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Consommé is a classic French clarified stock, or clear soup, that’s been around since the sixteenth century. The French word consommé literally means “consumed” or “finished,” indicating that the soup is more refined than a simple broth. Because of its potent savory flavor and crystal-clear finish, chefs often consider a good consommé the Rolls Royce of broths, well worth hours of effort.Traditionally, consommé is made by adding coagulated egg white proteins to the liquid and simmering to create a “raft” of solids that are then removed to clarify the stock. This sensitive clarification process can take several hours and can be quite expensive in restaurants due to the time involved. Using modern ingredients, however, we can achieve the same results, with fortified flavor, in less time. This simple method yields a savory, aromatic broth that you can easily flavor with botanicals or herbs once the stock is clarified.Why does this method work? Well, cellulosic gums like methylcellulose F50 will gel when hot, so when you whisk a foam of methylcellulose into the stock and heat it up, it will solidify and rise to the surface, pulling up oils and other small particles with it, and leaving a clear consommé behind. Those tiny droplets of oils and small particles make stock cloudy by scattering light. When you remove them, you have a crystal-clear, golden consommé. The advantage of using methylcellulose over egg whites is that egg white proteins carry an electrostatic charge that tends to “gather up” aroma molecules, removing them from the stock and making for a less flavorful consommé. Methylcellulose yields a clarified stock with a deeper and more aromatic flavor profile. If you don’t have methylcellulose F50, you can use several other cellulosic gums—the differences lie in their various gelling properties. In general, F50 is a great cellulosic gum to have in your pantry because you can use it for almost all recipes that call for methylcellulose. The only exceptions are recipes that require certain sensitive reactions, but these are rare.