Alan bought this sauce recipe book some time ago but we’ve not really used it much. The first time I was introduced to thermidor sauce was when we were preparing for the crayfish feast. Alan flipped through his book and stumbled upon the recipe for this sauce. This sauce is traditionally served with lobster but is also good with almost any shellfish or white fish. Since we were having crayfish we decided to try making the sauce and boy, it was good! There was however a little leftover so I decided to use it for dinner the next night and do a prawn linguine. Yum!
Thermidor Sauce
Ingredients:
- 400 ml campbell fish stock (or you can make it from scratch yourself)
- 200 ml dry riesling
- 1 bouquet garni
- 15 gm butter
- 15 gm plain flour
- 300 ml milk
- 2 tsps tomato paste
- 1 tsp English mustard
- Tarragon, finely chopped
- 150 ml double cream
- 1 tbsp brandy
- Salt & pepper
Method:
- Bring fish stock, wine and bouquet garni to a boil in a saucepan. Cook until it has reduced to approximately 200ml.
- In another saucepan, melt butter till it is bubbling. Add the flour and whisk until it colour changes till a light brown.
- Remove the butter mixture from heat and slowly whisk in milk till smooth.
- Return to the heat, add tomato paste, mustard and pepper, bring to a boil. Simmer till it thickens.
- Remove the bouquet garni from the stock and pour the stock into the sauce.
- Stir in the tarragon, cream and brandy and bring it to simmer over medium heat. It is ready when the sauce thinly coats the back of a wooden spoon. Season according to taste and serve.
Note:
- A bouquet garni is made out of a bunch of herbs tied together. A classic bouquet garni has bay leaves, thyme, parsley which is then wrapped in a length of celery or leek and tied together.
Prawn Linguine
Ingredients:
- Linguine
- Prawns, de-shelled
- Thermidor sauce
- Lemon juice
Method:
- Bring a pot of water with a pinch of salt to boil. Add linguine and cook.
- Drain linguine and toss with olive oil.
- Toss pasta, thermidor sauce and prawns in a pan. Cook till prawns are just cooked.
- Dish up and serve with a squeeze of lemon juice.
hey there, the end result looks nice. what is bouquet garni?
Hey! As stated above, a bouquet garni is made out of a bunch of herbs tied together. A classic bouquet garni has bay leaves, thyme, parsley which is then wrapped in a length of celery or leek and tied together.
Hi Pearlyn! Many thanks for the recipe: I made it and it was delicious. I actually had this dish for the first time in a restaurant in the Carribean, and had never heard of the Thermidor Sauce before. It was served with Linguine as well, but with scallops, prawns, and various fishes, so I wanted to reproduce the recipe as well as possible and yours was the one I found the closest to it. I made it on Friday night with fresh scallops, tiger prawns and fresh salmon and it was beautiful! a success! However, I didn’t have any brandy so I used some lobster bisque containing brandy in it and give this nice orange-dawn colour and flavour!
Hi Camille,
Glad to hear someone enjoyed this recipe as much as I did.
Cheers,
Pearlyn
Hi Pearlyn!
Could I have 2 questions with you?
1.”decided to try making the sauce and boy ”
what’s the meaning of “boy “?
2.”Thermidor ” is French Or Italian word?
what does it mean?
Thank you for your explanation.
From Taiwan
Homer Yang
Hi Homer,
“Boy” was just an expression. As for thermidor, it’s a French word and the sauce was originally created in France.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobster_Thermidor
Cheers,
Pearlyn
Brilliant recipe!
I’m a classically trained chef in Canada and this is one of THE most traditional recipes I have ever seen on the internet. This is the way that French cooking is supposed to be – no short-cuts!
Have you considered what wines would pair best with such a gorgeously decadent dish ? (I am currently working on my Sommelier degree) Consider trying an Alsatian Reisling (Pfaffenheim), a Muscadet from southern France or an Alvarino from Northern Spain…
best wishes & keep up the great work!
Hi Pearlyn
Just found your site and so thank you for sharing this recipe. In the 70′s I used to order Lobster Thermidor a lot and this recipe brings back all those wonderful memories.
Have you found a recipe for Coquilles St Jacques? Also recipe from the 70′s which was scallops in a white wine sauce served in a large scallop shell. I trawled the net a few years ago but must have another go.
Thanks once again!
Vicki