Green Sauce

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large stainless-steel mixing bowl
• •Balloon whisk
• •Flexible rubber spatula
• •2-quart covered storage container

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the components

   Bring the Mayonnaise and the strained herb juice prepared as specified in Vincent Sauce (No. 132) to the same cold temperature. Set a clean stainless-steel bowl and whisk in the cold for ten minutes as well. Matching temperatures help the emulsion accept the added liquid evenly.

2. 2

   Test the mayonnaise

   Put 5 cups of the very stiff Mayonnaise into the chilled bowl and keep the remaining 1 cup cold. The mayonnaise in the bowl should mound firmly and hold the track of the whisk; if it flows flat on its own, it isn't stiff enough for the herb juice. Whisk in half the spicy seasoning, keeping the cayenne quiet. The sauce should taste lively, not hot.

   The reserved mayonnaise is part of the measured six cups, not an extra ingredient. It completes the classical three-to-one proportion whether it is folded in normally or used to rescue the sauce.
3. 3

   Add the green

   Whisk the herb juice into the mayonnaise in four additions, incorporating each completely before adding the next. Work steadily without beating in unnecessary air. The sauce will soften from a mound to a heavy ribbon and turn a clear herb green. If watery liquid or beads of oil appear at the edge, stop immediately. Put the reserved stiff mayonnaise into a clean cold bowl, then whisk the slack sauce into it one spoonful at a time until smooth. Ça se rattrape.

   A smooth sauce that merely seems softer isn't broken. Chill it for ten minutes before judging; cold restores some body without changing the book's proportion.
4. 4

   Finish and rest

   Fold in any reserved mayonnaise not used for the rescue, followed by the remaining seasoning to taste. The finished Sauce verte should coat the back of a spoon, then fall in a broad ribbon rather than pour like cream. Cover it directly at the surface and chill for thirty minutes so the texture settles and the seasoning becomes clear.

5. 5

   Serve it cold

   Stir the Sauce verte gently before serving, without thinning it. Spoon it generously beside cold poached or roasted fish, crab, lobster, prawns, or other cold shellfish. Keep the serving bowl nested over ice during a long dinner, and return the sauce to the cold promptly. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The mayonnaise must be unusually stiff before the herb juice enters. A spoon should leave a trench that stays open; ordinary soft mayonnaise cannot take one-third its volume in liquid without slumping.
• •Measure the three-to-one proportion by volume. This is not decorative precision: the herb juice supplies both flavor and water, and too much changes a spoonable emulsion into dressing.
• •Use the spicy seasoning with restraint. White pepper and cayenne should sharpen the cool herbs without warming the mouth; cold fish is delicate company.
• •For guests who are pregnant, elderly, very young, or immunocompromised, use Mayonnaise made with pasteurized yolks. Keep the finished sauce refrigerated and discard it after two hours at room temperature.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the very stiff Mayonnaise and the herb juice specified in Vincent Sauce (No. 132) separately up to one day ahead, then keep both tightly covered and cold. Combine them on the day of service for the clearest herb color.
• •The finished Sauce verte may be made up to four hours before dinner. Press reusable wrap or parchment directly against its surface, chill it, and stir gently before serving.
• •For a smaller table, reduce every quantity together while preserving three parts stiff mayonnaise to one part herb juice. The proportion stays; only the bowl becomes smaller.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 27g)