Chef Juliette
Ordinary or White Consommé
Beef shin, lean beef, and fowl begin in cold water and rise slowly toward a tremble. Skim before the boil, and you learn the quiet discipline that gives every clear French broth its backbone.
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Gribiche Sauce
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 125, Gribiche Sauce, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Hard-boiled yolks, mustard, and patient oil make sauce gribiche, a cool, softly textured emulsion sharpened with capers, gherkins, three herbs, and fine rods of egg white for cold fish.
Sauces & Condiments
French
Dinner Party
Picnic
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
10 min cook•1 hr total
YieldAbout 1 cup (240 ml), enough for 4 to 6 servings
Sauce gribiche (a cold hard-boiled egg emulsion) teaches one clean lesson: an emulsion begins with a stable base, not with the oil. Work the cooked yolks and French mustard absolutely smooth first, and the sauce will accept its oil patiently. Rush that foundation and you chase little yellow lumps around the bowl all evening.
The original formula assumed a saucier working six yolks and a pint of oil in a broad basin. For one cook, that brigade quantity is scaffolding, so this version makes one-third of it in a sturdy mixing bowl with a fork and a small whisk. The proportions, the cooked-yolk foundation, and the order of the oil remain untouched because those are the dish. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The finished gribiche should be pale ochre and softly spoonable, with mustard beneath the richness, little sparks of caper and gherkin, green herbs, and distinct white julienne. Before the first drop of oil goes in, make the yolk and mustard paste completely smooth. That is the step that decides the sauce.
Gribiche belongs to the Parisian classical cold-sauce repertoire, then traveled easily to bistro and bourgeois tables because it needs no last-minute heat. It is closely associated with tête de veau, cold fish, boiled meats, and spring vegetables, although this formula places cold fish first. Despite its resemblance to mayonnaise, gribiche is not simply flavored mayonnaise: cooked yolks give it a thicker, more textured emulsion, and the julienned white belongs to its classical structure rather than serving as decoration.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large eggs
Quantity
2 large eggs
hard-boiled; use both yolks and the white of 1
smooth French mustard
Quantity
1 generous teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g)
fine sea salt
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g)
finely ground white pepper
Quantity
1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml / 0.1 g)
neutral oil, such as sunflower or grapeseed
Quantity
¾ cup plus 2 teaspoons (190 ml / 174 g)
at room temperature
equal-parts mixture of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chervil, and tarragon
Quantity
⅔ teaspoon (3.3 ml / 0.5 g)
finely chopped
equal-parts mixture of capers and gherkins
Quantity
⅔ teaspoon (3.3 ml / 3 g)
capers drained and gherkins finely chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large eggshard-boiled; use both yolks and the white of 1 | 2 large eggs |
| smooth French mustard | 1 generous teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) |
| fine sea salt | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g) |
| finely ground white pepper | 1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml / 0.1 g) |
| neutral oil, such as sunflower or grapeseedat room temperature | ¾ cup plus 2 teaspoons (190 ml / 174 g) |
| equal-parts mixture of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chervil, and tarragonfinely chopped | ⅔ teaspoon (3.3 ml / 0.5 g) |
| equal-parts mixture of capers and gherkinscapers drained and gherkins finely chopped | ⅔ teaspoon (3.3 ml / 3 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan with lid
- •Medium heavy mixing bowl
- •Dinner fork or wooden spoon
- •Small whisk
- •Sharp paring knife
Instructions
- 1
Hard-boil the eggs
Put the eggs in a small saucepan, cover them with cold water by 2.5 cm, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes, then transfer the eggs to cold water until cool enough to handle. Peel them, separate both yolks, and reserve the white of one egg; the second white is not used because the source formula uses half as many whites as yolks.
- 2
Cut the garnishes
Cut the reserved egg white en julienne, into short matchstick rods about 2 cm long. Chop the parsley, chervil, and tarragon finely and mix them in equal proportions. Mix equal quantities of drained capers and finely chopped gherkins separately. Keep all three garnishes ready beside the bowl so the finished emulsion is not left waiting.
Short julienne matters here. Long strips tangle on the spoon, while minced white disappears into the sauce; small, even rods remain distinct. - 3
Smooth the yolks
Crush the two cooked yolks against the side of a sturdy bowl with a fork until no firm pieces remain. Add the French mustard, salt, and white pepper, then work everything with the fork or a wooden spoon into a perfectly smooth, dense paste. Reserve 1 teaspoon of this paste in a small cup. If you can still see yolk crumbs, keep working; oil will coat those crumbs, not remove them.
- 4
Build the emulsion
Beat the oil into the yolk paste a few drops at a time until the first 2 tablespoons are fully absorbed. Continue in a very thin thread, beating steadily and waiting for each addition to disappear before adding more. The gribiche will loosen, then gain a soft, satiny body. If oil gathers in a shiny slick, stop. Ça se rattrape: put the reserved yolk paste in a clean bowl and beat the broken sauce into it one teaspoon at a time until smooth, then continue slowly. If the sauce merely grows stiff but remains uniform, pause briefly and beat again; stiffness is not a broken emulsion.
A small bowl with high sides keeps the yolk base gathered beneath the whisk. In a wide platter, two yolks spread too thinly to hold the early drops of oil. - 5
Fold and rest
If the reserved yolk paste was not needed for a rescue, beat it back into the emulsion. Fold in the chopped herb mixture, the caper and gherkin mixture, and finally the egg-white julienne, using only enough strokes to distribute them evenly. Taste for salt, cover, and let the sauce rest in the cold for 15 minutes. Serve cool rather than icy with cold fish, spooning it generously so every portion receives yolk, herbs, capers, gherkins, and white. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose a quiet oil. Sunflower or grapeseed lets the French mustard, herbs, capers, and gherkins speak; a strongly flavored oil would rewrite the sauce.
- •Many modern gribiches add vinegar or gherkin brine. This source formula does not, so neither does this recipe. The mustard supplies its sharpness, and adding more liquid would change both the flavor and the emulsion.
- •Use only one cooked white for two yolks. The unused white is not waste, but fidelity to the original proportion; too much white turns a sauce into an egg salad.
- •Gribiche is particularly good with cold poached fish, but it also belongs beside tête de veau, boiled beef, asparagus, leeks, and artichokes. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
- •Keep the finished sauce covered and refrigerated, and use it within 3 days. Let it stand outside the cold for 10 to 15 minutes before serving so the oil regains its soft texture.
Advance Preparation
- •The eggs may be hard-boiled and refrigerated a day ahead. Peel and separate them shortly before making the sauce so their surfaces do not dry.
- •The herbs, capers, and gherkins may be prepared several hours ahead and held separately in covered containers in the cold.
- •The completed gribiche may be made a day before serving. Cover it directly against the surface, refrigerate it, then let it soften for 10 to 15 minutes and stir gently before bringing it to the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 42g)
Calories
280 calories
Total Fat
31 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
27 g
Cholesterol
60 mg
Sodium
135 mg
Total Carbohydrates
0 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
2 g
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