Demi-glace is a rich brown sauce in French cuisine made with one part espagnole sauce and one part brown stock. The sauce is reduced by half, strained of impurities and finished with sherry wine and is used by itself or as a base for other sauces. Variations use a 1:1 mixture of beef (beef demi-glace) or chicken stock (chicken demi-glace) to espagnole. Used by itself, the term demi-glace infers that the sauce is made traditionally with veal stock.
While a classical demi-glace is comprised of half espagnole–itself is thickened with a roux— with the other half stock; a modern menu listing a demi-glace as a sauce generally refers to a stock reduced in half, with the stock’s gelatin used to thicken the sauce as opposed to a roux. These full reduction sauces provide a more intense flavor without the heaviness of a classic demi-glace, make a chef’s life easier, and improve an owner’s bottom line.
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