The Most Important Tool is Communication

In the second session of class, we further explored the white mother sauces and experimented with some of the different thickening agents. This was quite a feat, since there were only three people in class. We had to work together and improve the communication from the previous class or it would have been a complete failure. Before each step, we discussed who would be doing which task and set our expectations. I believe that we improved 100% from the previous night. Not only did we achieve all the items assigned for the session (with Chef’s help), but we also finished early.

We used each of the four stocks that we started in the first session to make chicken soup. As we strained the stocks, we found that the one made in the steam kettle was almost clear, due to the low even heat releasing fewer impurities from the bones. The stock made in the tilt skillet had a lot of spume on top and was still rather murky when it was strained, since that piece of equipment is not capable of retaining the lower temperatures. The aluminum pot with the spigot also had very clear stock, due to draining from below the spume instead of pouring it through a chinoise. I was also curious if this pot would give the stock a slightly metallic taste, but we did not taste the straight stocks. It was not noticeable in the soup. The stock made in the stainless steel pot was not as clear as the steam kettle.

Each of our chicken soups was made with a different thickening agent. The soup using reduced chicken stock had a very powerful chicken flavor. The soups using the roux and the corn starch slurry did not have quite the chicken flavor, but they were both acceptable in flavor and mouth feel. This is just further evidence of the argument that has been going on for over 100 years that a roux is not necessarily the best thickening agent out there. The soup using the chicken base was rather fake tasting, like a condensed soup out of a can.

Overall, I think that we improved greatly from the previous session, and I can only hope that we continue to improve!