Consommé with Bird's Nests

Ingredients

• 1 chicken consommé (with nutritive elements tripled)
• bird's nests (nids d'hirondelles)

Instructions

1. Soak the bird's nests in cold water for 2 hours. This soaking swells the mucilaginous element of the nests and renders them translucent.
2. After soaking, perform meticulous and essential purification work: carefully remove any debris of feathers, shells, and other matter trapped in the agglomerated mass using the point of a small larding needle.
3. Blanch the cleaned nests for 5 to 6 minutes, then drain them thoroughly.
4. Plunge the blanched nests into boiling consommé. From this point forward, maintain the consommé at a gentle, well-regulated simmer for three-quarters of an hour. This duration is sufficient to break down the nests, provided they are of good quality.
5. After this dissolution process, only the filaments remain. The mucilaginous element dissolves into the consommé, giving it its characteristic viscosity.