Meat gravy made from cooking juices
Au jus French dip beef sandwich, with bowl of jus for dipping |
| Type | Sauce, broth |
|---|
| Place of origin | France |
|---|
Au jus (French: [o ʒy]) is a French culinary term meaning "with juice". It refers to meat dishes prepared or served together with a light broth or gravy, made from the fluids secreted by the meat as it is cooked.[1] In French cuisine, cooking au jus is a natural way to enhance the flavour of dishes, mainly chicken, veal, and lamb. In American cuisine, the term is sometimes used to refer to a light sauce for beef recipes, which may be served with the food or placed on the side for dipping.[2]
Ingredients and preparation
To prepare a natural jus, the cook may skim off the fat from the juices left after cooking and bring the remaining meat stock and water to a boil. Jus can be frozen for six months or longer, but the flavour may suffer after this time.[3]
Au jus recipes in the United States often use soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, white or brown sugar, garlic, beets, carrots, onions, or other ingredients to make something more like a gravy.[citation needed] The American jus is sometimes prepared separately, rather than being produced naturally by the food being cooked. An example could be a beef jus made by reducing beef stock to a concentrated form (also known as Glace de Viande) to accompany a meat dish. It is typically served with the French dip sandwich.[citation needed]
Jus can also be made by extracting the juice from the original meat and combining it with another liquid e.g. red wine (thus forming a red wine jus).[citation needed]
A powdered product described as jus is also sold and is rubbed into the meat before cooking or added afterwards. Powdered forms generally use a combination of salt, dried onion, and sometimes sugar as primary flavoring agents.[4]
Use as noun
In the United States, the phrase au jus is often used as a noun, owing to it having been adapted in culinary references into the noun form:[5] Rather than a "sandwich au jus", the menu may read "sandwich with au jus".[6][7]
