste. A brigade used peelings gathered from other work; using the whole fresh truffle is the home equivalent, and none of its perfume is wasted.

   Don't soak fresh truffles. They absorb water, lose aroma, and become difficult to pound.
2. 2

   Build the clarification

   Put the ground beef, egg whites, onion, carrot, celery, and truffle paste into a tall, heavy pot holding at least 6 quarts (5.7 L). Mix thoroughly with clean hands until the whites coat the meat and vegetables. Pour in the remaining cold stock a little at a time, stirring to disperse the clarification evenly. Everything must still feel cold when the pot meets the stove.

3. 3

   Raise the raft

   Set the pot over medium-low heat. Stir slowly but constantly along the bottom with a flat wooden spoon, preventing the egg and meat from catching as the liquid warms. After 20 to 30 minutes, the clarification will gather and rise into a pale brown raft. When the first lazy bubbles appear around its edge, stop stirring completely. Open a 2-inch (5 cm) chimney in the center with the spoon so the broth can circulate without breaking the surface.

4. 4

   Clarify at a tremble

   Lower the heat and hold the broth between 180 and 185°F (82 and 85°C), with only an occasional bubble passing through the chimney. Ladle a little clear broth through the opening and over the raft every 10 minutes, never flooding it. Continue for 45 minutes. A hard boil tears the raft into the consommé and drives off the truffle's finest aroma. If the raft begins to crack, lower the heat at once and gently nudge the edges together; don't stir beneath it.

   The raft may look alarming, like an untidy brown island. It is exactly right. Clarity is forming underneath.
5. 5

   Strain without disturbing

   Dampen a clean piece of muslin or a tightly woven cotton cloth and use it to line a fine-mesh sieve over a clean saucepan. Ladle the consommé through the chimney and into the cloth, working slowly. Never tip the clarification pot, because the sediment at the bottom will follow. Stop when the liquid becomes cloudy, even if a little broth remains. Lift any final flecks of fat from the surface with the corner of clean paper.

   If the strained consommé has only a faint veil, pass it once more through fresh damp cloth. If a boil broke the raft and the broth is truly cloudy, ça se rattrape: chill it completely, mix the optional 2 egg whites with 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) of the cold broth, whisk that into the rest, and repeat the slow rise and a 20-minute clarification. You may lose a little perfume, but you will recover the clarity.
6. 6

   Season and serve

   Warm the strained consommé gently to about 175°F (80°C), never letting it boil. Add the salt gradually, tasting after each pinch; the truffle should arrive before the salt does. Ladle 1 cup (240 ml) into each warmed first-course bowl, or ¾ cup (180 ml) into handled consommé cups for a longer dinner. Add no garnish. The clear broth and its concealed perfume are the whole point. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Fresh truffle is not negotiable here. Bottled truffle oil, paste, preserved peelings, and flavored salt sit on the surface instead of becoming part of the consommé. If fresh truffle isn't in season, make a fine plain consommé and save this dish for its proper moment.
• •The source proportion is exact: two ounces of fresh truffle for each finished quart of consommé. If a trusted seller offers fresh same-day trimmings, use them; otherwise buy four ounces of whole fresh black truffle and pound all of it.
• •Use stock that sets softly when chilled. Gelatin gives the clarification something to seize and leaves the finished consommé with body, while a thin boxed broth may become clear but will remain disappointingly hollow.
• •Serve this before strongly flavored food, not after it. A dry Champagne or a restrained white Burgundy suits its quiet richness, and warm cups keep the perfume open at the table.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the brown beef stock up to three days ahead, then chill it completely so the fat can be lifted away in one firm layer. Keep it covered and cold until clarification.
• •The consommé may be clarified on the morning of dinner, chilled quickly, and held for up to 24 hours. Reheat it gently without boiling; fresh truffle perfume is most vivid on the day of clarification.
• •Do not freeze the finished consommé unless keeping it matters more than its aroma. The broth survives, but the most delicate truffle notes do not.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)