French · Burgundy · appetizer

Oeufs en Meurette

Oeufs en Meurette reads umami 7.0, salinity 6.5 and richness 6.2 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a French · Burgundy appetizer, about 1 hr 4 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 7.0 · Salinity 6.5 · Richness 6.2 · Sourness 3.9 · Allium 3.3 · Funk & Ferment 3.2 · Fruity 3.0 · Herbaceous 2.8 · Sweetness 2.7 · Earthy 2.6 · Smoke 1.4 · Floral 1.4 · Citrus 1.3 · Bitterness 1.2 · Warm Spice 1.1 · Heat 0.6 · Nutty 0.6

What's in it (20)

Time & effort: about 1 hr 4 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 123.6 kcal, 4.2 g protein, 8.9 g fat, 4.4 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

  1. A meurette is a red wine sauce, and in Burgundy it is poured over freshwater fish, over brains, and — best of all — over poached eggs at eleven in the morning. Use a wine you would actually drink; a harsh one stays harsh through every stage of reduction.
  2. Render the lardons in a dry pan over medium heat for 6 minutes until they colour lightly, and lift them out. In the same fat, brown the button onions all over for 6 minutes, then the mushrooms for 4, and set all three aside together.
  3. In the same pan sweat the diced carrot and onion for 6 minutes, add the crushed garlic and the bouquet garni, then pour in three-quarters of the wine. Boil it hard until reduced by half, about 12 minutes. Reducing wine drives off the alcohol and the thin acidity; underdone, the sauce tastes like hot wine rather than like sauce.
  4. Add the stock and simmer 15 minutes more, then strain the sauce into a clean pan and press the vegetables hard to get everything out of them.
  5. Bring the sauce back to a simmer and whisk in the beurre manié in small pinches, letting each disappear before the next. Cook 3 minutes after the last addition to lose the raw flour taste. It should be lightly nappe — coating a spoon thinly, not gluey.
  6. Now poach the eggs in the remaining wine with the vinegar, brought to about 80°C in a small deep pan: quivering, not bubbling. Crack each egg into a cup, slide it in and poach 3 minutes. Poaching in wine rather than water is what dyes the whites that startling deep violet, which is the whole visual signature of the dish. Lift them out and trim the ragged edges with scissors.
  7. Toast the bread, rub each slice hard with the cut garlic clove and set one on each plate.
  8. Finish the sauce off the heat by swirling in the cold butter a few dice at a time until it turns glossy and slightly thickened — it must not boil again or the emulsion splits. Season, return the lardons, onions and mushrooms to warm through, set an egg on each toast, spoon the meurette over and scatter the parsley.
  9. Substitutions: another light Pinot Noir can stand in for the young red Burgundy; beef stock can stand in for the veal stock.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.