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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Mint Sauce
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 136, Mint Sauce, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Mint cut as fine as green thread, then steeped with vinegar, white cassonade, and water until sharpness turns fragrant. No pan, no boiling, just a clean knife and time beside the lamb.
Sauces & Condiments
French
Easter
Holiday
Make Ahead
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•45 min total
YieldAbout 1/2 cup (120 ml), enough for 4 to 6 servings
Sauce à la menthe (mint sauce) teaches that extraction doesn't always ask for heat. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is that this sauce never meets one. Cut the mint finely without crushing it, and the vinegar draws out its scent while the leaves remain green and distinct.
Unlike the grand sauces, the source formula assumed no saucier, simmering stockpot, or salamander. Its only brigade scaffolding was a ready pair of hands and precise knife work. Here the quantities are halved for one home table, enough for four to six people, while the original proportion of mint, white cassonade, vinegar, and water remains intact. One cook, one bowl, one evening.
The cutting and the standing time are the dish, so neither can go. Use a sharp knife, add the ingredients in the source's order, and let the sauce rest until the sugar has disappeared and the vinegar smells of fresh mint rather than raw sharpness. Before you begin, dry the leaves completely; wet mint dilutes the sauce before it has even started.
Sauce à la menthe entered the French classical repertoire from the British roast table, where mint sharpened the richness of hot lamb and refreshed slices served cold the next day. French sauce manuals kept its English character intact: vinegar and sugar, not butter, stock, or cream. Its place in the canon records culinary borrowing rather than a French regional origin, and the plain little bowl has endured because it does its work beautifully.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh mint leaves
Quantity
1 packed cup (240 ml / 28 g)
stems removed
white cassonade or caster sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 12 g)
fresh, clean-tasting vinegar, preferably white wine vinegar
Quantity
Scant 1/3 cup (70 ml / 70 g)
water
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh mint leavesstems removed | 1 packed cup (240 ml / 28 g) |
| white cassonade or caster sugar | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 12 g) |
| fresh, clean-tasting vinegar, preferably white wine vinegar | Scant 1/3 cup (70 ml / 70 g) |
| water | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp 20 cm (8-inch) chef's knife
- •Nonreactive 500 ml (2-cup) bowl
- •Salad spinner or clean kitchen towels
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the mint
Strip the mint leaves from their stems and weigh the leaves alone. Rinse them only if they need it, then dry them thoroughly in a salad spinner and between clean towels. Any water clinging to the leaves weakens the measured vinegar and makes the finished sauce taste flat.
- 2
Cut the leaves
Stack a few leaves at a time and cut them Julienne-fashion into the finest matchstick-like ribbons you can, or chop them finely with a sharp knife. Lift and lower the blade cleanly rather than grinding it across the board. If the mint begins to look wet and dark, stop. Ça se rattrape: the flavour is still there, though the colour will be softer, and further chopping will only bruise it more.
A food processor is brigade scaffolding in the wrong direction here. It tears this small quantity into damp paste before it cuts it evenly; a knife gives better control and takes only a few minutes. - 3
Combine in order
Put the cut mint into a nonreactive bowl and scatter the white cassonade over it. Pour in the vinegar, then the water, preserving the source's sequence. Stir gently for about thirty seconds, drawing the spoon across the bottom so the sugar begins to dissolve without crushing the leaves.
- 4
Let it stand
Cover the bowl and let the sauce stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours. Stir once from the bottom halfway through. The sauce is ready when no sugar crystals remain and its first aroma is mint rather than bare vinegar. If crystals linger, ça se rattrape: stir again and give it another 10 minutes, without heating it.
- 5
Serve with lamb
Stir the sauce before serving so every spoonful carries mint as well as its sharp, lightly sweetened liquor. Offer it in a small bowl beside hot roast lamb or cold sliced lamb, allowing roughly 1 tablespoon per person. Do not strain it; the finely cut leaves belong on the plate. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose garden mint or spearmint with upright leaves and a clean scent. Peppermint can become medicinal against lamb, and tired blackened leaves won't recover in vinegar.
- •The source calls for fresh vinegar, meaning lively and clean rather than stale or musty. White wine vinegar keeps the sauce bright; avoid balsamic or heavily flavoured vinegar, which would replace the mint instead of carrying it.
- •Taste only after the full standing time. At first the vinegar seems too sharp and the sugar too separate, but the mint softens both as it infuses. The waiting is not empty time; it is the sauce.
- •Serve this alongside the lamb rather than flooding the meat. One spoonful cuts through the rich fat, and a second remains available for anyone who knows what is good.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the sauce 30 minutes to 2 hours before serving and leave it covered at room temperature so the sugar dissolves and the mint perfumes the vinegar.
- •For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours, then return it to room temperature for 15 minutes and stir before serving. The flavour holds, though the mint gradually loses its vivid green colour.
- •Do not cut the mint the day before. Measure the vinegar, sugar, and water ahead if useful, but fresh knife work gives the sauce its best colour and fragrance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 35g)
Calories
15 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1 mg
Total Carbohydrates
4 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
0 g
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