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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Gloucester Sauce
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 135, Gloucester Sauce, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Sauce Gloucester turns one cold emulsion into another: thick mayonnaise softened with lemoned sour cream, then sharpened by fennel and Worcester sauce, smooth enough to spoon over cold meats but never runny.
Sauces & Condiments
French
Picnic
Make Ahead
Weeknight
10 min
Active Time
0 min cook•40 min total
YieldAbout 1¼ cups (300 ml), or 8 condiment servings
Sauce Gloucester (a cold mayonnaise sauce for meats) teaches the quiet discipline of loosening an emulsion without undoing it. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is that there is no pan: very thick mayonnaise receives lemoned sour cream by degrees. Pour the cream in at once and the sauce can turn loose and greasy; feed it slowly and it becomes pale, glossy, and properly spoonable.
The original entry begins with a pint of mayonnaise and assumes a saucier with that foundation already made, plus enough cold meat to justify the quantity. At home, use a bowl, a small whisk, and one cup of excellent thick mayonnaise. The batch is reduced, but the book's five parts mayonnaise to one part sour cream remains intact, with the lemon, fennel, and Worcester sauce scaled beside it. The service quantity is brigade scaffolding and can go. Gradual incorporation is the dish and must stay. A stockpot and salamander have no work here. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Finished Sauce Gloucester should lie in a soft fold from the spoon, rich but freshly acidulated, with fennel lifting the cream and Worcester sauce giving a discreet savoury edge. Whisk the sour cream and lemon perfectly smooth first, then add that mixture to the mayonnaise in small measures. That gradual addition is the step that matters most.
In this form, Sauce Gloucester belongs to the French classical family of sauces froides (cold sauces), in which a finished mayonnaise is varied for cold dishes with cream, herbs, and bottled condiments. Its name and Worcester sauce give it a deliberate English accent, but its construction is French: preserve the mother emulsion, extend it carefully, then season it for the food it accompanies. The name does not make it a record of Gloucestershire household cookery; within the grand-kitchen canon, foreign place names often signalled the flavouring that distinguished one derivative sauce from another.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
very thick full-fat mayonnaise
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 230 g)
divided
full-fat sour cream
Quantity
⅕ cup (48 ml / 48 g)
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
2½ teaspoons (12 ml / 12 g)
fresh fennel fronds
Quantity
scant ½ teaspoon (2 ml / 0.5 g)
very finely chopped
Worcester sauce (Worcestershire sauce)
Quantity
scant ½ teaspoon (2 ml / 2 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| very thick full-fat mayonnaisedivided | 1 cup (240 ml / 230 g) |
| full-fat sour cream | ⅕ cup (48 ml / 48 g) |
| fresh lemon juice | 2½ teaspoons (12 ml / 12 g) |
| fresh fennel frondsvery finely chopped | scant ½ teaspoon (2 ml / 0.5 g) |
| Worcester sauce (Worcestershire sauce) | scant ½ teaspoon (2 ml / 2 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium nonreactive mixing bowl
- •Small balloon whisk
- •Flexible spatula
- •Lidded 350 ml container
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the cream
Let the mayonnaise and sour cream stand outside the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, just until both are cool rather than rigidly cold. Whisk the sour cream and lemon juice together until completely smooth. Matching their temperatures helps the two mixtures combine evenly; lumps of very cold sour cream encourage over-whisking later.
- 2
Loosen by degrees
Set aside 1 tablespoon of the measured mayonnaise as insurance, then place the remainder in a medium bowl. Whisk in 1 teaspoon of the lemoned sour cream and wait until the mayonnaise is smooth before adding the next. Repeat several times, then continue in a fine ribbon, whisking gently after every addition. The mayonnaise should relax into a pale, glossy sauce without becoming runny. If it turns oily, grainy, or curdled, stop. Ça se rattrape: put the reserved mayonnaise in a clean bowl and whisk the troubled sauce into it 1 teaspoon at a time until the emulsion is smooth again, then continue slowly. If no rescue is needed, whisk in the reserved mayonnaise at the end.
The first additions matter most. Once the mayonnaise has accepted several small spoonfuls, it can receive the remaining cream more readily, but never pour it in all at once. - 3
Add the flavourings
Fold in the finely chopped fennel and Worcester sauce until evenly dispersed. Taste the sauce with a morsel of the cold meat you intend to serve, since Sauce Gloucester is made to season food rather than impress from the spoon alone. It should coat the meat generously, with lemon first, a fresh fennel note behind it, and Worcester sauce supplying depth without announcing itself.
- 4
Rest and serve
Cover and refrigerate the sauce for 30 minutes so the fennel settles into the emulsion. Stir gently before serving; if it feels stiff from the cold, let it stand for 5 minutes rather than thinning it. Spoon it alongside cold roast beef, ham, tongue, veal, or poached chicken. For a picnic, carry it over ice and return it to the cold promptly. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Begin with genuinely thick mayonnaise, homemade or an excellent full-fat prepared one. A loose mayonnaise has no strength to spare when the sour cream arrives.
- •Use full-fat sour cream. Crème fraîche is milder and less sharply soured, while yogurt brings a different texture and flavour; neither reproduces the balance of this formula.
- •The fennel means tender green fronds, chopped almost to a paste. Bulb would remain coarse in the sauce, and fennel seed would dominate it.
- •Worcester sauce is seasoning here, not a principal flavour. Measure it. A generous splash turns a pale, poised sauce brown and blunt.
- •At a picnic, keep the sauce at or below 4°C in a well-iced cooler. Do not leave a mayonnaise and cream sauce unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours, or more than 1 hour in very hot weather.
Advance Preparation
- •Sauce Gloucester can be made a day ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then stir gently before serving rather than whisking air into it.
- •With prepared mayonnaise, the finished sauce keeps for up to 3 days under refrigeration. If using homemade raw-yolk mayonnaise, follow the egg-safety guidance for that mayonnaise and use the sauce sooner.
- •The fennel can be washed, dried thoroughly, and chopped earlier in the day. Keep it wrapped and cold so its delicate green flavour stays fresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 37g)
Calories
210 calories
Total Fat
23 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
16 mg
Sodium
190 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
0 g
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