Sauce Meurette

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Sauce Meurette is Burgundy’s most important sauce—a deep, glossy red wine reduction enriched with lardons, mushrooms, and pearl onions that serves as the foundation for the entire en meurette family of dishes: Oeufs en Meurette, Poisson en Meurette, Cervelle en Meurette, and even Jambon en Meurette. The sauce begins with a classical Burgundian technique: 150g lardons are rendered in butter until golden, then pearl onions (20-24, peeled) and button mushrooms (200g, quartered) are sautéed in the fat until caramelised. A tablespoon of flour is sprinkled over (the singer technique—just enough to lightly thicken without creating a full roux), then a full bottle of Bourgogne Rouge is poured in and brought to a simmer. A bouquet garni, 2 crushed garlic cloves, and a tablespoon of tomato paste join the sauce, which simmers uncovered for 30-40 minutes until reduced by half, the wine’s tannins have mellowed, and the sauce coats a spoon with a glossy, mahogany sheen. The sauce is finished with 30g of cold butter (monte au beurre) for gloss and body. The critical technique is the reduction: the sauce must simmer long enough for the alcohol and harsh tannins to cook off, leaving concentrated fruit, earth, and umami. A properly made Meurette sauce should taste of deep, winy richness without any raw boozy edge—savoury, slightly sweet from the caramelised onions, smoky from the lardons, and earthy from the mushrooms. The garniture (lardons, onions, mushrooms) remains in the sauce, providing the à la bourguignonne garnish that appears across the repertoire.

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