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French · Burgundy

Saupiquet des Amognes

The Saupiquet des Amognes is one of Burgundy’s most distinctive and least-known dishes—thick slices of ham (jambon blanc or jambon de Morvan) served in a piquant cream sauce sharpened with vinegar, tomato, white wine, juniper, and shallots. The dish takes its name from the Amognes, a rural area south of Nevers in the Nièvre, and its ancestry from the medieval saupiquet (literally ‘salt and piquant’), a category of sharp, vinegar-based sauces that predates the French classical repertoire. The preparation begins with thick slices (1cm) of unsmoked cooked ham, browned lightly in butter until the edges caramelise. The ham is set aside and the pan is used to build the sauce: finely diced shallots are sweated in the butter, deglazed with 150ml white wine vinegar (reduced by three-quarters for concentration without harshness), then 200ml white Burgundy is added and reduced by half. Crushed tomatoes (200g), juniper berries (6, lightly crushed), a sprig of tarragon, and 200ml crème fraîche are stirred in, and the sauce simmers for 10 minutes until it reaches a coating consistency. The browned ham slices are returned to the sauce, warmed through for 5 minutes, and served immediately. The finished dish should be a balance of four elements: the cream’s richness, the vinegar’s sharpness, the juniper’s aromatic bite, and the ham’s savoury sweetness. It is served with steamed potatoes or fresh pasta to absorb the generous, piquant sauce.

ServesFour portions
Sourced2of 11 in BC
Cook
I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

4 slices (each 1 cm thick)
Jambon blanc or jambon de Morvan (unsmoked cooked ham)
cut 1 cm thick
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 g
Unsalted butter
Your own market
For the sauce
2 medium
Shallots
finely diced
Your own market
150 ml
White wine vinegar
Your own market
200 ml
White Burgundy
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
Crushed tomatoes
Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →
6
Juniper berries
lightly crushed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 sprig
Tarragon
fresh
Origin · FrancePurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
200 ml
Crème fraîche
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
Dijon mustard
stirred in just before returning the ham
Your own market
To serve
800 g
Waxy potatoes or fresh pasta
steamed or cooked to order
Not yet stocked in British Columbia

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

II

The Method

1
Melt the butter in a wide sauté pan over medium-high heat. Lay in the ham slices in a single layer and brown lightly on both sides until the edges caramelise. Remove the ham and set aside. The fat remaining in the pan carries the fond that will underpin the sauce.
2
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the finely diced shallots to the same pan and sweat without colouring until softened and translucent.
3
Pour in the 150 ml white wine vinegar. Reduce by three-quarters over a brisk flame — this is where the dish lives or dies: insufficient reduction leaves raw acidity in the finished sauce that no quantity of cream will correct. The reduction is complete when only a few tablespoons of syrupy, fragrant liquid remain and the harshness has given way to a concentrated, mellow sharpness.
From the canon — Reduction is the technique of simmering a liquid uncovered to evaporate water and concentrate flavour, body, colour, and viscosity. Reduction — Concentrating Flavour Through Evaporation →
4
Add the 200 ml white Burgundy and reduce by half. The sauce base should be concentrated and deep in colour, with a wine aroma that is clean and no longer raw.
5
Stir in the crushed tomatoes, the 6 lightly crushed juniper berries, and the tarragon sprig. Add the crème fraîche. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reaches a coating consistency — it should nap the back of a spoon and hold a clean line when a finger is drawn across.
6
Remove the tarragon sprig. Stir in the tablespoon of Dijon mustard, which binds the cream and vinegar and adds characteristic Burgundian pungency. Taste: the sauce should be simultaneously rich and sharp, with a clear aromatic note from the juniper.
7
Return the browned ham slices to the sauce. Warm through gently for 5 minutes over low heat — do not allow the sauce to boil, as vigorous heat toughens pre-cooked meat. The ham is ready when it is heated through and has absorbed the colour and aroma of the sauce at its edges.
8
Serve immediately with steamed waxy potatoes or fresh pasta to absorb the generous sauce.
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — Jambon de Morvan sourced from a single Burgundian producer, hand-sliced to 1 cm; crème fraîche from a Charolais dairy; white Burgundy of village or premier cru standing used both in the sauce and at table.
02
Estate — Jambon de Morvan from a reliable charcutier; good-quality artisan crème fraîche; a sound Mâcon-Villages or Bourgogne Blanc in the sauce.
03
Market — Jambon blanc of quality — unsmoked, cooked, with clean flavour; full-fat commercial crème fraîche; a dry, unoaked white wine in the sauce.
04
House — Any unsmoked cooked ham of decent thickness; crème fraîche; a neutral dry white wine. Smoked ham must not be substituted at any rung — it overwhelms the sauce's balance.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. Ham edges show a pale golden caramelisation before the sauce is begun.
◇Smell. After vinegar reduction, the sharp, aggressive acidity of raw vinegar has given way to a mellow, concentrated fragrance with no harshness.
◇Sight. The finished sauce coats the back of a spoon and holds a clean line — neither too thin nor pasty.
◇Touch. Ham warmed through offers gentle resistance when pressed with a spoon — it has not tightened or toughened.
◇Where it lives or dies. The vinegar must be reduced by three-quarters before any other liquid is added; raw vinegar in the finished sauce cannot be corrected by cream or any other means.
Pillar V
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The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI

What to Pour

The pairing
Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old
Old Bushmills Distillery · County Antrim — Bushmills Distillery
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia
Fort Berens Riesling
Fort Berens Estate Winery · Lillooet
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic

Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →

The whole pairing
Pillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

Bosa Foods
Vancouver · Crushed tomatoes
→
Purely Artisan Foods
San Diego · Tarragon
→