Chivry Sauce

Sauce Chivry (a silky poultry sauce infused with tender herbs) teaches the discipline of extraction. The one true thing to know is this: young pimpernel gives a cool, delicate fragrance, while mature pimpernel and a long infusion give bitterness. Take it young, cover it briefly, then strain without squeezing.

The original expected a saucier at the stove, poultry stock never off the fire, and velouté and Green Colouring Butter (No. 143) waiting as house preparations. A salamander has no work here. At home, a covered saucepan, a fine sieve lined with damp clean linen, and a whisk give the same result. The large service rhythm is brigade scaffolding and can go; the covered infusion, reduction by one quarter, and cold butter finish are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.

When it is right, Chivry is pale ivory-green, glossy enough to coat a spoon, and fragrant without tasting leafy. It belongs over boiled or gently poached poultry, whose quiet flavor gives the herbs room to speak. The step that decides everything is ending the covered infusion after ten to twelve minutes, sooner if the pimpernel begins to show even a faint bitter edge.