KITCHEN PRACTICE 1 — A Basic White Chicken Stock
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Chapter: French Cookery 3 — Stocks (Fond)

TASK
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Make a basic white chicken stock — blanching the bones first, then
simmering gently with a rough mirepoix and a bouquet garni for at
least a couple of hours, skimming as you go.

WHAT TO DO
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1. Place raw chicken bones (a carcass, wings, or backs all work) in
   a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then
   immediately drain and rinse the bones under cold running water,
   discarding this first water entirely.
2. Return the rinsed bones to the clean pot and cover with fresh
   cold water.
3. Add a rough-cut mirepoix (roughly 2 parts onion, 1 part carrot,
   1 part celery by weight) and the bouquet garni you practiced
   tying in Chapter 1.
4. Bring to a bare simmer — small, occasional bubbles only — and
   hold it there for at least 2 hours, skimming off any grey foam
   that rises to the surface every 20-30 minutes.
5. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the solids, and cool
   the stock quickly (an ice bath, or dividing it into shallow
   containers).

WHAT TO EXPECT
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- After blanching, the bones should look noticeably cleaner and
  paler than before — a real, visible difference from the raw bones
  you started with.
- The stock should stay genuinely clear throughout the simmer, not
  cloudy, as long as it never rises past a bare simmer.
- The finished stock should taste mild, savoury, and pale in colour
  — nothing browned or roasted about it.

WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER
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Blanching the bones does real, visible work before the main simmer
even begins — it's not a token first step, but what removes the
surface impurities that would otherwise cloud the stock later on.
Combined with a bare simmer and regular skimming, this is what
produces the clear, delicate white stock Chapters 4 and 5 later
depend on for a béchamel, velouté, and hollandaise that stay pale
rather than muddy.