Chef Juliette
Aioli Sauce, or Provence Butter
Aïoli is garlic pounded to silk, then bound with yolk and olive oil one patient drop at a time, an ivory-gold emulsion with enough force to anchor a long outdoor supper.
Culinary Explorer
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Andalouse Sauce
Created by Chef Juliette
Sauce Andalouse teaches the discipline of every cold derivative sauce: begin with a stable emulsion, add deep tomato in measured stages, then fold in fine capsicum without sacrificing its clean gloss.
Sauces & Condiments
French
Dinner Party
Make Ahead
Picnic
20 min
Active Time
10 min cook•1 hr total
YieldAbout 2 quarts (1.9 L)
Sauce Andalouse (mayonnaise reddened with concentrated tomato and fine capsicum) teaches one true principle: a derivative sauce can only be as sound as its foundation. The tomato purée must be cool, deeply concentrated, and thick enough to hold the track of a spoon. Thin purée turns a clean emulsion into coral soup.
The original formula assumed a saucier with pints of Mayonnaise Sauce (No. 126) already standing by, not a stockpot or a salamander. Your honest home equivalent is the same finished sauce in a wide bowl, scaled to about two quarts for a dinner party or picnic crowd. The great basin is brigade scaffolding and can go; the quarter-volume proportion of tomato and the final capsicum julienne are the dish, so both remain untouched. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, Andalouse is rosy-red, cool, glossy, and threaded with crisp scarlet matchsticks. Add the purée gradually so the emulsion has time to accept it, and keep a little mayonnaise in reserve because, if the sauce turns oily, ça se rattrape. Check the purée before it meets the mayonnaise: cool, thick, brilliantly red, and holding a clean spoon track. That is the step that decides the sauce.
Sauce Andalouse belongs to the French grand-kitchen family of cold mayonnaise derivatives, in which one stable base became many distinct sauces through measured additions and precise cutting. Its name gestures toward Andalusia through tomato and capsicum, ingredients French sauce nomenclature associated with Spain, but this formula is not a traditional sauce of an Andalusian regional table. It traveled naturally from the cold buffet to the bourgeois dining table and picnic basket, accompanying eggs, cold fish, shellfish, and poultry.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Mayonnaise Sauce
Quantity
6⅖ cups (1.51 L / 1.45 kg) Mayonnaise Sauce (No. 126)
very red, double-concentrated tomato purée
Quantity
1⅗ cups (380 ml / 415 g)
cooled completely
red capsicum (sweet red pepper)
Quantity
2 loosely packed cups (475 ml / 225 g)
seeded and cut into very fine julienne
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Mayonnaise Sauce | 6⅖ cups (1.51 L / 1.45 kg) Mayonnaise Sauce (No. 126) |
| very red, double-concentrated tomato puréecooled completely | 1⅗ cups (380 ml / 415 g) |
| red capsicum (sweet red pepper)seeded and cut into very fine julienne | 2 loosely packed cups (475 ml / 225 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •4-quart nonreactive mixing bowl
- •Balloon whisk
- •Flexible silicone spatula
- •Sharp chef's knife
- •Small saucepan, only if the tomato purée needs reducing
Instructions
- 1
Check the foundation
Measure the Mayonnaise Sauce (No. 126) into a wide nonreactive bowl, reserving ¼ cup (60 ml / 55 g) in a second clean bowl for possible rescue. Let the sauce and tomato purée stand for about 15 minutes so they reach the same cool kitchen temperature. Drag a spoon through the purée: the track should remain clean and open. If the purée runs back into it, simmer the purée gently in a small pan until it holds that track, then cool it completely before proceeding. Warm or watery purée loosens the emulsion.
Double-concentrated tomato purée from a tube or tin is the honest home equivalent. Passata and ordinary canned tomato purée contain too much water unless reduced. - 2
Fold in the tomato
Add the tomato purée to the Mayonnaise Sauce (No. 126) in four additions, folding each one through with a flexible spatula before adding the next. Use broad, deliberate strokes until the colour is even and the sauce regains its gloss. The quarter-volume proportion is not brigade scaffolding; it is the character of Andalouse. If the sauce becomes oily or curdled, stop. Whisk the broken sauce into the reserved mayonnaise one spoonful at a time until it comes back together, then continue slowly. Ça se rattrape. If no rescue is needed, fold the reserved mayonnaise back in now.
- 3
Cut the capsicum
Remove every seed and strip of white pith from the capsicum, then cut it julienne-fashion, into very fine matchstick rods about 2.5 cm long. Blot the cut capsicum dry; surface water has no place in a finished emulsion. Fold it through the tomato mayonnaise only after the sauce is completely uniform, preserving the book's sequence and giving every spoonful a little crispness.
- 4
Rest the sauce
Cover the Andalouse directly against its surface and chill it for at least 30 minutes. The rest lets the capsicum settle through the sauce without surrendering its bite. Taste it as it stands, but don't add lemon, vinegar, sugar, or extra oil; the Mayonnaise Sauce already carries its seasoning, and the source formula asks for no correction beyond tomato and capsicum.
- 5
Serve it cool
Let the sauce stand outside the refrigerator for 10 minutes so it becomes supple, then spoon it into a sauceboat and serve with cold poached fish, shellfish, eggs, or sliced poultry. For a picnic, keep the covered sauce nested over ice until the moment of serving. Bring it out generous and visibly threaded with capsicum. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The tomato purée must be very red and concentrated. Tomato paste is suitable, provided it tastes clean and bright; ketchup is sweetened and seasoned, while passata is too wet. Neither preserves the sauce's intent.
- •Cut the capsicum finely and keep it raw. Roasting changes both its texture and its flavour, while coarse pieces fall away from the sauce instead of seasoning each spoonful. The julienne is part of the dish, not decoration.
- •The proportion is exact: one volume of concentrated tomato purée for every four volumes of mayonnaise, followed by 2 ounces of capsicum for each pint of finished sauce. You may halve the batch, but halve every component together.
- •This is splendid beside cold salmon, hard-cooked eggs, poached shellfish, or roast chicken served at room temperature. Its colour is lively enough; parsley, flowers, and clever little dots would only get in its way.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the Andalouse up to one day ahead and refrigerate it with covering pressed directly against the surface. The flavour settles nicely, though the capsicum is crispest within the first two days.
- •Keep the sauce refrigerated and use it within three days, particularly when the Mayonnaise Sauce contains raw yolks. For a picnic, carry it in a sealed container surrounded by ice packs and return it to the cooler promptly after serving.
- •Do not freeze Andalouse. Freezing breaks the emulsion and leaves the raw capsicum limp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 30g)
Calories
145 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
9 mg
Sodium
150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
0 g
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