I discovered this sauce in one of my favorite go-tos, “The French Market Cookbook”
Apparently ‘Gribiche’ refers to an ugly witch that scares children… Possibly into eat their vegetables? It seams to be similar the the Norwegian Kitchen Witch that serves as a friend to the kitchen, although it too is super ugly. I guess having one of these lucky ladies hanging around will mean that your roasts will never burn, your milk will never sour, and your pots will never boil over.
I think knowing how to make Gribiche sauce could be just as much luck as having a kitchen witch! After all, you will always be able to whip up the perfect sauce for any number of applications! I’m telling you, this versatile sauce can easily find it’s way into any Foody’s kitchen. Here are some suggestions:
- Artichoke
- Calamari
- Tongue
- Sliced Baguette
- Crackers with Lox
- Baked or Grilled Fish
- Fish Sandwich
- Polish Sausage
- Salad Dressing
- Steamed Asparagus, Brussels Sprouts, or Green Beans
- Deviled Egg Filling
- Coleslaw Dressing
- Breaded Fried Mushrooms or other Vegetables
Although it calls for a mix of parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chive, also know known as ‘Fines Herbs’ in French, I’ve decided not to use the blend I have on hand simply because it has so much tarragon in the mix; a higher percentage than I want in my sauce. I also like to use a little less oil proportionately. It makes it a bit thicker, but then I can add more vinegar for some tang. (Besides, a little less fat is probably good for all of us.)
The boiled egg and mustard are, of course, a staple in the sauce. This is great progress for me, since I have had to come a long way into using any bit of mustard at all. (It was just a flavor I couldn’t handle for a long time. Bleck.) I also like that I can use capers and/or gherkins to change it up according to how I might be using it.
Long story short, Gribiche is quick to make with ingredients that are very easy to come by and quite often already on hand. Being unknown to most people and with the use of a few less common herbs it brings an air of sophistication, both of it’s own accord, and probably that of the awesome person who made it!<—- That would be you, after you make and share this sauce with your friends.
Tangy Sauce Gribiche
By:semiserious chefs
Serving Size: Varies
Ingredients:
- 2 hard (or soft*) boiled eggs
- 1/4 t salt
- 2 tsp dijon mustard (or more to taste)
- 3 T olive oil
- 5 t apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 t lemon juice
- 3 T capers – drained
- 2 T sweet gherkins
- 1/2 t dried parsley
- 1/2 t dried chervil
- 1/2 t dried chive
- 1/4 t tarragon
*Notes:
– Every recipe that I came across for Gribiche used hard boiled eggs. This is great because there are no raw ingredients, but it bothered me that no matter how much I whisked the yolks and oil together the sauce would inevitably separate. To overcome this I simply gave it a stir before serving, but, like I said, it bothered me, and has for 6 months now. “What do I do about this issue?!” Finally, literally in the middle of the night, I thought of using soft-boiled eggs. This does indeed make a perfectly emulsified sauce! So the choice is yours. It’s up to you how you feel about using soft boiled yolks.
-ALSO: A large helping of ‘Fine Herbs’ mix is usually used for gribiche sauce. This traditionally includes parsley, chives, chervil, and tarragon. You can play around with a mix of these 4 herbs or others however you would like for personal preference. I felt that the blend I have on hand contained too much tarragon for my liking. I have also used dill weed when I had no dried chive. As always, fresh herbs would make for a better flavor, but fresh chervil can be really hard to come by. In fact, you may need to look into a specialty spice shop just to find dried chervil. Summit Spice and Tea sells it here in Anchorage, as well as World Spice Merchants from Seattle. Just remember that if you use fresh herbs you will need 3 times more than using dry.
– LASTLY: a teaspoon of lemon grapeseed oil really brings up the great flavors in this sauce.
Directions:
- Whisk the egg yolks, salt, and mustard together until smooth.
- Add the oil, vinegar, and lemon juice and whisk again.
- Fine mince the egg whites, capers, and gherkins, and stir them, along with the herbs, in with the other ingredients.
- Serve with or over any of your favorite things! Enjoy!
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