Cuisson à blanc: the white stews and their liaison

The white stews belong to the codified classical kitchen of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Auguste Escoffier sets them down in Le Guide Culinaire among the ragoûts and the entrées of the kitchen brigade. Blanquette, fricassée and their kin are cooked without colouring the meat, and the sauce is made from the cooking liquor itself, bound with a roux and finished with a liaison of egg yolks and cream.

The white stew is a cut of meat or poultry, typically veal shoulder or breast (Bos taurus), or chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus), cooked in a white stock or in water with aromatics, never seared to colour. The pieces are cut into even cubes or joints, the liquor is strained and thickened with a white roux (velouté), and the sauce is finished off the boil with a liaison of egg yolks and cream. The garnish is classically small glazed white onions and button mushrooms cooked white, and the result is pale, smooth and lightly glossy.

The white stew is served with plain steamed or pilaf rice, or with boiled potatoes, which carry the sauce without competing with it. A dry white wine of good acidity, such as a Chablis or an Alsace Pinot Blanc, suits it, because the acidity cuts through the richness of the yolks and cream while the wine's restraint leaves the delicate flavour of the veal intact.