The name “Chiffonade” is given to a mince of sorrel or lettuce, intended as a complement for such soups as “Potage de santé,” “le Germiny,” &c., or various clear consommés like “Julienne.”
To prepare Chiffonade, first carefully shred the sorrel or lettuce, and remove therefrom all the leaf-ribs. Carefully wash the leaves, and squeeze the latter tightly between the fingers of the left hand and the table. Now cut them into fine strips with a sharp knife.
If the chiffonade be intended for a consommé, add it to the latter half an hour before dishing up; it is thus actually cooked in the soup itself. If, as is most often the case, it be intended for a thick soup, it is better to let it melt well in butter, to moisten it with a little consommé, and to let it boil for ten minutes before adding it to the soup.
Whatever the purpose be for which it is made, chiffonade should always be prepared with very tender sorrel or lettuce.
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][216—DIRECTIONS FOR SOUP WITH PASTES]
Vermicelli and the various Italian pastes should measure about three oz. per quart of consommé. They should first be thrown into boiling, salted water, where they are left to poach for three minutes, whereupon they are drained, cooled, and their cooking is completed in the consommé.
The parboiling of these pastes is necessary in order to get rid of the little agglomerations of flour which adhere to them, and which would otherwise make the consommé cloudy.
Tapioca, sago, salep, &c., should also be apportioned at about three oz. per quart. But this is only an average, for the quality of this kind of products varies greatly, and it is best to choose the goods of an excellent maker, and, in order to avoid surprises, to abide by that choice.
These products need no parboiling; they are merely sprinkled into the boiling consommé while stirring the latter, and they are left to cook until the soup is quite clear. The boiling should be gentle, and the scum should be removed as often as it forms.
The time allowed for cooking naturally varies in accordance with the quality of the goods, but the absolute transparency of the consommé is an infallible sign of its having been completed.