Quenelle

A quenelle (French pronunciation: [kə.nɛl]) is a mixture of creamed fish or meat, sometimes combined with breadcrumbs, with a light egg binding, formed into an egg-like shape, and then cooked.^[1] The usual preparation is by poaching. Formerly, quenelles were often used as a garnish in haute cuisine. Today, they are more commonly served sauced as a dish in their own right. Similar items are found in many cuisines.

For the gesture, see Quenelle (gesture).

Quenelle de brochet sauce Nantua

By extension, a quenelle may also be another food made into a similar shape, such as ice cream, sorbet, butter, or mashed potato quenelles.^[2]

Etymology

19th-century illustration showing how quenelle dumplings were made

The word quenelle is attested from 1750. The commonly accepted etymology is that it derives from the German Knödel (noodle or dumpling).^[3]

Quenelles de brochet

Lyon and Nantua are famous for their quenelles de brochet (pike quenelles), often served with sauce Nantua (crayfish sauce) or sauce mousseline (cream sauce) and run under a grill. The classic dish of quenelles de brochet Nantua or simply quenelles Nantua consists of pike quenelles with sauce Nantua, both pike and crayfish being specialties of the Nantua area.^[4] Pike quenelles were invented by a chef named Bontemps to deal with the pike's "multitude of long, fine, forked bones".^[5][6]

Quenelles de brochet are prepared in many ways, but most recipes first prepare a panade, essentially a thick white sauce, then combine the panade with fish, and put the mixture through a sieve such as a tamis, yielding a forcemeat. The quenelles are shaped from the forcemeat and then poached. They may be served sauced and grilled, or with a variety of sauces.^[7]

See also

• Lyonnaise cuisine
• Gefilte fish
• Fishball
• Meatball
• Tsukune
• Vorschmack