“A small farm has to be creative in how they manage their resources.”
Meet Rachael Mamane, the founder of Brooklyn Bouillon, the first sustainable and traceable small-batch artisan stock company based in Brooklyn, NY. Rachael is on a personal mission to help small farmers. A few years ago, when she was working for the greenmarkets in New York City, she had the idea to help meat farmers generate extra income by creating a line of stocks from their unwanted “waste”, such as discarded bones. It was an opportunity no one had seized on. Rachael noticed that none of the local farm stands offered a high-quality stock to home cooks on a consistent basis; a skill she had a knack for, cooking whole animals nose-to-tail throughout her life. So, she approached a few small farms with the idea, tested out a number of stock recipes using their raw materials, and in 2010, Brooklyn Bouillon was born.
What I learned from Rachael is that a good stock, and I mean a really good stock, takes a lot of TLC. I spent close to 12 hours in her commercial kitchen in Sunset Park watching her charmingly, geek out over flavored water. For her, making stocks was a therapeutic and rewarding process: one that involved hours of slowly removing impurities, roasting and adding aromatics at just the right moment, and straining and straining until the stocks reached a pure liquid form. I’ll admit, I was in awe of them. Each batch looked rich, thick and full of all those good things that make us believe soups are cure-alls. The reductions looked beautiful too – a quality achieved through using specific vegetables to add color. Watching the whole process made me sad I always took the easy way out. Which is why I’m really excited to share this process and inspiring company with you. Like me, you may not want to buy canned or boxed up stock at the supermarket ever again.
Enjoy Rachael’s story! If you are interested in picking up a batch, you can connect with Rachael here on her website. She’ll have them stocked up at specialty stores in Brooklyn and at the greenmarkets in a few weeks.
Brooklyn Bouillon’s Current Product Line:
Basic Stock
Pasture-Raised Chicken Stock
Grass-Fed Beef Stock
Local Fish Fumet
Organic Vegetable Stock
Specialty Stock
Cage-Free Duck Stock
Heritage Breed Pork Stock
Local Seafood Stock
Wild Mushroom Stock
Gourmet Demi-Glace
Cage-Free Veal Demi-Glace
Roasted Root Vegetable Demi-Glace
Thanks so much for watching and supporting food. curated. and local food artisans! Happy eating!