Italian Sauce

Sauce italienne (French tomatoed demi-glace with duxelles and ham) teaches the discipline of the derivative sauce. Its one true principle is simple: every flavor must sharpen the glaze, never cloud it. The duxelle must be dry, the cooked ham very lean and cut brunoise-fashion into tiny dice, and the herbs held until the final moment.

The original formula assumed a saucier with Ordinary or Dry Duxelle (No. 223) already prepared and a tomatoed half-glaze never far from the fire. At home, those foundations remain separate preparations, made ahead and brought together in one heavy saucepan. That brigade organization is scaffolding and can go. The ten-minute boil and last-second herb finish are the dish, so they stay exactly where the source puts them.

The source gives a compact service formula. This version multiplies its proportions fourfold to produce the requested home sauce yield of about two quarts, enough to portion and freeze, without changing the ratio or sequence. One cook, one stove, one evening. Keep the sauce moving during its ten-minute boil, because a concentrated glaze can catch quickly; if it does, ça se rattrape, and the rescue is waiting in the method.