Sauce Diable (Devil's Sauce)

May 23, 2020

Sauce Diable (Devil’s Sauce) - kvalifood.com

Sauce Diable (“Devil’s Sauce”) is a classical French brown sauce from the espagnole/demi-glace family. Codified by Auguste Escoffier in Le Guide Culinaire (1903), it is a derivative (petite) sauce built on a demi-glace base, flavored with a reduction of white wine and shallots, and seasoned aggressively with cayenne pepper. The name refers to the spicy, “devilish” heat.

The traditional use is with grilled or broiled chicken (poulet grillé à la diable), but it also pairs well with pork chops, grilled meats, and leftover roasted poultry.

Makes ca. 350 ml, serves 4-6 as accompaniment to grilled chicken or meat

Ingredients

30 g shallots (~2 medium shallots), finely minced
200 ml dry white wine
50 ml white wine vinegar
300 ml demi-glace (or rich, reduced veal/beef stock thickened with a small amount of espagnole)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or more, to taste
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
30 g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Fine salt, to taste

Directions

Reduce the acid base. Combine the minced shallots, white wine, and white wine vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced by about two-thirds (should yield roughly 80-90 ml of concentrated liquid). This takes 10-12 minutes.
Add the demi-glace. Pour in the demi-glace and stir to combine. Bring back to a gentle simmer and cook for 5-6 minutes, skimming any impurities that rise.
Season. Add the cayenne pepper and cracked black pepper. The sauce should be noticeably spicy - “devilish.” Taste and add more cayenne if needed. Adjust salt.
Strain. Pass through a fine-mesh sieve (chinois) into a clean saucepan, pressing on the shallots to extract all flavor. Discard solids.
Mount with butter. Over very low heat, whisk in the cold butter pieces one at a time until the sauce is glossy and slightly thickened. Do not boil after adding butter.
Serve immediately alongside grilled chicken, grilled pigeon, breaded cutlets, or grilled steak.

Notes

Demi-glace shortcut: If you do not have demi-glace, combine 200 ml of rich, reduced beef or veal stock with 100 ml of espagnole sauce. Or use a high-quality store-bought demi-glace concentrate reconstituted to the right consistency.
Heat level: The sauce should be genuinely spicy. Classical recipes emphasize “strongly seasoned” with cayenne. Start with 1/4 tsp and increase - this is not a mild sauce.
Without vinegar: For the purest Escoffier version, omit vinegar and increase wine to 250 ml. Reduce by two-thirds as before.
Holding: Keep warm in a bain-marie. Do not boil once butter is added.