Sauce Américaine

Although there are many variations of this classic sauce, the recipe that follows demonstrates many of the techniques used for preparing crustacean sauces. This recipe uses lobster, which is the traditional crustacean used for Sauce Américaine. Other crustaceans such as crabs, shrimps (if they have their heads), and crayfish can be substituted.

Sauce Américaine can be thickened and flavored in many ways (although some will argue it is then no longer Sauce Américaine). Many recipes include either veal or fish stock. Older recipes usually call for thickening the sauce with beurre manié or roux, while some newer versions are thickened with starches such as arrowroot. Some contemporary chefs use hydrocolloids. This recipe uses none of those options but relies on reduction to concentrate the sauce’s flavors, and on whole butter and crustacean butter to give a smooth texture and a final thickening. Cream is added to the lobster coral (more traditional recipes combine it with butter) to prevent it from curdling on contact with the hot sauce. Although classic recipes for Sauce Américaine do not usually use crustacean butter, the butter adds an extra note of complexity and contributes to the color.