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Cleared Mayonnaise Sauce
Created by Chef Juliette
Mayonnaise collée is the cold-coating lesson: barely fluid aspic whisked into true mayonnaise, then poured at once so chilled fish or lobster wears a smooth ivory film that sets cleanly.
Mayonnaise collée (cleared mayonnaise sauce) teaches that two cold structures can be joined only while one of them is still moving. The aspic must be cool enough to spare the emulsion and just fluid enough to disappear into it. That is the one true thing to know before touching the pan.
The original formula assumed a saucier nearby, a stockpot never off the fire for aspic, and a garde-manger supplied with mayonnaise and jelly in service quantities. It needed no salamander, because this belonged entirely to the cold kitchen. At home, a bowl over warm water, a thermometer, and an ordinary refrigerator do the same work. The professional ratio becomes one measured two-quart batch for one cook, while the mayonnaise and aspic remain finished components rather than recipes hidden inside this one.
Clarifying stock and maintaining a sauce station were brigade scaffolding, so they stay outside this entry. The three-to-one proportion, gradual addition, and immediate coating are the dish and must remain. The decisive moment comes when the melted aspic is barely fluid: add it then, and the sauce flows into an even ivory film; wait too long, and it sets in the bowl before it reaches the fish.
Ingredients
prepared plain Mayonnaise
Quantity
6 cups (1.42 L / 1.38 kg)
cool but not refrigerator-cold
cold, rather firm melting aspic jelly
Quantity
2 cups (480 ml / 480 g)
use Lenten white fish aspic for fish or shellfish, or ordinary aspic as appropriate
Lent Chaud-Froid Sauce (optional)
Quantity
8 cups (1.9 L / approximately 1.9 kg) Lent Chaud-Froid Sauce (No. 76)
use as a complete alternative, not an addition, when a longer-held coating is required
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| prepared plain Mayonnaisecool but not refrigerator-cold | 6 cups (1.42 L / 1.38 kg) |
| cold, rather firm melting aspic jellyuse Lenten white fish aspic for fish or shellfish, or ordinary aspic as appropriate | 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) |
| Lent Chaud-Froid Sauce (optional)use as a complete alternative, not an addition, when a longer-held coating is required | 8 cups (1.9 L / approximately 1.9 kg) Lent Chaud-Froid Sauce (No. 76) |
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