RECIPE #3: MIGNONETTE SAUCE
You can vary the vinegar (champagne, cider, herb, malt, sherry) or using a different allium (leeks, red onion, scallions). A squeeze of lemon or lime juice and snipped mint or tarragon will make an already wonderful sauce truly wonderful.
The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for a 1 month or so.
The history mignonette sauce follows.
Ingredients For 2/3 Cup
1/4 cup finely minced shallots (1 to 2 shallots)
1/3 cup red wine or white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black or white peppercorns
Pinch of sea salt
Preparation
1. COMBINE the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until well blended (you can also use a small jar and shake).
2. COVER and chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight. The longer you let the ingredients infuse, the better the infusion of flavor.
THE HISTORY OF COCKTAIL SAUCE
The history of cocktail sauce dates to the early 20th century, with the rise of shrimp cocktail in American restaurants.
“Cocktail,” of course, was the term used for alcoholic mixed drinks. But by the late 1800s, restaurants began to serve cold seafood appetizers like shrimp cocktail in a stemmed glass. Thus “cocktail sauce” was a play on the seafood “cocktail” served in the glass.
Early seafood cocktails were often dressed with spicy vinegar-based sauces like the classic mignonette sauce for oysters. Sometimes horseradish was added for spicy heat.
But by the 1920s, a tomato ketchup-based sauce spiked with horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and hot sauce—what we now call cocktail sauce—spicy and tangy with a bit of sweetness from the ketchup, emerged as the favorite.
Commercial brands like Heinz helped to popularize recipes for the home in ads starting in the 1930s.
By the mid-20th century, shrimp cocktail became a staple of upscale American dining.
The 1950s and 1960s were the heyday of cocktail sauce, mostly via the shrimp or crab cocktail that was such a popular first course.
Cocktail sauce remains a classic condiment in the U.S. and U.K., especially for shrimp, oysters, crab, and clams, as well as fried seafood.
It has even found its way onto sandwiches, especially roast beef, and as a spicy meatloaf glaze.
Mix it with mayonnaise, sour cream, or yogurt and you have a dip for crudités!
THE HISTORY MIGNONETTE SAUCE
Mignonette sauce—the classic French condiment of vinegar, shallots, and cracked pepper—evolved in the 19th century as a condiment for raw oysters, along with lemon wedges (photo #3).
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the word mignonnette referred to a cloth sachet of crushed peppercorns and spices that was dropped in the pot to flavor stocks and broths. Over time, the word came to mean coarsely ground pepper.
By the 19th century, French chefs began using the term for a simple vinegar-shallot-pepper condiment for oysters. The earliest English-language references to modern mignonette sauce date to the late 1800s.
By the early 20th-century, the recipe was standard in French and other European cookbooks. It gained spread to the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere with French chefs.
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*You can use any vinegar, but balsamic or flavored vinegar (balsamic, fruit or herb vinegar) will add another nuance to the cocktail sauce.
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