Genevoise Sauce

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10 to 12 quart heavy nonreactive stockpot or rondeau with lid
• •Small saucepan for the brandy
• •Large heatproof bowl
• •Large fine-mesh sieve
• •Damp muslin or double layer of cheesecloth
• •Flat skimmer or shallow ladle
• •Whisk

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the foundations

   Have the Mirepoix (No. 228), prepared without bacon, the Lenten Espagnole and the fish fumet ready before heating the pot. Rinse the salmon pieces briefly under very cold water, pull away every trace of gill and dark blood, then dry them well. Gills make the sauce bitter and blood muddies its colour; removal now saves an argument with the sauce later.

   Ask the fishmonger to split the heads, remove the gills and chop the frames. Use the freshest salmon remains available, because prolonged cooking magnifies stale aromas as readily as good ones.
2. 2

   Colour the mirepoix

   Melt the first butter in a 10 to 12 quart heavy, nonreactive stockpot over medium heat. Add the Mirepoix (No. 228) and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring regularly, until the edges take a light hazelnut colour. Slightly browned is the instruction, not deeply caramelized; if the butter darkens too quickly, pull the pot off the heat, stir until the foaming settles, then continue more gently.

3. 3

   Stew the salmon bones

   Add the salmon heads, frames, trimmings and bones, turning them through the buttery mirepoix. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. The fish will turn opaque, release its juices and smell distinctly of cooked salmon, while moisture beads beneath the lid. Keep the heat low enough that the pot murmurs without frying the bones hard.

4. 4

   Drain the butter

   Push the solids carefully toward one side and let the pot stand at a slight, stable angle, or simply gather the pooled fat with a shallow ladle. Remove and discard as much butter and rendered fish fat as possible without losing the juices underneath. This draining matters: fat left now emulsifies during reduction and works against the clear garnet sauce you are building.

5. 5

   Reduce the first wine

   Pour in the two bottles of red wine and bring them to a lively simmer, scraping the pot floor gently to release anything caught there. Reduce until the wine has lost half its volume, about 25 to 35 minutes. Its raw alcoholic smell should soften into something round and wine-dark. Judge by volume, not merely by time; a clean wooden skewer dipped when the wine first simmers gives you an honest mark to compare against.

6. 6

   Add the Espagnole

   Stir in the Lenten Espagnole and return the pot to a bare simmer. Cook gently for 30 minutes, uncovered, stirring only often enough to prevent catching on the bottom. The sauce will deepen in colour and begin to carry the salmon rather than merely smell of wine.

7. 7

   Press, rest, defat

   Pass the contents through a large fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl, pressing firmly with the back of a ladle to extract the essence from the bones and mirepoix. Let the strained sauce rest undisturbed for 15 minutes, then skim every visible bead and sheet of fat from the surface. Pressing is correct at this first straining because extraction is still the job; clarity comes during the next cooking.

8. 8

   Build the second wetting

   Clean the stockpot. Simmer the brandy in a small saucepan for about 60 seconds, just until its sharp alcoholic edge softens, then remove it from the heat. This is the home equivalent of burnt brandy and avoids an unnecessary open flame. Return the strained sauce to the clean pot with the cooked brandy, the second measure of red wine and all but 1/4 cup of the fish fumet. Bring everything to one full boil, then immediately lower the heat.

9. 9

   Dépouiller very gently

   Set the pot over the smallest burner at its lowest useful setting and let it dépouiller, purify through slow simmering and skimming, for about 1 1/2 hours. Only one or two bubbles should break the surface at a time. Do not stir. Skim away foam, protein and fat whenever they rise, especially during the first half hour, until the sauce is clear, garnet and reduced to roughly 7 cups. It should reach nappe, coating the back of a spoon in a thin even film, as it becomes clear. If it thickens before it clears, loosen it with some reserved fumet and continue gently. If it boils hard and clouds, stop the heat, rest it for 10 minutes, skim carefully, then resume at the barest tremble. Ça se rattrape.

   A hard boil breaks fat and impurities into droplets too small to skim. The long quiet surface is the dish, not brigade ceremony, and it cannot be rushed without changing the sauce.
10. 10

    Strain and mount

    Dampen muslin or a double layer of cheesecloth, line a clean sieve and let the sauce pass through without pressing. Return it to gentle heat only if needed, then remove the pot from the burner. Add the anchovy essence drop by drop, tasting after ten; it should deepen the salmon without announcing itself. Monter au beurre, whisk in the cold butter, a few cubes at a time, until all 1 cup is incorporated and the sauce gleams with a mellow satin finish. This keeps the source proportion of four ounces of butter per quart. Never boil it after mounting. If yellow butter droplets appear, place 1 tablespoon of reserved cold fumet in a clean warm bowl and whisk the broken sauce into it gradually, one ladle at a time. Ça se rattrape. Serve at once beside salmon. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The Mirepoix (No. 228), Lenten Espagnole and fish fumet are finished foundations, not preparations to improvise inside this recipe. Have them ready before the salmon bones meet the butter; this is mise en place doing the work of the missing brigade.
• •Choose a dry, light-bodied red with lively acidity and modest tannin, such as Pinot Noir or Gamay. Reduction magnifies coarse oak, sweetness and harsh tannin, so use a bottle pleasant enough to drink but not grand enough to resent putting in the pot.
• •The weight of the salmon remains governs, since heads and frames occupy space unpredictably. Ask for clean, fresh bones with some flesh attached, and insist that the gills be removed.
• •An unbuttered Genevoise is also correct and shows a clearer garnet colour. The full monter au beurre given here makes it rounder and more generous, exactly as the source permits. We don't apologize for butter.
• •Serve the sauce beside roasted, poached or gently braised salmon, allowing each guest to take what they want. If the fish has crisp skin, sauce around it rather than over it so the skin stays crisp.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Mirepoix (No. 228), Lenten Espagnole and fish fumet ahead according to their own formulas. Keep them cold until the sauce begins.
• •The sauce can be completed through the final muslin straining up to 2 days ahead. Cool it promptly in shallow containers, cover and refrigerate, then reheat gently and add the anchovy essence and cold butter just before serving.
• •Freeze the unbuttered, fully strained base in 1 cup portions for up to 2 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator, bring it back to nappe over gentle heat and mount with the proportional amount of cold butter. A mounted sauce should not be frozen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 60g)