Chef Juliette
Matelote au Vin Blanc
Fish poached gently in white wine, its liquor reduced and joined with fish velouté, then mounted with butter and ringed by crayfish and heart croûtons: company cooking built on control, not fuss.
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Matelote au Vin Rouge
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1037, Matelote au Vin Rouge, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
A riverman's matelote of freshwater fish and red wine, poached gently, reduced by one-third, and bound off the boil until the sauce gleams wine-dark and glossy.
Main Dishes
French
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
35 min cook•1 hr total
Yield4 servings
Matelote au Vin Rouge (freshwater fish braised in red wine) teaches one decisive piece of sauce grammar: the fish and its cooking liquor finish at different moments. Cook the fish only until tender, lift it intact, then reduce the wine without it. Leave the fish in while the sauce finds its body and you will have a fine sauce surrounding dry fragments.
The entry assumes a saucier who can move the fish between pans and a hot timbale waiting at service. Its two pounds of fish already make four generous portions, so I have not altered the proportions. One wide sauté pan handles the poaching, reduction, and final warming, a covered warm dish replaces the holding saucepan, and a deep serving bowl does the timbale's work. That extra pan was brigade scaffolding. The one-third reduction and final liaison are the dish, and both stay. No stockpot or salamander belongs here. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Properly made, the sauce is wine-dark garnet, glossy with real butter, and just thick enough to cling without burying the fish. The final liaison, the binding, is beurre manié (kneaded butter), carried in the book as Manied Butter (No. 151). Whisk it in off the boil and keep the finished sauce below a simmer. That quiet final binding is the step that matters most.
Matelote au vin rouge belongs to the river inns of the Seine and Marne basin around Paris, where boatmen and fishers cooked the freshwater catch in wine. Grand kitchens adopted its poaching liquor, reduction, and final liaison, but the dish kept its river-table character. Eel became its emblem, yet carp, tench, bream, and perch are equally classical, and a matelote may contain one kind of fish or several.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cleaned firm freshwater fish
Quantity
2 lb (907 g)
cut into uniform 2-inch (5 cm) sections
onion
Quantity
1 medium (about 1 cup / 150 g)
minced
bouquet garni
Quantity
1
4 parsley stems, 1 thyme sprig, and 1 bay leaf, tied
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
lightly crushed
dry red wine
Quantity
1 imperial pint (2⅜ cups / 568 ml / about 560 g)
fine salt
Quantity
1 pinch (about 1/16 teaspoon / 0.4 g)
whole black peppercorns
Quantity
4
brandy
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / about 42 g)
Manied Butter
Quantity
3½ tablespoons (52 ml / about 50 g) Manied Butter (No. 151)
freshly prepared, chilled, and cut into small pieces
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cleaned firm freshwater fishcut into uniform 2-inch (5 cm) sections | 2 lb (907 g) |
| onionminced | 1 medium (about 1 cup / 150 g) |
| bouquet garni4 parsley stems, 1 thyme sprig, and 1 bay leaf, tied | 1 |
| garliclightly crushed | 2 cloves |
| dry red wine | 1 imperial pint (2⅜ cups / 568 ml / about 560 g) |
| fine salt | 1 pinch (about 1/16 teaspoon / 0.4 g) |
| whole black peppercorns | 4 |
| brandy | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / about 42 g) |
| Manied Butterfreshly prepared, chilled, and cut into small pieces | 3½ tablespoons (52 ml / about 50 g) Manied Butter (No. 151) |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch (30 cm) wide sauté pan with a tight-fitting lid
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Heatproof measuring jug
- •Small saucepan and long match for the brandy
- •Warm deep serving bowl
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the fish
Ask the fishmonger to clean and scale the fish, then cut larger fish crosswise into uniform 2-inch (5 cm) sections. Bone-in pieces lend the cooking liquor more body, but large fillet portions are easier at the table. Use one variety, or fish of similar firmness, if you want every piece ready together.
