Apparently this custom has gone the way of many other food traditions. Recently a friend, the owner of one of the food stores which has a regular group of customers for glace de viande told me that no hotel in New York is making it, now that the Ritz is closed. This state of affairs, and I think it a sad shame, was unknown during my fifty years of professional life. But my friend has a kitchen for preparing turkeys, hams, hors-d'oeuvre, and other specialties, so I suggested that he make his own meat essence. He lacks the leftover bones of the stock kettle, so he must start with new ingredients, Here is the recipe I wrote down for him:
Glace de Viande
Have enough beef and veal bones with some meal clinging to them and any leftover poultry carcasses that may be available to half fill a large, heavy kettle. For each 10 pounds of bones weigh out 2 pounds of mixed celery stalks and leaves, carrots, and onions Brown the bones lightly in a roasting pan in a hot oven (450° P.), then put them in the kettle with the chopped vegetables. Fill the kettle with unsalted water and simmer the bones and vegetables for 18 to 24 hours. Strain out the bones and vegetables, return the broth to the kettle, and cook until it is reduced to half or less the original quantity. Strain the broth again into a large saucepan, straining this time through a muslin or flannel cloth wrung out of cold water. Continue to cook the broth, stirring frequently, until it is reduced to the thickness of a brown sauce. Put into jars, cool, and store in the refrigerator.
It is possible to make glace de viande in a home kitchen, and there is no substitute for it. However, I find that most people have come to depend upon English beef extract, which is readily available in jars. Although beef extract has a good flavor, it is made from meat alone and does not have the richness and texture which the bones and vegetables impart to glace de viande. The gelatin extracted from the bones, in particular, lends to a sauce a certain distinctive body, the characteristic which the French call “du corps.”
And it is this intangible character, in addition to the color and flavor, which the connoisseur immediately recognizes in foods prepared with glace de viande. Therein lies the reason for its importance in fine cooking. Usually we think of using glace de viande with red meats and in brown sauces, but many poultry dishes profit from its flavor, particularly those with stuffing containing goose liver and truffles. Any really authentic Madeira sauce must include glace de viande, and it is de rigueur in game cookery for the gourmet.
Because it is so highly concentrated, glace de viande should be used sparingly. In fact, too much of it may give a sauce an unpleasantly heavy flavor, as I learned at a very early age when I watched chef Gaunard at the Hôtel du Rhin in Paris. He was preparing lobster à l'armoticaine for a fairly large party of German and Austrian royalty, and he added just one teaspoon of glace de viande to the white wine, tomatoes, and other ingredients for the sauce. When I expressed surprise, he explained that for a lobster sauce the greatest delicacy was required, A little more glace de viande can be used for most meats and poultry—about one to two tablespoons for one cup of sauce.
Some chefs like to make a rosace with glace de viande: they put glace de viande in a small cornucopia or spoon and drop it in a rose pattern on the top of filer of sole or turbot cooked in white wine, just before it is served. It is not necessary to be so elaborate, however, in using glace de viande. There are many simple ways of benefiting from this concentrate, some of them very convenient cookery tricks.
A touch of it can bring to perfection gravy that has too little color or is lacking in flavor.
A tablespoon or two can be added to a cup of hot water to make a fine brown stock; A little will correct the flavor of a soup.
An excellent light consommé base for onion soup is created by mixing one or two tablespoons of meat glaze with a quart of boiling water. Light consomme is right for this purpose because the real flavor of this soup is derived from the onions, For an excellent result, simmer the onions in butter until they are golden brown, then pour the boiling consomme over them.
The greatest success with glace de viande will be achieved if you always remember to mix it first with a little hot liquid—water, broth, Madeira, or whatever yon are using. Then it will combine best with the other ingredients. To make a glaze for cooked meat and poultry, combine glace de viande with an equal amount of hot Madeira and brush it on roast or braised ham, filet of beef, braised sweetbreads, and many oilier dishes to give them a flavorful brown glossiness.
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