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Demi-glace
demi-glace (French, half-glaze) · Demi glace · Demi-glaze · Half-glaze · Demi-glace classique · Demi-glace au boeuf · Demi-glace au poulet
Demi-glace is a rich brown sauce of French cookery, classically made by reducing equal parts espagnole sauce and brown stock by half. It is used on its own or as a base for other sauces.
What demi-glace is
Demi-glace is a rich brown sauce in French cookery, used on its own or as the base for other sauces. The name means half-glaze, and in sauce terms glace means icing or glaze. The sauce is a reduction of a brown sauce, not a cream or emulsion.
Common variants mix beef or chicken stock 1:1 with espagnole. These are called demi-glace au boeuf or demi-glace au poulet.
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The classical method
The classical method combines equal parts espagnole sauce and brown stock. The mixture is reduced by half, strained of impurities, and finished with sherry.
The espagnole used in this method is a separate sauce with its own record. The source does not give a volume or a reduction time.
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Modern practice
The traditional method takes considerable effort, so chefs often use a simpler jus lie made from veal stock instead of the full espagnole route. Julia Child called the espagnole-free version a semi-demi-glace. The source gives no date for her usage.
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Demi-glace and a reduced jus
A reduced brown stock is not the same as the classical sauce. The classical demi-glace is built on espagnole, a thickened base, and the reduction of that base with stock. A reduced jus has no roux and is reduced from stock alone.
The difference matters for storage research. A concentrated sauce is not thereby a safe ambient product. Any preservation of demi-glace needs its own tested method.
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Uncertainty
The origin of the classical method is not firmly dated in the source. The attribution to Escoffier rests on his 1907 book, and the claim that he first systematised the sauce is not supported by the source.
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History
The source gives no origin date for demi-glace. Its only dated reference is Auguste Escoffier's A Guide to Modern Cookery (1907), cited for a half-glaze recipe. The source does not say Escoffier codified the sauce.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Espagnole sauceEqual parts with the brown stock. See the espagnole record for its method.
Amount not stated
Equal parts with brown stockBrown stockBeef or chicken stock 1:1 with espagnole in the common variants; veal stock in the modern jus lie.
Amount not stated
Equal parts with espagnoleSherry (optional)Added at the finish, per the classical method.
Quantity not given
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Hot reduced stock
A stock reduced by half is a hot, concentrated liquid.
Hazard sourceStrain the sauce before finishing
Control sourceConcentration adds flavour. It does not establish safe room temperature storage, and no shelf life is recorded in the source.
- Prepare an espagnole sauce, or use one already made.
- Combine equal parts espagnole sauce and brown stock.
- Reduce the mixture by half.
- Strain it to remove impurities.
- Finish with sherry, as the classical method directs.
Places
France
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe name and classical method are French. No dated origin is established.
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Sources
WikipediaHistory · Method · Safety
Demi-glaceDemi-glace (half-glaze) is a rich brown sauce in French cuisine, used on its own or as a base for other sauces.
Classical recipe: equal parts espagnole sauce and brown stock, reduced by half, strained, and finished with sherry.
Variants mix beef or chicken stock 1:1 with espagnole (demi-glace au boeuf, demi-glace au poulet).
Only dated attribution: Auguste Escoffier, A Guide to Modern Cookery (1907), cited for a half-glaze recipe; the page does not say Escoffier codified the sauce.
Chefs often substitute a jus lie made from veal stock; Julia Child called it semi-demi-glace (no date given).
Cited in: What demi-glace is; The classical method; Modern practice; Demi-glace and a reduced jus; Uncertainty