Broth is making a comeback among health conscious and French gourmets
Broth may have fallen out of fashion, but this light and nutritionally rich soup has been making a comeback in the last few years and is all the rage this winter among the health conscious while it has also returned to the menus of several top French chefs.
Brodo, the first broth bar in New York, is one of the city's current hot spots. Here you can buy chicken broth in paper cups to warm you up as you walk around the city, or take it home or to the office.
Last winter, American magazine Quartz reported that broth was the new favorite drink of top models. This nutritionally complete beverage, which is also being embraced as a choice that does not pack on the pounds, was the big star behind the scenes at Fashion Week.
Light and transparent but packed with flavor, broth was previously known for helping to alleviate the symptoms of flu and colds, reducing inflammatory pain and improving digestion. Now it is the "must have" item on this winter's menus.
A good homemade broth is rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and is very hydrating. It helps impart a healthy glow to the complexion. It also contains collagen, an essential substance in combating wrinkles, the wear and tear of time, and tiredness.
The nutritionist for the LA Lakers basketball team, which includes star player Kobe Bryant, has made it an essential part of his players' diet.
Broth goes mainstream
This soup is no longer relegated to the day after a party for its detox properties and the fact that it settles the stomach. It is also making a remarkable return to our kitchens.
In its 2015 version, this healthy foundation for meals is first and foremost a bone broth, brought to the fore by interest in the Paleo diet. It is made from leftovers such as chicken carcasses and beef bones, to which vegetables are added: onions, leeks or celery and a little garlic, flavorings and a few spices to lift the taste.
From the chicken broth which has become a new staple, to the coconut and soy sauce version by the award-winning chef Pierre Gagnaire, top chefs have become obsessed with broth. To take two examples in France, Olivier Roellinger has dreamed up an autumnal stock at his restaurant in Cancale, with mushrooms, walnuts, hazelnuts and sweet chestnuts, while Jean-François Piège who heads Le Grand Restaurant in rue Saint-Dominique, Paris, has made it with beef, an infusion of porcini mushrooms, foie gras, chunks of bread and black truffle.
The chef Marc Favier has even named his Parisian restaurant after this soup (known as "Bouillon" in French). His menu includes a broth made with "real Paris mushrooms" accompanied with duck foie gras, celery and coriander.
Broth was also included in the foodie book launches this autumn, in William Ledeuil's French-language book entitled "Bouillons". In 80 recipes the chef reveals its secrets and its virtues, how to store it, and all the colors and flavors of this traditional base for Asian dishes. Meanwhile, a cookbook from the chef of Brodo, Marco Canora entitled "Brodo: A Bone Broth Cookbook" comes out December 1.
At the crossroads of different gastronomic influences and diets, this new muse of the food world, whether it is the product of simple home cooking or haute cuisine, still has several months of winter in which to warm us up and delight our taste buds.
