{ STOCK }

A hundred years ago, when French chef Auguste Escoffier
(perhaps the most august of chefs) codified classical French
cuisine, cooking was based on the production and use of
stock—the rich, savory liquid produced by simmering
animal matter, bones, and vegetables in water for a long
time. Meats were braised in it, vegetables were glazed with
it, soups and stews were built on it, and it was reduced into
rich sauces. Stock was made from chicken, duck, turkey,
beef, veal, pork, sheep, you name it. If it had four legs or
feathers, it’s good bet that its bones and scraps would
eventually find their way into a simmering pot.
These days, stock isn’t quite as essential. Cooking is
lighter, and many restaurants get by with just chicken stock.
At home, I use chicken stock exclusively, and my wife has
yet to complain that my food just isn’t French enough. For
many recipes, even a good canned broth will do just fine,
though you want to make sure that it’s low sodium so that
you can control the salt level yourself. Most regular canned
stocks or broths are too salty to reduce into a sauce.
There’s still one place where a great stock is pretty much
essential: soup. Like show dogs and children, soup can only
be as good as the stock it’s made from.
Unfortunately, as anyone who’s ever worked in a
restaurant can tell you, making stock is a slow business. It
can take hours to extract flavor and break down the