Noilly Prat sauces, two recipes

Noilly Prat is a dry vermouth from the South of France. It is made from white grapes grown in the Marseillan area and matured in oak casks. It is said that about twenty herbs and spices are added to it.

I always thought that Noilly Prat is a slightly decadent and old fashioned aperitif. But during a visit to Eilenroc, where I saw it among the aperitifs in the winter garden, I somehow became interested in its origins. I googled it, and discovered its extensive uses in cooking, especially for sauces to accompany fish.

The following two sauce recipes are the results of my experiments with Noilly Prat. If you have any favourite Noilly Prat recipes, please let me know.

The following sauce is especially good with grilled or roasted fish or scallops:

2 servings

75 ml good vegetable stock (for instance from Bjorg vegetable cube)
75 ml Noilly Prat
2 tbsp fruity olive oil
2 tbsp crème fraîche 15 % fat
Freshly ground black pepper
Basil or dill to decorate

In a small casserole, cook the vegetable stock and Noilly Prat over a moderate heat until reduced to almost half. Add 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp crème fraîche. Whisk thoroughly until everything is well-mixed and smooth. Add the pepper and decorate with herbs.

The sauce below goes very well with magret de canard, duck breast: See our earlier post.

2 servings

Juice of 1 large orange
75 ml Noilly Prat
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp corn flour dissolved in a small amount of water
Fresh parsley or chives to decorate

Press the juice from 1 large orange. In a small casserole, cook the orange juice and Noilly Prat over a moderate heat until reduced to almost half. Dissolve the corn flour in a small amount of water. Add the black pepper, and whisk in the corn flour- water mixture until the sauce has thickened as you wish. You may not need to use all the corn flour- water mixture. Decorate with fresh herbs.