Blanquette de Veau

Blanquette de veau is veal simmered gently in stock with carrot and onion, bound at the end into a pale cream-and-egg-yolk sauce. It's a French classic that stays pale from start to finish, though the carrots add a little colour — the veal is never browned, which is exactly what the name (blanquette, from blanc) is pointing at.

What it actually is

Cubed veal, usually shoulder, is poached rather than seared, kept pale by never touching hot fat directly. It simmers gently with carrot, onion, a bouquet garni and sometimes a little white wine until tender, and the poaching liquid becomes the base of the sauce: thickened with a butter-and-flour roux, then finished off the heat with cream and egg yolk whisked in carefully so it doesn't scramble.

The result is a dish with almost no colour contrast on the plate — pale meat in a pale sauce — which is precisely the point rather than an oversight.

How it's served

• With rice or boiled potatoes, plain, to keep the whole plate as pale as the sauce.
• Sauce ladled generously over the veal, not on the side.
• With button mushrooms and pearl onions simmered in, as in the traditional recipe.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten, dairy and egg; the roux, cream and yolk liaison carry all three.
• Note that the veal is never browned; guests expecting a seared cutlet should know this is a poached, pale dish by design.
• Stock often contains celery and some recipes use white wine; those versions add celery and sulphites.
• Mention that the sauce is whisked off the heat with egg yolk; it is not a dish that reheats well at high heat, which affects how it should be held.