Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Chapter Pre-Requisites Before Studying this chapter, you should already: • Have read “How to Use This Book,” pages xxviii-xxxiii, and understand the professional recipe format. • Have read Chapter 6, “Cold Seafood,” and Chapter 7, “Cold Meats,” and know how to prepare these foods for cold service. • Be proficient at preparing and clarifying stock. • Be proficient at preparing velouté and demi-glace sauce. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Chapter Objectives After reading this chapter, you should be able to: • Use granular gelatin to properly gelatinize liquids into preparations of varying consistencies. • Prepare aspics, chaud-froid sauces, and mayonnaise collée. • Set up an efficient aspic and chaud-froid workspace. • Prepare various foods for coating. • Prepare and fabricate vegetables, fruits, and herbs for surface décor. • Coat foods with aspic, chaud-froid, and mayonnaise collée, and decorate them with attractive designs. • Prepare various dishes that are bound or molded with aspic, chaudfroid, and mayonnaise collée. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid The Challenge of Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Understanding Coating Sauces • A coating sauce is a dressing for cold food that is fluid when warm but sets up into a gel when chilled. – Aspic : Clarified, seasoned stock with the addition of gelatin. – Chaud-froid : A cream velouté sauce or demi-glace sauce with the addition of aspic. – Mayonnaise collée : Consists of thick mayonnaise and aspic, and is frequently used in place of chaud-froid. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid The Challenge of Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Understanding Coating Sauces • Coating sauces gel because they contain a high proportion of gelatin. – Traditional stocks were made with a high proportion of bones, meat, and connective tissue and were simmered for many hours. • Today, most garde manger chefs use standard stocks of lighter consistency to make these sauces. • Therefore, it is necessary to fortify, or strengthen, the gelatin content by adding commercial gelatin. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid The Challenge of Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Understanding Gelatin • Gelatin: A nearly colorless and flavorless water-soluble substance derived from collagen. – Collagen: an animal protein found in bones, cartilage, connective tissue, and hides. • Protein gel: collagen, when combined with water in the correct way, forms a protein net that captures the water. • Unflavored dry gelatin: liquid gelatin from which the water is removed and purified of most of its meat flavor and odor. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid The Challenge of Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Understanding Gelatin • Blooming: Rehydrating dry gelatin before use. – When gelatin comes into contact with cool water or a water-based liquid, it absorbs the liquid and expands. – When you rehydrate gelatin, you are said to “bloom” it. • When this liquid is chilled, the protein gel forms and the liquid is said to have set. The degree of firmness to which the liquid gels is called its set. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid The Challenge of Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Understanding Gelatin • Gelatin is available in two market forms. Each form requires a different blooming procedure. 1. Gelatin powder: Dehydrated liquid gelatin that is ground into fine granules. a) Granular gelatin is bloomed by mixing it with a cold liquid in a ratio of roughly 1 part gelatin to 4 parts liquid by volume. 2. Sheet gelatin: Thin, brittle sheets of translucent gelatin made by pouring liquid gelatin into very shallow trays, dehydrating it into a film-like later, then cutting it into rectangular pieces. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid The Challenge of Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Preparing and Using a Gelatinized Liquid • Gelatin is used to thicken, or gelatinize, a liquid. Its preparation is a four-step process. – – – – Step 1: Determine the gelatin-to-liquid ratio Step 2: Bloom the gelatin Step 3: Dissolve the bloomed gelatin in the liquid Step 4: Cool the gelatinized liquid to working consistency Cooling gelatinized liquid to working consistency. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Aspic • Aspic: A translucent, gelatinized coating that adds sparkle and shine to the products it enhances. – In French it is called aspic gelée . – It was originally used to form a protective barrier on foods that were set out on buffet tables for lengthy periods. – In classical cuisine, true aspic gelée begins with gelée de viande , or meat jelly. – Meat jelly: Term used to describe stocks and meat-cooking juices that have enough natural gelatin to gel when chilled. These cannot be called aspics until they are clarified and seasoned. