MOUSSE

The cold mousse is a delicacy that is sure to delight the eye and please the palate as well. A mousse can be defined as a mixture of cooked ingredients, pureed and held together with gelatin, veloute sauce, mayonnaise or aspic jelly, then enriched with cream and sometimes flavored with wine. The mousse is always served cold, very often attractively moulded.

A mousse is made with cooked meat, fish, poultry and nowadays, increasingly with vegetables. The method of preparation is the same for all recipes, whatever the ingredients used. The ingredients are first pureed, and then mixed with a binding agent like gelatin. Then cream and seasoning are blended in. Mousse is often served on the cold buffet and at times for luncheon.

MOUSSELINE

Mousseline is made out of a combination of uncooked meat that are pureed and bound with egg white and sometimes cream. They are set by cooking.

Normally, the forcemeat for a mousseline is made out of fish. The raw fish is processed along with egg white to a fine paste. Seasoning and a little cream can be incorporated towards the end of the procesing. The mixture may be flavored with herbs like dill and parsley. It is then spooned into moulds like a timbale and then covered and steamed until the mixture has set. Mousseline can be served hot or chilled in the refrigerator and then serve cold. Fish like salmon, trout, sole and other light white fish are normally used. Shell- fish like crab, shrimp, prawn and lobster are also popular. Mousseline is a good way to use p trimmings and left overs while pre- preparing fish. Besides fish, other ingredients like ham can also be used to make mousseline. Small timbales of mousseline can also be used as an accompaniment of the main course and also to decorate the cold meat platters that are set out on a buffet presentation.