By Linda
"For to us, pho is life, love and all things that matter. We treasure pho, and most of us have loved it since the day we were old enough to hold a pair of chopsticks."~ Mai Pham
Bone broths and stocks have long traditions of being made and consumed in many cultures. Beef, lamb, venison, poultry and fish and shellfish are all used. All foodies understand that these rich broths are necessary to make great tasting food. The piece of knowledge that has been lost for the most part in modern times is that these same broths provide some of the most nutritious food available to us. In our very busy lives these days, few have time to roast bones for hours and then boil them. Sally Fallon writes in one of my favorite food/cookbooks entitled "Nourishing Traditions" which is based on the research of Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist who traveled the world studying isolated human groups and their traditional diets. Fallon writes, "Properly prepared, meat stocks are extremely nutritious, containing the minerals of bone, cartilage, marrow and vegetables as electrolytes, a form that is easy to assimilate... The public is generally unaware of the large amount of research on the beneficial effects of gelatin taken with food. Gelatin acts first and foremost as an aid to digestion and has been used successfully in the treatment of many intestinal disorders."
"For to us, pho is life, love and all things that matter. We treasure pho, and most of us have loved it since the day we were old enough to hold a pair of chopsticks."~ Mai Pham
"Indeed, stock is everything in cooking... without it nothing can be done."~ Auguste Escoffier
For years I worked in a restaurant kitchen in which we made a very large quantity of bone broth (stock) once per week. It was the base for many of our soups and sauces. Every week, we would roast a huge pan of veal bones for hours in the oven until very brown. After that, we would boil them for many more hours until a deep brown and fragrant stock was made. When eating out, I can almost always tell if a restaurant is making its own stock. Homemade stock lends the most incredible and complex flavors that simply cannot be achieved in any other way.
Bone broths and stocks have long traditions of being made and consumed in many cultures. Beef, lamb, venison, poultry and fish and shellfish are all used. All foodies understand that these rich broths are necessary to make great tasting food. The piece of knowledge that has been lost for the most part in modern times is that these same broths provide some of the most nutritious food available to us. In our very busy lives these days, few have time to roast bones for hours and then boil them. Sally Fallon writes in one of my favorite food/cookbooks entitled "Nourishing Traditions" which is based on the research of Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist who traveled the world studying isolated human groups and their traditional diets. Fallon writes, "Properly prepared, meat stocks are extremely nutritious, containing the minerals of bone, cartilage, marrow and vegetables as electrolytes, a form that is easy to assimilate... The public is generally unaware of the large amount of research on the beneficial effects of gelatin taken with food. Gelatin acts first and foremost as an aid to digestion and has been used successfully in the treatment of many intestinal disorders."
I truly believe that it is well worth your time to make your own bone broth/stocks and then freeze them in pint or quart sized containers which can be used in place of commercially made stocks of dubious origin, and devoid of essential nutrients and flavor.
Linda's Pho Bo ~ Vietnamese Beef Broth with Kelp Noodles
