How to Make Soup Stocks

Tracy Bezeau: If you enjoyed cooking but would like to refine your skills and knowledge, consider enrolling in a basic chef’s course. You'll be chopping and dicing with the techniques of the Pros. Presenting meals that are a feast for the eyes. Today, we’re learning about culinary basics with Murline Mallete, owner of Liaison College. You’re watching Daily Web TV. Have you ever thought about taking your passion for food to the next level? I'm here at Liaison College, speaking with Murline. Murline, could you tell me what techniques are thought in the basic cooking class? Murline Mallette: Well actually the techniques, they do their five weeks of series to find out how to do it and why they do it. And then they come in to the kitchen and they start right off with the sanitation, which is most important. Tracy Bezeau: Yes, definitely. Murline Mallette: And then they're nice scales. And often times, that’s why a student is hired for their excellent nice scales. And then they go on to all the stocks and sauces, and soups, and so on. Tracy Bezeau: Talking about nice scales, a technique obviously when you see it on TV, they're going really, really fast. That self-taught is that something that just come naturally. Murline Mallette: Oh, no. It never comes naturally that the chefs start them off and corrects as they're going along. And to be very honest with you, when you see those chefs on TV, they’ve been doing that for 20 years. That doesn’t happen right away. You have to practice, practice, practice. Tracy Bezeau: Can you give me an example of a recipe that you would learn in basic cooking? Murline Mallette: Yes, let’s talked about soup. Tracy Bezeau: Perfect. Murline Mallette: Absolutely wonderful thing. First of all, you have to learn how to make stock. Tracy Bezeau: Okay. Murline Mallette: That’s the very first thing and then ones you’ve made the stock you can learn either to make a puree soup or— Tracy Bezeau: What is the stock? What’s the stock? Murline Mallette: Chicken bones. Tracy Bezeau: Okay, so how would you do that? Murline Mallette: You take some water, you take your chicken bones, you take your garnie, which are all your herbs and spices. And then you do your Mirepoix which would be your carrots and onions, and celery. And then you let it simmer on the stove. For chicken stock, I think three and a half hours is long enough. And then you drain that all off and then you have a full bodied chicken stock. And then from therem now you’ve got what I call the base of the soup. Tracy Bezeau: Okay, so you're basically talking what's left over from maybe a meal that you had previously, you're having the bones— Murline Mallette: Yes. Tracy Bezeau: And anything that you’ve chopped up— Murline Mallette: Yes. Okay, I grew up in the farm everything went into the soup pot. Murline Mallette: You talked about sautéing, again what is how does it go with making a soup, you’re sautéing, how does everything come together? Murline Mallette: It depends on the soup, what you're going to sauté but if you were going to sauté anything, I would imagine that would be perhaps if you're doing a mushroom soup, you would sauté a few mushrooms for your garnish or today, we’re having potato and leek soup and you would sauté your leeks. Tracy Bezeau: Oh, that’s sounds interesting, that sounds very interesting. So you’re sautéing the leeks and everything, you’ve done all, all everything you need to do, what next? Murline Mallette: Now, you put it together and simmer it very slowly on the stove. And then you end up with this gorgeous bowl of soup and I love Chef Linzy always does gorgeous, how should I say, a center piece in your soup and that is with potato and a little bit of freesia and some chives. Tracy Bezeau: It looks absolutely beautiful. So you have your soup as your base and then you’re using what you’ve done, your chopping, and you’re garnishing it so the top works. It's like a canvas and you're an artist and you're creating a masterpiece. Murline Mallete: Absolutely. And that’s why you’ll find in every restaurant and in our school that every thing is white. Tracy Bezeau: Yes. Murline Mallette: Because that is the canvas for the food. Tracy Bezeau: It makes sense, when we have the soup together plating, how do we—what are we learning in basic with plating? Is it just putting the soup in the bowl and here is your spin? Murline Mallette: Oh, heavens no. Heavens, no. Presentation is very, very important in any food that we’re producing because we all eat with our eyes first. Tracy Bezeau: Yes. Murline Mallette: How many times have you said “Oh, that look so wonderful.” You haven’t even tasted it yet but you already you expect that it's going to taste wonderful. So the visual aspect of plating is very, very important. Tracy Bezeau: What would someone take home after they're done the cook basic course? Murline Mallette: All of the skills to get them employed in any restaurant in Hamilton or anywhere else. They’ll go in as an apprentice and get they're experience now on the job. Tracy Bezeau: And where can somebody go to get more information? Murline Mallette: Well they can go onto our website, liaisonhamilton.ca or just drop in and see us. We’re right beside the public library in Jackson’s Square. Tracy Bezeau: Well, thank you very much, for more information on Liaison College, please checkout their website or just drop in. I'm Tracey Bezeau and you’ve been watching Daily Web TV.