Mousse and Mousseline by Santosh Malkoti

The terms mousse and mousseline are often used inter-changeably and confused with each other.

Mousse
The 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.

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.

INGREDIENTS USED FOR MOUSSELINE :
• Seafood - Mix of seafood or only one kind of seafood can be used (scallops, lobster, shrimp, salmon)
• Meats & Poultry - The meat of the young animal is the proper choice because it is rich in connective tissue proteins. (chicken breast, duckling breast, loin of veal, calf/chicken liver)
• Eggs - Eggs act as a secondary binder. Seafood items that create a stronger bind need a less powerful secondary binder ingredient. Therefore, they are often bound with lower protein whole eggs/yolks. Meats that create a weaker primary bind often must be bound with high protein egg whites to give them more structure.
• Cream - Cream act as fat. Heavy cream, fat content 36% or higher is considered best to create a strong emulsion. The cream should be fresh & smooth and show no signs of curdling.
• Seasonings & flavorings - Whatever seasonings & flavorings are used, they must not mar the smooth texture of the mousseline. Spices & herbs should be minced extremely fine. Vegetables must be pureed and then reduced (moisture cooked off) so as not to dilute the forcemeat.