Chef Juliette
Ordinary or White Consommé
Beef shin, lean beef, and fowl begin in cold water and rise slowly toward a tremble. Skim before the boil, and you learn the quiet discipline that gives every clear French broth its backbone.
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Marinade with Red Wine for Mutton
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 171, Marinade with Red Wine for Mutton, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Marinade au vin rouge teaches the discipline of balance: wine matched exactly with water, vinegar for brightness, and enough aromatics to meet mutton's strength without masking the meat.
Sauces & Condiments
French
Make Ahead
Batch Cooking
Dinner Party
20 min
Active Time
45 min cook•2 hr 30 min total
YieldAbout 2 quarts
Marinade au vin rouge pour mouton (cooked red-wine marinade for mutton) teaches one discipline above all: proportion. Red wine and water stand equal, vinegar sharpens them, and the aromatics rise enough to meet mature sheep without bullying it. Change that balance and you have either coloured water or a sour bath.
The source assumes brigade quantities and a garde-manger tending the meat through its stay in the larder. It needs neither a saucier, stock from the perpetual pot, nor a salamander. At home, a six-quart saucepan, a snug nonreactive container, and reliable refrigeration replace that scaffolding. Only the batch size and safety practice change; the equal measure of wine and water, the increased aromatics, and their cooked extraction remain because they are the dish. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, the marinade is clear garnet beneath its softened vegetables, fragrant with thyme, pepper, garlic, and wine. The one true thing to know before it touches the mutton is this: cool it completely. Warm marinade begins cooking the surface while leaving the meat in an unsafe temperature range, and no amount of wine makes that sensible.
The cooked marinade belongs to French garde-manger, the cold-larder practice that prepared robust butcher's meats and game with wine, vinegar, and cooked aromatics, rather than to one particular wine region. This red version is paired specifically with mutton and carries more aromatics than its white-wine parent, but red wine alone does not make it Burgundian. Its claim to hold meat through summer describes strict cold-larder work; in a modern home, marinade supplements refrigeration and never replaces it.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
neutral cooking oil
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 55 g)
carrots
Quantity
1½ cups (355 ml / 200 g)
thinly sliced
yellow onions
Quantity
2½ cups (590 ml / 350 g)
thinly sliced
garlic
Quantity
6 cloves
lightly crushed
parsley stems
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 20 g)
roughly chopped
thyme
Quantity
8 sprigs
bay leaves
Quantity
3
whole cloves
Quantity
4
black peppercorns
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 9 g)
lightly crushed
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 36 g)
dry red wine
Quantity
4 cups (950 ml / 940 g)
water
Quantity
4 cups (950 ml / 950 g)
red wine vinegar
Quantity
2 cups (475 ml / 480 g)
bone-in leg of mutton
Quantity
1 leg (6 to 8 lb / 2.7 to 3.6 kg)
trimmed of excess surface fat
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| neutral cooking oil | ¼ cup (60 ml / 55 g) |
| carrotsthinly sliced | 1½ cups (355 ml / 200 g) |
| yellow onionsthinly sliced | 2½ cups (590 ml / 350 g) |
| garliclightly crushed | 6 cloves |
| parsley stemsroughly chopped | ½ cup (120 ml / 20 g) |
| thyme | 8 sprigs |
| bay leaves | 3 |
| whole cloves | 4 |
| black peppercornslightly crushed | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 9 g) |
| fine sea salt | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 36 g) |
| dry red wine | 4 cups (950 ml / 940 g) |
| water | 4 cups (950 ml / 950 g) |
| red wine vinegar | 2 cups (475 ml / 480 g) |
| bone-in leg of muttontrimmed of excess surface fat | 1 leg (6 to 8 lb / 2.7 to 3.6 kg) |
Equipment Needed
- •6-quart stainless-steel or enamel saucepan
- •Large nonreactive bowl and a second bowl for an ice bath
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Snug glass or glazed stoneware marinating dish, or a 2-gallon food-safe bag
- •Fine-mesh sieve
Instructions
- 1
Cut the mirepoix
Slice the carrots and onions thinly and evenly. This is the mirepoix, the aromatic vegetable foundation, and thin pieces matter because the brief simmer must draw out their flavour without asking for a stockpot left on the fire all day. Lightly crush the garlic and peppercorns so they release their perfume but remain easy to separate from the meat later.
