Chef Juliette
Ordinary or White Consommé
Beef shin, lean beef, and fowl begin in cold water and rise slowly toward a tremble. Skim before the boil, and you learn the quiet discipline that gives every clear French broth its backbone.
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Brown Game Stock
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 8, Brown Game Stock, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
One liquor, two destinies: leave Game Consommé (No. 5) unclarified and it becomes a dark working stock for sauces and reductions; clarify it, and the same foundation becomes clear soup.
Sauces & Condiments
French
Make Ahead
Batch Cooking
Freezer Friendly
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•1 hr 15 min total
YieldAbout 2 quarts
Fonds brun de gibier (brown game stock) teaches one of the cleanest distinctions in the classical kitchen: the liquid does not change, only its destination does. Game Consommé (No. 5), clarified, becomes clear soup. Leave it in its original, unclarified state and it is fonds brun de gibier, ready to carry a thick game soup, sauce, reduction, or glaze. Know this before touching a pan: do not clarify what you intend to reduce.
The brigade version assumed a saucier on staff and stock never off the fire; a salamander belonged to other finishing work and has no role in this pot. At home, make the referenced consommé as a two-quart batch, stop after its first clean straining, then cool and freeze it in useful portions. The half-roasting of the game and patient simmer are the dish and must stay. The clarifying raft is service scaffolding for clear soup, so it goes when the destination is sauce or reduction. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, the stock is mahogany, deeply aromatic with roasted game and mushrooms, and lightly gelatinous in the cold. The one step that matters most is knowing when to stop: strain it cleanly, then do not clarify it.
Fonds brun de gibier has no single regional claim; its precise home is the classical French grand kitchen, where the potager drew soups and the saucier drew reductions from the same pot of roasted-game liquor. Its name marks use rather than a separate preparation: clarified, Game Consommé (No. 5) serves as clear soup; left unclarified, it supplies thick soups, sauces, reductions, and glazes. What passed from the game larder into formal service was not a new recipe, but a disciplined choice about when to stop.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Game Consommé
Quantity
2 quarts (1.9 L / about 1.9 kg) Game Consommé (No. 5)
freshly strained and left unclarified
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Game Consomméfreshly strained and left unclarified | 2 quarts (1.9 L / about 1.9 kg) Game Consommé (No. 5) |
Equipment Needed
- •8-inch (20 cm) fine-mesh sieve
- •3-quart (3 L) heatproof bowl
- •Larger bowl for an ice bath
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Freezer-safe containers in assorted sizes
Instructions
- 1
Choose Its Destination
Set the freshly strained Game Consommé (No. 5) in a clean heatproof bowl before any clarification begins. Decide now: for clear soup, stop this recipe and continue the clarification in the referenced entry; for thick game soup, sauce, reduction, or glaze, leave it unclarified. The stock is not unfinished. This stopping point is its definition.
- 2
Check the Straining
Inspect the liquid and the bottom of the bowl. If a little coarse sediment came through, pass the stock once through a damp fine-mesh sieve; if it is already clean, leave it alone. Do not press sediment through or chase consommé brilliance with an egg-white clarification. If the stock clouds during handling, do not pour it out. Ça se rattrape: let it stand for ten minutes, then ladle it gently away from the sediment. A slight haze disappears into sauce or thick soup.
Unclarified does not mean full of debris. The stock may retain the fine body that gives a sauce substance, but it should contain no fragments of meat, vegetables, herbs, or peppercorns. - 3
Cool It Quickly
Set the bowl into a larger bowl of ice water and stir the stock frequently, taking care that no water enters it. For safe cooling, bring it below 70°F (21°C) within two hours and below 40°F (5°C) within the next four; an ice bath should do this much sooner. Divide it between shallow containers if necessary. A deep hot stockpot cools too slowly, even in the refrigerator.
- 4
Lift Away Fat
Chill the stock until any surface fat firms, then lift the fat away without disturbing the stock beneath. Keep the jelly and remove the grease. If the cold stock sets softly, splendid; if it remains liquid, it is still useful. Different game supplies different amounts of gelatin, and the final sauce can gain body through reduction.
- 5
Reduce With Attention
Use the fonds brun de gibier at its natural strength for thick soup and as the liquid foundation of a game sauce. When a concentrated stock or glaze is required, reduce only the measured portion at a steady uncovered simmer, skimming the surface as needed. Game Consommé (No. 5) is already seasoned, so add no salt until the final dish is nearly finished. If a reduction becomes too salty or severe, ça se rattrape: take it off the heat and restore it with hot water, a spoonful at a time.
- 6
Portion and Store
Keep the stock refrigerated for up to three days, or freeze it promptly in portions suited to its work: 1 cup (240 ml / about 240 g) for sauces, 1 pint (475 ml / about 475 g) for soups, or a few tablespoons for finishing a pan reduction. Leave expansion room in every freezer container and label the stock as unclarified.
Chef Tips
- •The referenced consommé deliberately allows the available game to determine its character. Venison and hare give a dark, forceful stock; pheasant or partridge produce something finer and more fragrant. Match the batch to the sauce or soup you intend to make.
- •A cold stock that trembles or sets into jelly carries useful gelatin, which gives sauces their natural gloss and body. If yours stays loose, never apologize for it. Reduce a measured portion when the final preparation calls for more concentration.
- •Do not reduce the entire batch before freezing. Full-strength stock is more adaptable, and a strongly reduced, already seasoned game stock can become salty before it reaches the sauce.
- •The fat cap is not the body of the stock. Remove it once cold, but preserve every bit of the gelatin beneath; that is the part the saucier was waiting for.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare Game Consommé (No. 5) through its first straining in its own entry, then stop before clarification. The timing given here begins with that finished component.
- •The cooled stock keeps for up to three days in the refrigerator or three months in the freezer. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator or gently over low heat, then bring it to a full simmer before use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 240g)
Calories
35 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
5 mg
Sodium
550 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
7 g
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