To cook completely submerged in barely
simmering liquid. Don't confuse poaching with boiling, which causes most
meats to become dry and tough and delicate fish fillets and eggs to break
apart.
Almost any liquid can be used for poaching,
but water and stock are the most commonly used. One familiar poaching
liquid is the vegetable stock called court bouillon, made by simmering
aromatic vegetables such as carrots, onions, leeks and fennel with a
bouquet garni in water with some white
wine. Other poaching liquids include meat or fish stock, light sugar syrup
(for fruits), and simplest of all, water flavored with herbs and a little
white wine or wine vinegar.
Sometimes the poaching liquid is served
around the poached foods in wide soup bowls so that the liquid serves as a
delicate stock-like sauce. For some poached foods, especially poached
meats, such as French pot-au-feu or Italian bollito misto, the poaching
liquid is served separately as a first-course bouillon. The poaching
liquid can also be saved and used for making soups or sauces.
For even cooking, start large whole fish and
larger pieces of meat in cold liquid and smaller, quicker-cooking foods,
such as small whole fish and fish steaks, in hot liquid. There are several
reasons for this. If a large fish is started in simmering liquid, the
outside of the fish will cook before the heat has a chance to penetrate to
the inside, so that the outside will overcook before the center is cooked.
If on the other hand, a small fish is started in cold water and the water
slowly heated, the fish can overcook before the liquid even reaches the
simmer. Starting in cold liquid encourages slow-cooking meats to throw off
scum that can be carefully skimmed to keep the stock clear. But
quick-cooking of tender meat cuts are best started in simmering liquid so
that the outside cooks quickly, leaving the inside rare to medium-rare.
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