Home › The Waldorf Kitchen › Bourgeoise Sauce
Bourgeoise Sauce
Put one tablespoonful each of blanched and chopped chervil, parsley and tarragon leaves into a saucepan and mix with them one teacupful of stock and one dessert-spoonful each of meat glaze, French mustard and powdered sugar; stir the above ingredients over the fire for a few minutes. When ready to serve the sauce squeeze into it the juice of half a lemon and season to taste with a little each of salt and pepper. This sauce makes an excellent relish for cold boiled chicken or beef.
A quick herb-and-mustard sauce built on reduced stock, meant to be spooned over cold meat rather than napped over hot. Nothing here is difficult, but three of the ingredient names have shifted meaning since 1896.
- Meat glazeThis is glace de viande: brown stock reduced until it is syrupy and sets to a rubbery jelly when cold. A commercial demi-glace concentrate or a spoonful of your own heavily reduced stock does the same job. It is the backbone of the sauce, so do not simply add more plain stock in its place.
- TeacupfulAn imprecise measure even in its own day, usually reckoned at 4 to 6 fluid ounces. Start with about 3/4 cup of stock; the sauce should stay pourable but not watery.
- Dessert-spoonfulTwo teaspoons, midway between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. Three of them here: glaze, mustard and sugar in equal measure.
- French mustardRead as Dijon, smooth and sharp, rather than the bright yellow American kind or a grainy moutarde à l'ancienne. The small amount of sugar will offset its bite.
- Powdered sugarIn period usage this means finely granulated sugar, not the confectioners' sugar sold today, which carries cornstarch. Ordinary caster or granulated sugar is the right reading.
- Blanching the herbsA few seconds in boiling water, then straight into ice water and squeezed dry. This fixes the green colour and takes the raw edge off the tarragon. The recipe's wording ('blanched and chopped') suggests blanching first, which is also easier to handle.
- The lemon goes in off the heatThe lemon goes in last -- the recipe adds it only 'when ready to serve', after the few minutes of stirring over the fire. Taking the pan off the heat before squeezing it in is a sensible precaution, as prolonged heat dulls fresh lemon and the herbs.
- Yield and servingRoughly a cupful, depending on how the teacupful is read; a relish portion for several people. Serve it cool or barely warm alongside cold chicken or sliced boiled beef; it will thicken slightly as the glaze sets.
Oscar Tschirky ran the dining rooms of the Waldorf from 1893 and published this collection in 1896, and much of it is professional French kitchen practice written down for American households. Bourgeoise in French cooking means plain or household style, as opposed to haute — the label was applied loosely to sauces and garnishes that used everyday materials rather than truffles and foie gras, though a sauce leaning on homemade meat glaze was hardly effortless. The herb trio of chervil, parsley and tarragon is three-quarters of the classic fines herbes, missing only chives. Its purpose is also very much of its period: the Victorian and Edwardian table relied heavily on cold boiled meats, whether from the previous day's dinner or from a buffet.