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Aspic Preparing Aspic • There are four steps in the preparation of aspic. – – – – Step 1: Obtain the Stock Step 2: Clarify the Stock Step 3: Season the Clarified Stock Step 4: Add the Gelatin Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Chaud-Froid • Chaud-froid is an opaque coating sauce used to mask foods. – To mask means to cover a food in such a way that its surface is no longer visible. – For this reason, the two opaque coating sauces, chaud-froid and mayonnaise collée, are also called masking sauces. • The French name chaud-froid literally means “hot-cold,” referring to the fact that the sauce is made hot but served cold. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Chaud-Froid • The term chaud-froid actually has two meanings: It describes a dish of food coated in chaud-froid sauce and also the coating sauce itself. • Today, chaud-froid sauce is primarily used for coating previously cooked and cooled foods and, thus, is prepared separately. • Like aspics, chaud-froid sauces are classified both by their color and by the stock that was used to make their base sauce. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Chaud-Froid Preparing Chaud-Froid Sauces • The preparation of chaud-froid sauce requires the combination of two stock base products. • It is a multistep procedure: – – – – – Step 1: Obtain the Stock Step 2: Prepare the Base Sauce Step 3: Prepare the Aspic Step 4: Add the Aspic (and Cream) Step 5: Strain Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Mayonnaise Collée • The French word coller means “to stick” or “to adhere.” • Thus, mayonnaise collée is a mayonnaise sauce that has had gelatin added to it so it will stick to food and form a coating. • The basic ratio for preparing mayonnaise collée is: 2 parts thick mayonnaise to 1 part aspic for coating, measured by volume. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work • There is almost no limit to the types of cold foods that may be coated with aspic or chaud-froid. • In general, foods that are naturally colorful and attractive are coated with aspic only. • Both large and small cold food items are coated with aspic and chaud-froid. • A large, whole roasted turkey breast or baked ham may be coated with chaudfroid. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Steps in Basic Coating and Decorating Work • Coating foods with aspic and chaud-froid or mayonnaise collée is a multi-step procedure that is usually done over a period of two or more days. • The basic steps necessary to achieve a finished dish: 1. Fabricate, cook, and chill the food items to be coated. 2. Prepare the coating sauces. 3. Prepare the surface décor items. 4. Skin, trim, or otherwise prepare the food to receive the coating. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Steps in Basic Coating and Decorating Work 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Fabricate, cook, and chill the food items to be coated. Prepare the coating sauces. Prepare the surface décor items. Skin, trim, or otherwise prepare the food to receive the coating. Apply one or more base coats to the food item. Apply the surface décor items to the food item. Apply an aspic finish coat to the food item. Add décor to the plate or presentation platter. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Surface Décor for Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Surface Décor is applied to the surface of a coated food. • It is also called Flat Décor. • Surface décor must be edible and is meant to be eaten along with the coated food. • These décor items are usually crafted from vegetables. • Some can be used as is, without cooking. • Others must be blanched and refreshed to soften them and improve their flavor. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Surface Décor for Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Guidelines for Setting Up an Aspic and Chaud-Froid Workspace • Have plenty of room to work. • Clear enough space in a nearby refrigerator to accommodate your food item(s) and the serving platter(s). • Assemble your complete equipment mise en place before beginning. • All equipment must be clean and grease-free. Double-check the cleanliness of sheet trays and racks so they do not contaminate the excess coating sauces that drip onto them. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Surface Décor for Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Guidelines for Setting Up an Aspic and Chaud-Froid Workspace • Place a bus tub for used equipment on the under shelf of your worktable. • Have plenty of ice on hand for cooling your coating sauces. • If your work area is far from the stove, set up a rechaud , or portable butane burner, on the worktable for rewarming coating sauces. • Have all coating sauces, décor items, and other ingredients ready and close at hand. • Place your design template in a page protector, or cover it with plastic film, to keep it clean for future use. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 16 Aspic and Chaud-Froid Surface Décor for Aspic and Chaud-Froid Work Other Applications for Coating Sauces Aspic may be used to bind the layers of a vegetable or seafood terrine. Aspic or mayonnaise collée may be used to bind a complex salad so it can be formed and unmolded. Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved