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Ravigote sauce

Sauce ravigote · Ravigotte · White ravigotte sauce

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A French cold sauce, in its modern sense a vinaigrette with capers, parsley, chervil, tarragon and shallot or onion, served with fish, shellfish, meat and celeriac.

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Photograph of Ravigote sauce.

A vinaigrette with herbs and capers

Ravigote is a French cold sauce whose modern meaning is a vinaigrette finished with chopped herbs and a sharp garnish. The classic herbs are parsley, chervil and tarragon, with capers, cornichons, and chopped shallot or onion. The vinaigrette base is an oil and vinegar dressing, and the herbs give the sauce its colour and aroma.

The sauce is typical of French cuisine. The French article describes it as served cold and accompanies celery, fish, shellfish and meats, so its use is closer to a garnish for cooked food than to a salad dressing.

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A name from the verb to revive

The name is an alteration of the French verb ravigoter, from revigoter, to revive or invigorate, and is attested from 1712. The Brachet dictionary of 1868 traces it to the old verb ravigorer, to restore to vigour.

The French article notes that in the seventeenth century the ravigote belonged to a group of piquant sauces alongside rémoulade. Earlier forms of the sauce were served hot as well as cold, a point that separates the older sauce from the modern cold one.

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Variants and English names

In English the older spelling ravigotte is kept, and the sauces are called white ravigotte or green ravigotte, names that the French article records without dates. It cites a 1827 use for fillets of sole à la ravigotte.

The French article records that Dijon mustard appears in recent versions of the English ravigotte sauce, dated to 2007. The sources read give no quantities, no shelf life and no safe holding time for the cold sauce.

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History

The name comes from ravigoter, a verb meaning to revive or strengthen, which is attested in French from 1712. The French article places the sauce among the sharp sauces of seventeenth-century cookery, alongside rémoulade.

Ingredients

White wine vinegarThe sauce is a cold vinaigrette; the vinegar and oil form its base.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the source read.
Olive oil
Amount not stated
CapersChopped or whole.
Amount not stated
Cornichons (optional)Chopped.
Amount not stated
ParsleyChopped.
Amount not stated
ChervilChopped.
Amount not stated
TarragonChopped.
Amount not stated
ShallotFinely chopped; onion may replace it.
Amount not stated
Dijon mustard (optional)
Amount not stated
Found in recent versions, per the French article.

Method

  1. Whisk the vinegar and oil into a cold vinaigrette, seasoned with salt and pepper.
  2. Add the chopped shallot or onion, the capers and the cornichons.
  3. Stir in the chopped parsley, chervil and tarragon just before serving, cold.

Places

France

Traditional preparation · Country evidence

Typical of French cuisine; the source gives no locality.

See Franceon the mapLocation source 1 →

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Made from

  • White-wine vinegar

    White-wine vinegar is made when acetic acid bacteria oxidise the alcohol in finished white grape wine, yielding a pale, wine-derived souring condiment for dressings, sauces and cooking.

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