Essences

As the name implies, essences are stocks made in a reduced form so as to retain a very pronounced flavour.

They are made in the same way as ordinary stocks using much less liquid than usual so as to ensure that they have a concentrated flavour of the main ingredient; however, the usefulness of essences is nullified if they are used to complete a preparation which has been made with a stock which was poor in flavour and quality.

It is much easier to prepare a rich succulent stock of irreproachable quality than to use poor quality or mediocre stock and then to complete it with the addition of a specially prepared essence. The result is far better and is more economical of time and materials. It is recommended to use essences prepared from highly flavoured products such as celery, mushroom, morels, truffles etc. Again it is worth remembering that nine times out of ten it is far better to add the product itself to the stock during its preparation rather than to prepare a special essence. For these reasons the usefulness of essences becomes meaningless where the basic stocks themselves contain the desirable qualities of strength and flavour; therefore, it is judged unnecessary to give more than one recipe.