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Crayfish sauce (sauce aux écrevisses)

Crayfish sauce from Erken 1914: the shells of 36 boiled crayfish pounded with 125 g butter, boiled 1 hour in 2 liters of stock with parsley; the stock is strained, the crayfish butter skimmed off and made into a roux with 40 g flour, reduced, enriched with cream and cold butter, seasoned with sherry, paprika and salt. The crayfish tails are added at the end.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 339 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

One of Erken's great shellfish sauces, made from crayfish shells pounded with butter. The crayfish butter gives both color and flavor, and the sauce was served with fish and fine starters.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Clean the crayfish

    Wash and clean the boiled crayfish. Set the tails aside and pound the shells together with the butter.

  2. 2

    Boil the stock

    Put the shell mass in a pot, stir for 5 minutes, add the stock and the parsley and let it boil for 1 hour.

  3. 3

    Strain and skim

    Strain the stock, let it stand for a while and skim off the crayfish butter.

  4. 4

    Make the sauce

    Stir the skimmed-off butter together with the flour, thin with 1 liter of the stock and reduce into a suitably smooth sauce.

  5. 5

    Finish and season

    Just before serving, enrich the sauce with the cream and 1 tsp cold butter. Season with sherry, paprika and salt.

  6. 6

    Color and tails

    If the sauce is not red enough, add a little lobster coloring, or rub a little crayfish roe fine with a little cold butter on a board and stir it in together with the flour. Put the cleaned crayfish tails into the sauce.

Changes from the original

Measures have been converted to modern units (g, dl, liter). "Bouquet of parsley" has been rendered as a small bunch of parsley. "Lobster coloring" has been kept as an optional coloring addition. The method has been divided into numbered steps.

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Fra19141949Modernisert
Til19141949Modernisert
1914 (korrekturlest, s. 339) → 1949 (korrekturlest, s. 375)~29% av teksten endretfjernetlagt til
Krepsesaus. (Sauce aux écrevisses.) 36 krebs kreps 125 gr. smør 2 l. fiske- eller kjøtkraft kjøttkraft 1 buket bukett persille 40 gr. hvetemel 1 del. fløte sherry paprika salt. De kokte krebs kreps vaskes, renses, og skallene støtes med smørret. smøret. Dette haves has i gryte, omrøres i 5 minutter, tilsættes tilsettes kraften og persillen og koker 1 time. Kraften siles, staar står en stund, og smørret smøret skummes av. Dette smør og melet røres sammen, spædes spes med 1 l. av kraften og koker ind inn til en passe jevn saus. Sausen jevnes like før anretningen med fløten fløte og 1 teske teskje koldt smør smør, og tilsættes tilsettes sherry, paprika og salt efter smak. De rensede krebsehaler lægges krepsehaler legges i. Er sausen ikke rød nok, kan man tilsætte tilsette litt hummerfarve, eller man tar av litt krebserogn, gnider krepserogn, gnir denne ganske fin paa på en fjøl fjel med litt koldt smør og har det i sausen samtidig med melet.

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Frequently asked questions

Why are the crayfish shells pounded with the butter?
The shells contain a lot of color and flavor. By pounding them together with the butter (125 g) and then heating the mixture for 5 minutes, the color and aroma are drawn out into the butter. The stock is then boiled with this for 1 hour, strained, and the butter is skimmed off the top and used to make the sauce thickening with the flour.
How long does the sauce take?
Allow about 2.5 hours in all. The stock-boiling itself with shells and parsley takes 1 hour, then the stock must be strained and stand for a while so the butter can be skimmed off, before the sauce is reduced to a suitable consistency from 1 liter of stock, the butter and 40 g of wheat flour.
What do I do if the sauce doesn't turn red enough?
The recipe suggests adding a little lobster coloring, or rubbing a little crayfish roe completely fine and stirring it in. Color and flavor are otherwise adjusted at the end with cream, 1 teaspoon of cold butter, sherry, paprika and salt.
When are the crayfish tails added?
The cleaned crayfish tails are added at the very end, after the sauce has been enriched with the cream and the cold butter and seasoned, so that they don't turn tough from long cooking.

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