Au jus
Encyclopedia
Au jus is French
for "with [its own] juice"; jus is the juice itself.
In American cuisine
, the term is mostly used to refer to a light sauce
for beef recipes, which may be served with the food or placed on the side for dipping. In French cuisine
, jus is a natural way to enhance the flavour of dishes, mainly chicken, veal
and lamb.
Often prepared in the United States is a seasoned sauce with several additional flavourings. American recipes au jus often use soy sauce
, Worcestershire sauce
, salt
, pepper
, white or brown sugar
, garlic
, onion
, or other ingredients to make something more like a gravy
. So-called 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, to accompany a meat dish.
Jus can also be made by extracting the juice from the original meat and combining it with another liquid eg: red wine (thus forming a red wine jus).
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 flavouring agents.http://www.americanspice.com/catalog/20083/search/Au_Jus_Mix.html?SEARCH=3&WORDS=Au%2Bjus%2Bmix%2Bingredients&orig=30&PAGE=0&_ssess_=39a41c5c1f61c6791bc73af54c25f271
.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for "with [its own] juice"; jus is the juice itself.
In American cuisine
Cuisine of the United States
American cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from the United States of America. European colonization of the Americas yielded the introduction of a number of ingredients and cooking styles to the latter...
, the term is mostly used to refer to a light sauce
Sauce
In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...
for beef recipes, which may be served with the food or placed on the side for dipping. In French cuisine
French cuisine
French cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from France that has developed from centuries of social change. In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel , a court chef, authored Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France...
, jus is a natural way to enhance the flavour of dishes, mainly chicken, veal
Veal
Veal is the meat of young cattle , as opposed to meat from older cattle. Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds...
and lamb.
Ingredients and preparation
'Jus' means the natural juices given off by the food.http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=au%20jus To prepare a natural jus, the cook may simply 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 flavor may suffer after this time.Often prepared in the United States is a seasoned sauce with several additional flavourings. American recipes au jus often use soy sauce
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
, Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce , or Worcester sauce is a fermented liquid condiment; primarily used to flavour meat or fish dishes.First made at 60 Broad Street, Worcester, England, by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, the Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and...
, salt
Edible salt
Salt, also known as table salt, or rock salt, is a mineral that is composed primarily of sodium chloride , a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of ionic salts. It is essential for animal life in small quantities, but is harmful to animals and plants in excess...
, pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
, white or brown sugar
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white...
, garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
, onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
, or other ingredients to make something more like a gravy
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...
. So-called 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, to accompany a meat dish.
Jus can also be made by extracting the juice from the original meat and combining it with another liquid eg: red wine (thus forming a red wine jus).
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
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, dried onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
, and sometimes sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
as primary flavouring agents.http://www.americanspice.com/catalog/20083/search/Au_Jus_Mix.html?SEARCH=3&WORDS=Au%2Bjus%2Bmix%2Bingredients&orig=30&PAGE=0&_ssess_=39a41c5c1f61c6791bc73af54c25f271
English language
In the United States, the term "Au jus" often refers to the broth, rather than meaning "with the broth" as in French. So rather than a "sandwich au jus", the menu may read "sandwich with au jus". It is typically served with the French dip sandwichFrench dip sandwich
A French dip sandwich, also known as a beef dip, is a hot sandwich consisting of thinly sliced roast beef on a "French roll" or baguette. It is usually served au jus , that is, with beef juice from the cooking process...
.