[Sca-cooks] demi-glace

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Also sprach Gorgeous Muiredach:
>>So, what IS the differance between a reduced brown stock and a
>>demi-glace? Other than that one has a fancy French name and costs
>>more?
>
>Ahhhh well.  Lessee....
>
>Brown stock is the basis for both the reduced and the demi glace.
>
>A "classic" demi glace is the "Espanole" at its supreme degree of
>perfection.  I had to write that 500 times as I forgot it for a test and
>the prof thought it was an important thing.
>
>Of course, that involves knowing what an Espanole is...  Basically, brown
>stock thickened with brown roux (flour/butter), with other aromatic
>elements such as mushroom, celeri, some tomato paste, etc...
>
>Then to finish a demi glace, you would cook the Espanole some more, and add
>Madeira.  This is rarely done anymore.  I'd venture to say post 1600, way
>post.

I was taught that the classic Espagnole was made with brown stock,
thickened with brown roux, with the added aromatics, such as mirepoix
(a fairly standard formula of chopped vegetables), also browned, as I
recall. Mushrooms are common but optional. The modern product pretty
much has to contain some tomato product, both for a slight tang, and
the chemical effect brought about by a slight acidity (although some
cooks used to use red wine for this) and also because it is the
presence of tomatoes that denote its being of Spanish origin, and so
named.

Demiglaze, at least according to most of the recipes I've seen,
involve taking sauce espagnole, adding an equal volume of additional
brown stock, and reducing it back to the volume of the original sauce
(hence the name, demi glace or demiglaze, which is a reference to the
reduction by boiling or simmering -- cooking it halfway down to a
glaze). So, it is essentially a super-flavorful, somewhat
finer-textured version of espagnole, with a better flavor, lighter
and clearer, and yet also richer (more gelatin, etc.).

Madeira is indeed great in demiglaze.

I STR that antecedents of modern recognizable Espagnole begin to show
up in the 17th century, and it more or less evolved into its current
form over the nineteenth century (specifically, the period covered by
the careers of Careme and Escoffier, which is the nineteenth century
with approximately, what, twenty years tacked on at each end for good
measure?).

Stefan, I agree sometimes it's fun to make fun of French cookery (le
'amboorjay avec pommes frites at $49.95), but don't let that keep you
from trying some of this stuff. Over the years you're revealed what
looks like an amused suspicion of fine French cuisine which seems to
relegate it to making up "fancy" names for ordinary food in order to
charge more money. I can only say that this is not the case, for the
most part (although ripoff artists can be found in all strata of the
food service industry in all cuisine markets). Good French chefs
study and work for _years_ in order to make up those funny names and
high prices!* ;-) Really, though. In the end if you allow this
attitude to get the better of you, it'll be your loss.

[* with the exception of Bobby Flay, who, while not a French chef,
has never worked a day in a kitchen in his life...]

Adamantius