Culinary Explorer
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Shrimp Sauce
Created by Chef Juliette
Sauce aux Crevettes teaches the discipline of the finish: fish velouté and fumet reduced to satin, then Shrimp Butter (No. 145) whisked in off the fire so its coral colour and sweetness stay vivid.
Sauce aux Crevettes (shrimp sauce) teaches one true thing about derivative sauces: the last minute can matter more than the first half hour. Fish velouté, cream, and fumet, a clear, concentrated fish essence, provide body and depth, but Shrimp Butter (No. 145) carries the colour and taste. Boil that butter and its clean shellfish sweetness becomes a greasy whisper.
The original entry assumed a saucier on staff, fish velouté within reach, and a stockpot never off the fire for very clear fumet. It had no use for a salamander, and neither do you. A wide heavy saucepan replaces the sauce station, while the tammy work remains where the book placed it, inside the separate butter preparation rather than being repeated here.
The printed formula makes one pint. For this generous dinner-party batch, every measure is multiplied evenly to produce about two quarts, with its ratios and sequence untouched. Ready components are brigade scaffolding and can be prepared ahead; reducing to the starting velouté volume and mounting the butter off the fire are the dish itself. One cook, one stove, one evening. Remove the pan from the heat before the first piece of butter goes in, because that is the step that decides the sauce.
Ingredients
prepared fish velouté, or prepared Béchamel sauce if fish velouté is unavailable
Quantity
8 cups (1.9 L / about 2 kg)
heavy cream, preferably 35% fat
Quantity
2 cups (475 ml / 475 g)
very clear fish fumet
Quantity
2 cups (475 ml / 475 g), plus up to ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) for rescue only
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| prepared fish velouté, or prepared Béchamel sauce if fish velouté is unavailable | 8 cups (1.9 L / about 2 kg) |
| heavy cream, preferably 35% fat | 2 cups (475 ml / 475 g) |
| very clear fish fumet | 2 cups (475 ml / 475 g), plus up to ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) for rescue only |
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