An elegant classic from French restaurant cooking. Sauce Diane combines shallot, cognac, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and demi-glace into a powerful, creamy sauce with plenty of depth. It was originally prepared at the table and flambéed for tournedos or veal medallions. It is still one of the finest sauces for red meat.
Sauce Diane
Sauce Diane
Sauce Diane
Sauce Diane
Method
01
Base
Melt the butter in a saucepan and sweat the shallot for 2 minutes over a low heat until translucent. Add the tomato purée and cook it briefly so that it caramelises lightly.
02
Flambé
Deglaze with the cognac and carefully flambé, or let the alcohol evaporate gently. Then add the white wine and reduce by about half.
03
Build the sauce
Add the demi-glace and simmer the sauce gently for 5 to 8 minutes until it starts to thicken nicely.
04
Cream
Stir the cream into the sauce and heat for a few more minutes over a low heat. Do not let the sauce boil hard again.
05
Finish
Stir the mustard and Worcestershire sauce into the sauce. Season with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Finish with the finely chopped parsley.
Tips & notes
Only add the mustard right at the end. That way the fresh sharpness is preserved and the sauce gets more character. Use freshly ground black pepper; it gives much more aroma than pre-ground pepper. Keeps for 3–4 days in the fridge, and freezes very well (up to 3 months); the flavour often deepens further the next day.
Chef's tip
Although sauce Diane is nowadays often made with plenty of cream, the classic version consists mainly of a powerful demi-glace. The cream only softens the sauce slightly; it must never overpower the full meat flavour. In classic restaurants the sauce was often flambéed right beside the table, which not only added aroma but also made for an impressive presentation.
Variations
- Sauce Diane au poivre – Add 1 tablespoon of coarsely crushed green peppercorns for a spicier variant.
- Sauce Diane aux champignons – Fry 150 g of chestnut mushrooms with the shallot for extra depth.
- Sauce Diane au Madère – Replace the white wine with Madeira for a fuller, richer sauce.
- Sauce Diane sans crème – Leave out the cream for a more powerful, more classic version in which the demi-glace comes fully into its own.
Contains:
Gluten
Milk
Mustard
Sulphites
Fish
Serve with
- Tournedos
- Beef tenderloin
- Entrecôte
- Veal medallions
- Pork tenderloin
- Venison steak
- Roe deer fillet
| Calories | 222 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 8 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Fibre | 0 g |
Estimated values, calculated from standard nutritional values per ingredient.