- 2
Suer the aromatics
Warm the oil in a six-quart stainless-steel saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the carrots and onions, then suer them, meaning sweat them gently without browning, for 10 to 12 minutes. Stir until they glisten, soften at the edges, and smell sweet. Add the garlic for the final minute. If the vegetables begin to catch, lower the heat and add 2 tablespoons of water; scrape them loose at once. Ça se rattrape. Deep browning would make this bright, wine-led marinade taste muddy.
Use stainless steel or enamel for this acidic preparation. Unlined copper, aluminium, and bare cast iron can react with the wine and vinegar, giving the marinade a metallic taste. - 3
Simmer the marinade
Add the parsley stems, thyme, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, and salt. Pour in the red wine, water, and vinegar, keeping the wine and water exactly equal as the source directs. Bring the liquid just to a boil, then lower it immediately to a bare simmer. Cook uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables are thoroughly soft and the liquid has reduced by roughly one-fifth. A furious boil drives off the wine's perfume and reduces the vinegar too harshly; patience, not violence.
- 4
Correct and chill
You should have about 8 cups of liquid around the cooked aromatics. If the pot reduced too far, ça se rattrape: mix ½ cup red wine, ½ cup water, and ¼ cup vinegar, add only enough to restore the volume, and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Leave the aromatics in the marinade. Transfer everything to a wide nonreactive bowl set over an ice bath and stir until cool, then refrigerate until the centre reaches 40°F (4°C) or colder. Do not pour it over the mutton while even faintly warm.
A wide bowl cools this large quantity much faster than a deep saucepan. Refresh the ice if it melts before the marinade loses its warmth. - 5
Marinate the mutton
Place the trimmed leg in a snug glass, glazed stoneware, or food-safe plastic container. Pour the completely chilled marinade and its aromatics over it. Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours, turning the leg every 12 hours so the wine reaches it evenly. A particularly mature, strongly flavoured leg can stay for as long as 72 hours, but no longer; too much acid eventually makes the exterior soft and mealy. Keep the meat at 40°F (4°C) or colder throughout.
- 6
Ready it for cooking
Lift the mutton from the marinade and pat it thoroughly dry before roasting or browning. A wet surface stews, while a dry one takes a proper bronze crust. Strain the used marinade and either discard it or use it as part of a braising liquid only after bringing it to a full boil for at least 5 minutes. Never serve used marinade uncooked or brush it onto finished meat.
Chef Tips
- •Choose a dry, sound red wine with fresh acidity and little obvious oak. It need not be dear, but a sweet, heavily perfumed, or faulty bottle will dominate the mutton rather than season it.
- •Mutton means mature sheep and has the strength to welcome this amount of red wine, vinegar, and aromatics. A young leg of lamb is gentler; if that is what your butcher has, limit its time in this same marinade to 12 to 24 hours.
- •Use the smallest nonreactive container that holds the leg comfortably. A two-gallon food-safe bag nested securely in a roasting pan is the honest home equivalent when no deep crock fits; turn it carefully and keep the closure above the liquid.
- •Wine and vinegar season the meat and influence its surface texture, but they do not make room-temperature storage safe. Summer or winter, the covered mutton belongs in the refrigerator.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare the marinade up to 4 days before it is needed and keep it covered at 40°F (4°C) or colder. For longer storage, freeze the unused marinade for up to 3 months and thaw it completely in the refrigerator.
- •For dinner-party planning, cook and chill the marinade two evenings before serving, add the mutton once it is completely cold, and turn the meat morning and evening.
- •Once the marinade has touched raw mutton, do not store it for another batch. Discard it after use, or strain and boil it thoroughly before incorporating it into the same meat's braise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 220g)
Calories
465 calories
Total Fat
35 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
150 mg
Sodium
320 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
35 g
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