![Making stock for pho bo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Making_stock_for_pho_bo.jpg)
Stock, sometimes called bone broth, is a savory cooking liquid that forms the basis of many
dishes particularly
soups,
stews, and
sauce
In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...
s. Making stock involves simmering animal bones, meat, seafood, or vegetables in water or wine, often for an extended period.
Mirepoix
A mirepoix ( ; ) is a flavor base made from diced vegetables cooked—usually with butter, oil, or other fat—for a long time on low heat without coloring or browning, as further cooking, often with the addition of tomato purée, creates a dar ...
or other aromatics may be added for more flavor.
Preparation
Traditionally, stock is made by
simmering
Simmering is a food preparation technique by which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (lower than ) and above poaching temperature (higher than ). To create a steady simmer, a liquid is brought to a boil, ...
various ingredients in water. A newer approach is to use a
pressure cooker
Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures which ...
. The ingredients may include some or all of the following:
Bones:
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus'').
In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
and
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
bones are most commonly used; fish is also common. The flavor of the stock comes from the
bone marrow,
cartilage and other
connective tissue. Connective tissue contains
collagen, which is converted into
gelatin that thickens the liquid. Stock made from bones needs to be simmered for long periods; pressure cooking methods shorten the time necessary to extract the flavor from the bones.
Meat: Cooked meat still attached to bones is also used as an ingredient, especially with chicken stock. Meat cuts with a large amount of connective tissue, such as shoulder cuts, are also used.
Mirepoix: Mirepoix is a combination of
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...
s,
carrots,
celery
Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...
, and sometimes other vegetables added to flavor the stock. Sometimes, the less desirable parts of the vegetables that may not otherwise be eaten (such as carrot skins and celery cores and leaves) are used, as the solids are removed from stock.
Herbs and spices: The
herbs and
spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...
s used depend on availability and local traditions. In classical cuisine, the use of a ''
bouquet garni
The ''bouquet garni'' (French for "garnished bouquet"; ) is a bundle of herbs usually tied with string and mainly used to prepare soup, stock, casseroles and various stews. The bouquet is cooked with the other ingredients and removed prior t ...
'' (or ''bag of herbs'') consisting of
parsley,
bay leaves
The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...
, a sprig of
thyme
Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus '' Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigen ...
, and possibly other herbs, is common. This is often placed in a
sachet
A sachet is a small scented cloth bag filled with herbs, potpourri, or aromatic ingredients.Oster, p. 54 A sachet is also a small porous bag or packet containing a material intended to interact with its atmosphere; for example, desiccants ...
to make it easier to remove once the stock is cooked.
Types
![Gefilte fish - step 16](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Gefilte_fish_-_step_16.JPG)
Basic stocks are usually named for the primary meat type. A distinction is usually made between ''fond blanc'', or white stock, made by using raw bones and mirepoix, and ''fond brun'', or brown stock, which gets its color by roasting the bones and mirepoix before boiling; the bones may also be coated in
tomato paste
Tomato paste is a thick paste made by cooking tomatoes for several hours to reduce the water content, straining out the seeds and skins, and cooking the liquid again to reduce the base to a thick, rich concentrate. It is used to impart an inten ...
before roasting. Chicken is most commonly used for ''fond blanc'', while beef or veal are most commonly used in ''fond brun''.
Other regional varieties include:
* ''
Dashi
is a family of stocks used in Japanese cuisine. ''Dashi'' forms the base for miso soup, clear broth soup, noodle broth soup, and many simmering liquids to accentuate the savory flavor known as umami. ''Dashi'' is also mixed into the flour b ...
'' is a fish stock in
Japanese cooking made by briefly cooking fish flakes called ''
katsuobushi'' with kelp in nearly boiling water.
* ''Myeolchi yuksu'' is a stock in
Korean cooking
Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine reflects a complex interaction of the natural envi ...
made by briefly cooking dried anchovies with kelp in nearly boiling water.
* Glace de viande is stock, usually made from veal, that is highly concentrated by reduction.
* Ham stock, common in
Cajun
The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
While Cajuns are usually described as ...
cooking, is made from
ham hock
__NOTOC__
A ham hock (or hough) or pork knuckle is the joint between the tibia/fibula and the metatarsals of the foot of a pig, where the foot was attached to the hog's leg. It is the portion of the leg that is neither part of the ham proper no ...
s.
*
Master stock
A master stock or master sauce () is a Stock (food), stock which is repeatedly reused to Poaching (cooking), poach or Braising, braise meats. It has its origins in Chinese cuisine and is typically used in Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese and Fujian c ...
is a Chinese stock used primarily for poaching meats, flavored with soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and other aromatics.
* Prawn stock is made from boiling
prawn
Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten.
The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...
shells. It is used in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
n dishes such as
laksa
Laksa is a spicy noodle dish popular in Southeast Asia. Laksa consists of various types of noodles, most commonly thick rice noodles, with toppings such as chicken, prawn or fish. Most variations of laksa are prepared with a rich and spicy coco ...
.
* Remouillage is a second stock made from the same set of bones.
* Bran stock is bran boiled in water. It can be used to thicken meat soups, used as a stock for vegetable soups or made into soup itself with onions, vegetables and molasses
Stock versus broth
Health claims
By early 2010s, "bone broth" had become a popular
health food
A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.
A health ...
trend, due to the resurgence in popularity of dietary fat over sugar, and interest in "
functional food
A functional food is a food claimed to have an additional (often one related to health promotion or disease prevention) by adding new ingredients or more of existing ingredients. The term may also apply to traits purposely bred into existing edib ...
s" to which "culinary medicinals" such as
turmeric
Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast ...
and
ginger could be added. Bone broth bars, bone broth home delivery services, bone broth carts, and bone broth freezer packs grew in popularity in the United States. The fad was heightened by the 2014 book ''Nourishing Broth'', in which authors Sally Fallon Morell and Kaayla T. Daniel claim that the broth's nutrient density has a variety of health effects.
[Heid, Markham (January 6, 2016)]
"Science Can't Explain Why Everyone is Drinking Bone Broth"
''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
''.[Blaszyk, Amy (February 10, 2015)]
"Taking Stock Of Bone Broth: Sorry, No Cure-All Here"
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
.
There is no scientific evidence to support many of the claims made for bone broth.
["What's the scoop on bone soup?"]
Harvard Health Publishing
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
. Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
. September 2015.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
* {{cite book
, first = Simone
, last = Beck , author2=Louisette Bertholle , author3=Julia Child , author3-link=Julia Child , title = Mastering the Art of French Cooking
, url = https://archive.org/details/masteringartoffr00beck
, url-access = registration
, publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
, location = New York
, year = 1961
Stock (food)