White Stock

Ingredients

• 4 lb knuckle of veal
• poultry trimmings
• 4 slices lean ham
• 1 carrot
• 2 onion
• 1 celery head
• 12 white peppercorns
• 1 oz salt
• 1 mace blade
• 1 oz butter
• 4 quarts water

Method

Blanch the veal knuckle, poultry trimmings, and ham in boiling salted water for two minutes, then drain and rinse under cold water. This removes blood, albumin, and impurities that would cloud the finished stock and leave a greasy, off-taste. Place the cleaned bones and meat into a heavy pot rubbed with butter — the fat aids heat distribution and prevents sticking during the initial reduction.

Cover with 300 ml water and bring to a gentle simmer. The point here is simmering at a low rolling bubble, not a full boil. You're extracting gelatin and flavour compounds slowly enough that they dissolve into the liquid rather than being driven off as steam. Within 15–20 minutes the natural gelatin from the bones will begin releasing into the pan as a light gravy. Once you see this clarification happening, add the 4 quarts of water along with the carrot, onions, celery head, white peppercorns, salt, and mace blade.

Maintain a bare simmer — a single bubble breaking the surface every two or three seconds — for 5 hours. A rolling boil will stock will emulsify the fat and protein too aggressively, turning it grey and murky rather than the clear, pale gold you're after. Skim the surface every 30 minutes in the first two hours; after that, the impurities will have mostly risen and coagulated, so you can leave it to work without constant attention. You'll know the stock is properly extracted when the bones are soft enough to crush between your fingers and the liquid has reduced by roughly one-third.

Strain through a fine sieve lined with muslin into a clean container, pressing lightly on the solids to extract their liquid without forcing through cloudiness. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate. The fat will set on the surface and can be lifted away once solid, leaving clean, gelatinous stock underneath. This will keep for three days refrigerated, or freeze for up to three months. Use as the culinary-foundation for sauces, soups, and braises — the clarity and clean flavour it provides is why the blanching and careful temperature control matter.