Chef Juliette
Oriental Sauce
Sauce Orientale concentrates lobster-rich American Sauce with curry, then folds in cream away from the fire: a glossy, gently spiced derivative made for lobster, crayfish, and firm fish.
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Herb Sauce
Created by Chef Juliette
Sauce aux Fines Herbes cloaks poached fish in a glossy white-wine emulsion, sharpened by shallot butter and kept alive with parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chives.
Sauces & Condiments
French
Dinner Party
Weeknight
10 min
Active Time
10 min cook•20 min total
YieldAbout 1¼ cups (300 ml), enough for 4 to 6 fish servings
Sauce aux Fines Herbes (Herb Sauce) teaches one clean rule: once the white-wine base is hot, the fire has finished its work. The shallot butter must be whisked in away from the heat, where it thickens the sauce into a glossy emulsion instead of melting into an oily puddle. The herbs follow last, still green and distinct.
The original assumed a saucier with White Wine Sauce (No. 111) ready for service and enough poached fish to justify a full pint. Your honest equivalent is one cup of the prepared sauce, a small saucepan, and a whisk. I have halved the book's quantity for four to six portions while keeping its proportions and sequence intact. The dedicated saucier and service volume were brigade scaffolding; the finished white-wine foundation, shallot butter, off-fire mounting, and precise quartet of fresh herbs are the dish and must stay.
This is a quiet sauce, ivory, glossy, and green-flecked, made to flatter boiled or poached fish without burying its delicacy. Take the pan completely off the fire before the first piece of butter goes in. That is the step that decides everything.
Sauce aux fines herbes belongs to the Parisian classical fish-sauce repertoire, where a prepared white-wine sauce could be turned quickly into a distinct derivative for boiled or poached fish. It traveled readily from grand kitchens to bourgeois dining rooms because its finish required no special equipment, only a saucepan, fresh butter, and an attentive hand. Fines herbes is not a vague invitation to empty the herb garden: here it means the deliberate mixture of parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chives named by the canon.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Shallot Butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g)
cool and cut into 6 pieces
flat-leaf parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chives
Quantity
1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / about 2 g) combined
finely chopped and mixed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| White Wine Sauceprepared | 1 cup (240 ml / about 240 g) White Wine Sauce (No. 111) |
| Shallot Buttercool and cut into 6 pieces | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) |
| flat-leaf parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chivesfinely chopped and mixed | 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / about 2 g) combined |
Equipment Needed
- •1-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan
- •Small balloon whisk
- •Warm sauceboat
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the finish
Wash the herbs only if needed, then dry them thoroughly before chopping. Measure the parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chives after they are finely chopped and mixed; the book calls for one blended spoonful, not that amount of each herb. Keep the Shallot Butter cool but pliable, cutting it into six pieces so it incorporates evenly.
Wet herbs spot the sauce with water and bruised herbs darken quickly. Dry them well and chop them just before they enter the pan. - 2
Warm the foundation
Put the prepared White Wine Sauce (No. 111) in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan and warm it gently, whisking occasionally, until it barely trembles and coats the back of a spoon. Do not reduce it aggressively. This component already carries the fish fumet, body, and seasoning on which the finished sauce depends.
- 3
Mount with butter
Take the saucepan completely off the heat and wait about fifteen seconds. Monter au beurre, mounting with butter, means whisking in the Shallot Butter one piece at a time, allowing each piece to disappear before adding the next. The sauce should become fuller, smoother, and visibly glossy. If it turns oily, stop immediately. Ça se rattrape: put 1 teaspoon of cold water in a clean bowl, whisk in a spoonful of the broken sauce until smooth, then add the remainder gradually. Do not return it to the fire.
The retained heat of the sauce is enough to take the butter. Boiling after the butter enters destroys the emulsion the finishing step is meant to build. - 4
Add the herbs
Fold in the chopped parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chives as soon as the last butter has emulsified. Whisk only long enough to distribute the green flecks. The herbs should taste fresh and separate, with tarragon giving perfume, chervil softness, chives a mild onion note, and parsley the clean green backbone.
- 5
Sauce the fish
Drain boiled or poached fish thoroughly and blot away any water collecting on the serving platter, because that water thins the sauce on contact. Spoon the Sauce aux Fines Herbes over the fish immediately, or send it to the table in a warmed sauceboat. Never hold it over heat once finished. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Use the four herbs named by the recipe, fresh and finely chopped. Dried herbs cannot give the tender green fragrance this finish requires, and a handful of stronger herbs turns fines herbes into something else.
- •Shallot Butter is a prepared compound butter, not plain butter followed by raw minced shallot. The shallot must already be worked evenly through the butter so the sauce receives its flavor without loose, harsh pieces.
- •This sauce belongs with gently cooked fish such as sole, turbot, hake, cod, or trout. Poach or boil the fish plainly and let the sauce supply the richness.
- •Pour the same dry white wine used at the table with the fish, something brisk rather than heavily oaked. The sauce is delicate, and the bottle should leave it room to speak.
Advance Preparation
- •The White Wine Sauce (No. 111) can be prepared a day ahead, chilled promptly, and reheated gently before finishing. Do not add the Shallot Butter or herbs until just before serving.
- •The Shallot Butter can be prepared several days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Let the measured portion soften only until cool and pliable, never melted.
- •The herbs may be washed and dried earlier in the day, then wrapped loosely and chilled. Chop and mix them at the last moment so their color and fragrance remain alive.
- •A finished Sauce aux Fines Herbes does not hold well. If service is delayed, keep the warmed white-wine base and the finishing ingredients separate, then complete the sauce when the fish is ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 60g)
Calories
135 calories
Total Fat
12 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
40 mg
Sodium
190 mg
Total Carbohydrates
4 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
2 g
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