Sauce Vierge
Warm olive oil, tomato, lemon and herbs — barely a sauce at all
Michel Guérard's sauce, and the modern answer to all the butter above: olive oil warmed with tomato, lemon and herbs, never cooked. Five minutes' work and it makes a piece of grilled fish look like someone tried.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup good olive oil
- 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely diced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 shallot, very finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed but left whole
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon chopped chervil or parsley
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, shallot, garlic clove and coriander seeds in a small pan.
- Warm over the lowest heat for 10 minutes — it should never come near a simmer. You are infusing, not cooking.
- Remove the garlic clove. Stir in the diced tomato and warm through for 2 minutes.
- Off the heat, add the herbs. Season with salt and pepper.
- Spoon over grilled fish while still warm.
Notes
- Everything is cut small and nothing is cooked hard, so the ingredients have to be good. This is a summer sauce.