Bouillon d'Os

Ingredients

• 50 litres of water
• 12 lb. of meat
• 1/2 lb. of dry gelatine
• 4 lb. of salt
• 16 to 20 lb. of vegetables and spices

Method

1. 1

   Combine the water, meat, dry gelatine, salt, and vegetables in a large pot.

2. 2

   Bring to a boil and simmer to create a rich broth.

3. 3

   Strain before serving.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The spirit of cookery (1895) by Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Thudichum, page 92. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

BOUILLON D'OS 13 1 which is given hy six hundredweight of meat ; meat ex- hausted of its juice is mere ruhhish ; it is the gelatine only, dissolved in a bouillon of meat or of bone, which constitutes the aliment in these preparations. This proposition, that meat was nutritious only by its gelatine, is as absurd as the contention about the relative value of meat and bone broth. But the very absurdity of the propositions, backed by the evident cheapness of their execution, brought to Devaux, besides, aud in consequence of the Papal blessing, the notice and approval of the French King Louis XVIII. The huraaxi, de charitd of the first arrondissement of Paris had formed an institution du bouillon d’os, and its Maire pre- sented a report on this to the King when the latter visited the place. S. A. E. Madame and the princes being present on this occasion, the King said to Devaux ; ‘ I rejoice in the success of this* institution, and it is to you, sir, that humanity will be indebted for it.’ This was the King on whose table there appeared daily sixty different dishes, and who kept tasting committees even for the fruit to be placed upon his table. He never ate bouillon d’os, and, like the charity of many of the patrons of good kitchens, his charity to the poor included this practical sneer of a decoction of bones. D’Arcet, who had probably some views in common with Devaux, applied himself principally to the production of the bouillon d’os by the treatment of bones with steam, under a pressure slightly exceeding that of the atmosphere. Sub- sequently he adopted the process of Herissant, substituting hydrochloric for nitric acid, and dissolving the gelatinogenous tissue, which was insoluble in acid, in boiling water. Al- though Devaux used the publications of previous inquirers on gelatine without any acknowledgment, yet from ignorance of all principles of science he misinterpreted their results, aud came to entirely fallacious conclusions. D’Arcet was more practical, and advised that all gelatine for the kitchen and 132 THE SPIRIT OF COOKERY all glue for the arts should be made from bones, freed from phosphatic earth by hydrochloric acid. But he seems to have shared to a large extent the errors of Devaux, and although he was in his confidence provoked a concurrence (f.c., competition) of his (D’Arcet’s) gelatine with the hoxdllon d’os. He recommended* the use of gelatine made by this process for the preparation of soup in hospitals, poor-houses, and dispensaries, and to reduce the meat by three - quarters of its former weight ; he pretended to replace (!) every pound of meat by 5 gros of gelatine, but added ‘ vegetables.’ The following were the proportions of ingredients : 50 litres of water, 12 lb. of meat, lb. of dry gelatine, 4 lb. of salt, 16 to 20 lb. of vegetables and spices

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.