Demi-glace...

[torontowannabe]

Hi Everyone -
I'm a student about to embark on my first "demi-glace" journey at home for the next couple of days. I'm just curious about how people do it...

...in school they've drilled the "espangole" method over and over, but it seems like people today just seem to make demi-glace out of a straight reduction. I was thinking about using Anthony Bourdain's method - sweat off some shallots, reduce some wine, then add the veal stock and reduce reduce, reduce...
Thoughts and assistance is appreciated.

[cape chef]

= parts Espagnol and veal stock reduced by half = demi glacé. Veal stock reduced to a syrupy consistency is glacé de viande. Not the same beast.

[torontowannabe]

Thanks, Chef.

But do people still make traditional demi-glace? I guess I'm wondering what the most tasty, but useful sauce to make when I embark on veal stock.

[cape chef]

Originally Posted by torontowannabe

Thanks, Chef.

But do people still make traditional demi-glacé? I guess I'm wondering what the most tasty, but useful sauce to make when I embark on veal stock.

Demi is a derivative of Espagnol (a mother sauce) the secondary sauces are endless. Most chefs these days I believe are not making traditional demi glacé, and are relying more on pure reductions, jus lie, viande, etc.These reductions offer beautiful deep colors without the cloudiness from the roux used in a demi. With that said, the technique behind preparing a proper demi is still important.

[Chad Aaland]

At work everyone just uses glace de viande as their demi. We go through about 100 gallons of the first boil every to every other day for what everyone at my place calls demi, and we bastardize the bones out to a second and maybe a third boil for another two days or so.

Cape chef is right, nobody wants to spend the time to babysit a true demi because by the time all the night people get in, all the good thick sauce pots have been used and are hiding in the pile of dishes. (Slow dishwashers, cooks that think they're too good to do a little dishes) A glace de viande is just less time consuming and less chance for burning. I haven't seen anyone start with a roux either, we just bake it in the oven first then throw it in at the end and cook it off a little more.

[torontowannabe]

Originally Posted by cape chef

Demi is a derivative of Espagnol (a mother sauce) the secondary sauces are endless. Most chefs these days I believe are not making traditional demi glacé, and are relying more on pure reductions, jus lie, viande, etc.These reductions offer beautiful deep colors without the cloudiness from the roux used in a demi. With that said, the technique behind preparing a proper demi is still important.

This is the way they've been teaching us at school too. But it just sounds that people areusung the word "demi" to mean all sorts of things...

[HotChef]

my executive chef where i learned ot cook many years ago would rotate in his grave...
demi glace: roast pork / veal bones to dark golden brown, add mire poix ( carrots,onions, leek, cellerie) and roast some more. att triple concentrate tomato paste and roast just for a few minutes, carefully, paste tends to burn.
top with sauce espagnole, add red wine. bayleaves, a few black peppercorns.
no salt /seasoning.
10 kgr bones will give you 2 ltr demi glace the consistency as it is needed. because all the thickness you get from the bones.. no flour/ roux/ potato starch.
after you strain the demi, fill up the bones again with water. let simmer for a few hours on the side of the stove or a steamer /boiler / whatever have you. during the day you add off cuts of meat, bits and pieces of roast, bones, soft tomatoes, maybe some slightly wilted parsley...at the end of the day yo ustrain it and keep it for th next day or when you make demi glace again.
this is not inventing the wheel and in MY kitchen here in moscow (Russia) we STILL do demi glace the old traditional way.
no powder here, thank you...
we also make our own beef boullion, bones are cheap, every butchere will be GLAD to give them to you for a few cents...

[foodpump]

Yo, Chad, you didn't "bastardize" the bones, you made what is called a remouillage. A good use for this is to either reduce the remouillage to a full glace de viande, and use this by the teaspoon to boost a'la minute pan sauces, or to start off another batch of freshly roasted bones instead of water. It's just making full use of the ingredients.

[Chad Aaland]

I undersand about the remouillage, but I'm not always there to moniter the kettle and people will take maybe half of the first boil then just fill it up to the top with more water. I forgot to mention it, but it isn't the fact that the bones are being used again, but they aren't being used again properly.

[torontowannabe]

Well, I started the process this morning. I've browned half veal, half beef bones, my mirepoix and tomato paste. Part of me worries that I browned the bones too much, and part worries not enough. Well, I guess since this is my first attempt, I'll just have to learn from it and ask my chef if it doesn't work out as well as I had hope. Part of me also worries if I've used too much tomato paste. Everything is gently simmering on the stove now. Thanks for all the advice. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Jeff

[oldschool1982]

Originally Posted by cape chef

Demi is a derivative of Espagnol (a mother sauce) .......... With that said, the technique behind preparing a proper demi is still important.

Thank you for making that point CC. This has been all but lost on most out there. Many times I myself have used more of the pure reductions, jus lie, viande, etc. in recent years to stay with the trend but they're still no replacment for one of the true "Mother Sauces" and their technique(s)