J — Gastrique. What an unfortunate name for such a wonderful sauce style.
I discovered gastrique a few years ago in a recipe for Thyme Encrusted Salmon with Blackberry Gastrique, which we have done here. I never knew anything about that style of combining the acidity of vinegar and wine with the sweetness of fruit and sugar. What a delightful discovery. Since then, I’ve made it several times and branched out to figs and, now, red plums and raspberries.
Basically, you can make a gastrique from just about any fruity thing, including wine, stone fruit, citrus, berries, etc. I wanted to do figs again, but I was too late to make it a second time this season.
So, here’s the recipe for a gastrique with red plums and raspberries.
| Red Plum and Raspberry Gastrique |
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 2 large red plums, very ripe
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 medium shallot, minced
- ¼ cup dry red wine
- Salt and pepper
- In a food processor or blender, puree most of the berries, reserving a few to use as a garnish.
- Cut plums into medium chunks.
- To prepare gastrique: In a 1- to 2-quart pan, mix sugar with ¼ cup water; cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat until reduced to a thick caramel-colored syrup, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat; carefully add vinegar.
- Return to low heat and stir until caramel is dissolved. Remove from pan and set aside. Rinse pan.
- In the same pan, melt butter over medium-high heat; add shallot and cook, stirring often, until just golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine and cook, uncovered, until most of the liquid evaporates (watch carefully), about 5 minutes.
- Add berry puree and plum chunks. Simmer on low, uncovered, until plums are very soft, about 15 minutes. Whisk to break up plum chunks.
- Press mixture through strainer, discard solids, and return to rinsed pan.
- Add the gastrique to pan. Add salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
- Add fresh berries and warm before serving.
- Enjoy!
Enjoy this sauce on pork chops, halibut or chicken.