- 2
Start the wine poach
Arrange the fish in a single snug layer in a 12-inch (30 cm) wide sauté pan. Scatter over the minced onion, bouquet garni, garlic, salt, and peppercorns, then pour in the red wine. Bring the liquid just to its first boil over medium heat. Do not stir the fish; shake the pan gently if the aromatics need settling.
- 3
Burn the brandy safely
Warm the measured brandy in a small saucepan until hot but not boiling. Turn off every burner and the range hood, move the saucepan away from the stove, and ignite the brandy with a long match. Let the flame die completely, then pour the burnt brandy over the fish. Cover the sauté pan, lower the heat, and cook at the barest tremble for 8 to 18 minutes, depending on the fish, until each piece is opaque, yields in large flakes, and reaches 145°F (63°C) at its thickest point. Lift out pieces as they finish. If one begins to split, remove it immediately; the retained heat will complete the cooking without turning it to fragments.
Never pour brandy directly from its bottle near a flame. If an open flame is unsuitable in your kitchen, boil the measured brandy alone for 45 seconds before adding it; this removes its raw alcoholic edge while preserving the source recipe's intent. - 4
Lift, strain, reduce
Transfer the cooked fish carefully to a warm shallow dish and cover it loosely. Strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve into a heatproof measuring jug without pressing the onion or herbs, which would cloud the sauce. Measure the liquor, wipe the sauté pan clean, and return the liquid to it. Boil uncovered until its volume has fallen by exactly one-third, leaving two-thirds of what you measured. The fish is safely out of the pan now, so the reduction can be brisk.
- 5
Bind off the boil
Take the pan completely off the heat. Add the cold Manied Butter (No. 151) one small piece at a time, whisking each piece smooth before adding the next. Return the pan to the lowest heat only as needed, whisking until the sauce coats the back of a spoon with a light, even gloss. Once the liaison has entered, do not let the sauce boil. If the first bubbles appear, lift the pan immediately and whisk in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cold water to arrest the heat. Ça se rattrape. If small lumps remain, pass the sauce through the clean sieve and continue gently; a prolonged boil gives the sauce the raw-flour taste the source warns against.
Add the Manied Butter (No. 151) gradually. The sauce may reach the proper body before the final piece, especially if the wine reduced quickly in a broad pan. - 6
Warm and serve
Return the fish to the sauce and spoon the sauce over it rather than stirring. Warm everything over very low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, never allowing a simmer. If the sauce tightens too far around the fish, loosen it with a spoonful of hot water. Transfer the matelote to a warmed deep serving bowl, the home equivalent of the book's timbale, and bring it directly to the table. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The source permits one fish or several. For the calmest first matelote, choose one firm freshwater fish and cut every piece to the same thickness. Catfish is an honest home-market equivalent when carp, eel, tench, or bream cannot be found.
- •Choose a dry, supple red wine with moderate tannin, such as Pinot Noir or Gamay. A heavily oaked or fiercely tannic bottle becomes harder and more bitter as it reduces. Use something you would happily pour at the table, but keep the grand bottle for drinking.
- •Prepare the Manied Butter (No. 151) immediately before binding, as its own entry directs. Keep it cold and add it gradually. Butter, not margarine; the sauce depends on the butter for both its gloss and its clean finish.
- •This specific entry strains out its onion, garlic, and bouquet garni and calls for no mushroom garnish, pearl onions, or fried croûtons. Serve it as written, with bread or plainly boiled potatoes alongside to catch the wine-dark sauce.
Advance Preparation
- •Have the fishmonger clean and portion the fish up to one day ahead. Keep it covered in the coldest part of the refrigerator, set over a tray so no liquid can escape.
- •For a dinner party, poach the fish and reduce the strained cooking liquor up to 4 hours ahead. Cool them promptly in separate shallow containers, cover, and refrigerate. Rewarm the liquor gently, bind it with freshly prepared Manied Butter (No. 151), then add the fish only long enough to heat through.
- •Do not bind the sauce the day before. The matelote reheats more cleanly when the reduced liquor and fish are held separately and the liaison is made shortly before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
390 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
160 mg
Sodium
220 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
42 g
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