Consommé

Consommé (French: [kɔ̃sɔme] () is a type of clear soup made from richly flavoured stock or broth that has been clarified, a process that traditionally uses egg whites to remove fat and sediment. A later technique for clarification employs gelatin filtration. Consommés are most commonly made from beef or veal, but chicken, fish and game variants are recognised in French cuisine. They may be served on their own – hot or chilled – or be used as the basis of many soups, sauces and stews.

Etymology and history

In French usage the word dates back to the fourteenth century as the past participle of consommer, meaning consumed, accomplished or finished. By the sixteenth century the word was used as a noun meaning a "finished" soup – a concentrated and clarified meat broth as opposed to a simple stock or broth. The first edition of the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française (1694) defines it as "boüillon fort succulent d'une viande extremement cuite" – strong succulent broth of very well-cooked meat. The word is first recorded in English usage in 1815, and in Don Juan (Canto XV, 1824), Lord Byron writes of "The salmi, the consommé, the purée". In French usage each of the three syllables is given approximately equal stress. In Anglophone usage the main stress may be on the first syllable (Canadian and modern British pronunciation), the second (earlier British pronunciation) or the third (American pronunciation); in Australian usage either the first or second syllable may be stressed.