To Poach

Escoffier defines pocher as “boiled without boiling.” While his statement is a bit of a riddle, what he is saying is that the poached ingredient is cooked in hot liquid that is not quite at the boiling point. (The English equivalent of pocher is poaching or simmering). Pocher refers to gentle, slow cooking that requires the piece to be completely covered by a hot liquid. The goal of poaching is to tenderize a tough piece of meat, or to use liquid to impart flavor to an ingredient during cooking It also is used to hydrate certain dry ingredients that require liquid for cooking such as rice and pasta. Poaching is performed by apotssonier, saucier or entremétier in a traditional Escoffier brigade.