FORCEMEAT AND ITS TYPES

Forcemeat is taken from the French term ” Farce”, which means pureed, ground or minced. 

Therefore, Forcemeat is defined as the ground or pureed flesh of meat, poultry or fish, which is combined with fat and seasonings and then bound by the process of emulsification or the addition of other binders.

“Farce” can also defined as the stuffing of either meat or non meat types. A farce may be made of bread or vegetables.

Forcemeats can be either fresh or cured. “Fresh forcemeats” refers no nitrates have been added. The nitrates are usually added in the form of curing salts.

“Cured Forcemeats”, indicate curing salt is used as an ingredient. 

USES OF FORCEMEAT

  • Stuffing of various foods such as paupiettes of sole fish.
  • Preparation of terrines like chilled terrine of rabbit
  • Endless varieties of sausages.

TYPES OF FORCEMEATS

  1. Country style forcemeat or Champagne
  2. Straight method forcemeat
  3. Gratin style forcemeat
  4. Mousseline style forcemeat
  5. 5/4/3 Emulsion forcemeat

COUNTRY STYLE FORCEMEAT/CHAMPAGNE FORCEMEAT

  • This forcemeat has a dense, coarse, ground texture, which resulted from the lack of sophisticated grinding equipment available when it was first developed.
  • The earliest forcemeats were chopped with two knives which resulted in the coarse textured, associated with the country style forcemeat.
  • For making country style forcemeat, the seasoning includes: garlic, onion, black pepper corns, juniper berries, bay leaf and nutmeg powder.
  • This style of forcemeat needs additional binding agents to help to hold some of the fat, which is rendered by cooking.
  • binding agents such as Panada (paste prepared from breads or other starch products) or eggs are used.

STRAIGHT FORCEMEAT METHOD

  • This forcemeat is more refined, having a finer, less dense texture.
  • Dominant meat and pork meat or fat is used.
  • White poultry or fish are rarely used as dominant meat.
  • Ideally the type of fat will be pork fat back or jowl fat.
  • Shallots, wine, brandy, all spice and ground white pepper are used as a common seasonings. 

GRATIN STYLE FORCEMEAT

  • In this style of forcemeat, the dominant meat and fats are pre-cooked up to 100%.
  • The texture should be very fine, ground until smooth.
  • The density of this forcemeat is slightly lighter than that of the straight method due to the varying degree of binding power which is lost.
  • No binding agent is added due to its soft texture already,
  • A different nutty flavour due to browning of meat prior to grinding, is achieved in this style of forcemeat, 

MOUSSELINE STYLE FORCEMEAT

  • Cream is the main source of fat in this style of forcemeat.
  • it has a very light and smooth texture.
  • This style of forcemeat is made using lean white or light meats like veal, rabbit, fish like sole, shrimp, chicken breasts.
  • Due to delicate nature of meats and creams used in this forcemeats, it has a unique flavour.
  • The most common seasonings used are shallots, ground white pepper and wine.

5/4/3 EMULSION FORCEMEAT

  • This type of forcemeat is used extensively in sausage making and less often in the kitchen of hotels and restaurants.
  • The normal ratio is 5 parts of meat, 4 parts of fat and 3 parts of ice.
  • A 5/4/3 emulsion forcemeat can be made from virtually any kind of meat.
  • Fish is not considered suitable for this type of forcemeat.
  • Pork jowls are the predominant choice of fat however pork fatback is acceptable.
  • A variety of binders are used in the production of this forcemeat except Panada.