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Charcutière Sauce
Serves 4 Prep 10 min Cook 20 min Total 30 min

Charcutière Sauce

This homely piquant sauce is delicious with pork chops.

Serves 4 Prep 10 minutes Cook 20 minutes Units Rate

Overview

A rustic, mustard-forward sauce with sharp cornichon notes and white wine acidity. This traditional French accompaniment brings homemade charm and tongue-tingling heat to pork chops and other pork preparations.

Ingredients

Base

  • 30 grams butter

Aromatics & liquid

  • 60 grams onions (finely chopped)
  • 100 ml dry white wine
  • 300 ml Veal stock

Flavour & texture

  • 1 tablespoon strong Dijon mustard
  • 40 grams beurre manié (see notes)
  • 30 grams cornichons (cut into long thin strips)
  • salt
  • pepper

Method

Stage 1 - Sweat onions

  1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the onions and sweat gently without colouring for 1 minute.

Stage 2 - Reduce wine

  1. Pour in the white wine and let bubble over a medium heat to reduce by half.

Stage 3 - Build sauce

  1. Add the veal stock and bubble the sauce gently until it is thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon.
  2. Whisk in the mustard and the beurre manié, a little at a time, and cook for another 2 minutes.
  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stage 4 - Add cornichons & finish

  1. Pass the sauce through a fine-meshed conical sieve into a small pan containing the cornichons.
  2. Serve it immediately, or keep warm for a few minutes in a bain-marie set over a low heat.

Notes

  • Beurre manié: A mixture of equal parts soft butter and flour, mixed together with a fork. This thickens the sauce rapidly and creates silky body. Incorporate small pieces at a time, whisking constantly.
  • Mustard quality: Use strong Dijon mustard; weak mustard will result in bland sauce.
  • Cornichons: Their sharp acidity is essential to the sauce's character; add after straining to maintain their crunch.

Serving

Serve immediately with grilled or pan-fried pork chops, roasted pork, or other pork preparations. The mustard acidity and cornichon sharpness complement fatty pork beautifully.

Storage

  • Best eaten immediately after preparation.
  • Keeps refrigerated for 1 day; reheat gently without boiling to prevent separation.
  • Does not freeze well; beurre manié becomes grainy upon thawing.

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