Xesla Research Organisation

For my birthday this year I received a number of cookbooks, the most exciting of which is one called ‘The Saucier’s Apprentice’ a book full of classic french sauces. Now to make a french sauce you first have to make a Mother Sauce. There’s two main types, Brown and White. The Brown is a lot more work as it requires you to roast the bones first. The book suggests starting with the White as it’s the easiest of the two.

The first step in making a White Mother Sauce ( Sauce Veloute Ordinaire ) to to make an Ordinary White stock. This is that first step. Further blog posts will cover the rest of the sauce making.

Big thanks should go out to Meat2Eat for hooking me up with the Veal Shanks,  they ended up being quite difficult to get.

Fond Blanc Ordinaire ( Ordinary White Stock )

• 3.5 kg veal shank,  cut into 3-inch sections
• 2 kg chicken frames and giblets
• 250g Diced carrots
• 4 medium onions, diced.
• 1 large leak, trimmed and diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 parsley stems
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 large rib celery, diced.

Cut the meat away from the veal bones,  put meat into stock pot ( minimum 20L,  I used 40L ),  if you have suitable material you might want to bundle the meat together to make it easier to remove and keep for other uses.

If you have mad skills you should split and splinter the bones ( same theory as splitting wood,  use a large cleaver ),  I don’t so I put the bones in as is.   Add in the chicken frames and giblets as well.

Add 7 litres of cold water and bring to the boil.    Boil for a few minutes, then reduce to a slow simmer.   Skim carefully until no extra scum forms.

Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer slowly for 3 hours.

Remove all solid ingredients from the stock with a large slotted spoon and tongs.   Reserve the meat as it can be shredded and used for all sorts of yummy things.

Strain the liquid through a chinois,  I used a new ( rinsed to make sure it doesn’t turn the stock blue ) chux to the chinois to ensure the stock was well filtered.

Let it cool uncovered and scoop off the fat from the top ( easiest way to do this is to put in the fridge when cooled to room temp, the fat will create a solid layer at the top ).

This fat-reduced stock is Fond blanc Ordinare, and can be used as is as a base for many soups/sauces.   When thickened with a roux it becomes Veloute, and if reduced down further can be made into Glace de Viande Blonde.

Tags: Fond Blanc, meat2eat, Stock, veal