Cartouche [kär too sh] n. Circle of greaseproof parchment used to cover a dish while poaching or simmering.
Poaching is a quick way to cook certain cuts of meat - especially fish and poultry. It usually involves cooking the food in a small amount of sauce or liquid, often covered by a cartouche. The cartouche serves two purposes: it keeps the small amount of liquid in a poached dish from evaporating too quickly, and it prevents that unpleasant skin from forming on the top of a sauce.
Here's how to make a cartouche, and some tips for its use in poaching.
(Image credit: Screenshot from Kitchen Pirate video)
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Comments (5)
ooo, useful info!
Why this rather than a lid? That looks like a potential fire, with the paper right near the open flame!
Pixie, I've used it on a baked item called a panade but . . .
Parchment doesn't make a complete seal, so it lets out some heat/moisture. Probably more about the heat, come to think of it . . . when you put a cast iron lid on a cast iron pot, the heat builds up significantly, but not so with parchment paper.
It sits inside the vessel instead of open to flame.
...plus, when it comes to professional kitchens (where these tend to be used more commonly) this is pretty low on the list of potential fire hazards. Comparatively speaking. :-)
The "how to make a cartouche" link is now broken. But the linked site has a video on the subject here: http://www.thecoolcook.com/my-videos/how-to-make-a-cartouche/