Chaud-Froid Sauce, à l’Aurore

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart heavy saucepan
• •Heatproof mixing bowl
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Double-layer cheesecloth or fine-mesh tea infuser
• •Small white saucer for testing
• •Wire rack and rimmed tray for coating

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the colour

   Set a small white saucer in the refrigerator and prepare a bowl of ice water large enough to hold the sauce bowl later. If using paprika, tie it loosely in a double layer of cheesecloth or place it in a fine-mesh tea infuser. If using tomato, rub the purée through a fine sieve now. The pale, even shade comes from clean extraction, not red specks, so loose paprika never goes straight into the sauce.

2. 2

   Liquefy the base

   Place the White Chaud-Froid Sauce (No. 72) in a four-quart saucepan, holding back about one-eighth as an untinted reserve. Warm the rest over low heat, stirring across the bottom and into the corners, just until it becomes completely smooth and fluid. Do not let it simmer; boiling would reduce a sauce whose consistency has already been settled and can make the cream catch.

   A refrigerator-cold chaud-froid may begin as a firm jelly. That is exactly right. Cut it into pieces and let gentle heat melt it without whisking air into the surface.
3. 3

   Tint it à l’Aurore

   For the softer paprika shade, submerge the sachet in the fluid sauce and hold it over the lowest heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring around it occasionally. Remove it and press it gently against the pan without forcing powder through the cloth. For the tomato version, whisk in the sieved purée one spoonful at a time. In either case, place a teaspoon on the chilled saucer for 2 minutes before adding more colour; the proper shade is a quiet dawn rose, not scarlet. If it goes too deep, whisk in the reserved untinted sauce. Ça se rattrape. This is why the colour goes in gradually.

4. 4

   Strain and cool

   Pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl, then set that bowl in the ice water. Stir steadily at first and frequently afterward, scraping the cooler sauce from the sides into the centre, until it feels cool and coats the back of a spoon in an opaque layer while still falling in a slow ribbon. If a skin forms, don't beat it back into the sauce; lift it off and strain once more. If the sauce begins setting before you can use it, place the bowl over barely warm water and stir until it loosens. Add no water.

5. 5

   Coat while fluid

   Set thoroughly chilled cooked poultry, fish, or eggs on a rack over a tray and blot every surface dry. Spoon or dip the food into the cool, fluid sauce, letting the excess run away in one clean sheet. Chill for about 10 minutes before adding a second coat, if one is needed, then refrigerate until fully set, about 30 minutes. Keep the finished food cold until serving. The coating should be smooth, tender, and satin-glossed, never rubbery or thick as icing. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Begin with a properly finished White Chaud-Froid Sauce (No. 72). This derivative changes its colour, not its foundation; if the base doesn't coat and set correctly, pigment cannot repair it.
• •Use sweet red paprika, never smoked or hot paprika. The source prefers paprika infusion for a soft colour because it preserves the mild flavour and ivory character of the white sauce.
• •Fine tomato purée gives a stronger rose and a perceptible tomato note. Good canned purée is the honest choice when fresh tomatoes are watery or pale, but pass it through a fine sieve before it reaches the sauce.
• •The cold saucer tells the truth quickly. Test both colour and thickness on it before coating the food, because the sauce becomes more opaque and gains body as it cools.
• •Cold, dry food takes the coating cleanly. Moisture makes the sauce slide away in patches; blot the surface rather than trying to bury it under a heavier coat.

Advance Preparation

• •The White Chaud-Froid Sauce (No. 72) can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated in a covered container. Rewarm it gently only until fluid before tinting.
• •The finished à l’Aurore sauce keeps for up to 2 days under refrigeration. Press parchment directly onto its surface, then melt it over barely warm water and repeat the cold-saucer test before use.
• •Cooked food may be coated a day before serving. Refrigerate it uncovered until the surface sets, then cover without letting the wrapping touch the sauce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 60g)