This is a classic recipe for mignonette sauce to serve with oysters, a staple at fine dining restaurants. Think of this as an elevated alternative to eating oysters with just a squeeze of fresh lemon juice - vinegar provides tang plus extra flavour from eschalots with the bonus of a lovely pink colour!Makes enough for 24 oysters. Some people use only a little, others go to town with it.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Course: Starter
Cuisine: French, Western
Keyword: dressing for oysters, mignonette, sauce for oysters
3tbspred wine vinegar, preferably a good quality one (Note 2)
Oysters:
12 - 24oysters(Note 3)
Black pepper, sprinkle yourself (Note 4)
Instructions
Mignonette - Mix together in a bowl then set aside for at least 2 hours to let the flavours meld.
Serving - Transfer into a little dish with a small spoon. Serve alongside oysters (generally people help themselves).
Using - Most people just use about 1/2 tsp for small oysters and 3/4 tsp for large. Some people will use more liberally! Comes down to personal taste.
Notes
1. Eschalots –Also known as French onions, and called “shallots” in the US. They look like baby onions, but have purple-skinned flesh, are finer and sweeter. Onions are too chunky for mignonette.Not to be confused with what some people in Australia call “shallots” ie the long green onions.2. Good vinegar - With just 2 ingredients and no oil in mignonette, there's nothing to hide behind! So the better quality vinegar you can get, the better your mignonette. Price will be your guide. :)3. Oysters – Both Sydney Rock (smaller, stronger flavour) and Pacific (fleshier, cleaner flavour) oysters are great. These are the two main varieties here in Australia. Flavour and quality comes down to where they are grown. I love: Tasmanian, Merimbula, Port Stephens, Batemans Bay, Boomer Bay. But there are many more from around Australia that are great I haven’t tried or I don’t see them here in Sydney!4. Pepper - If you want pepper, serve it in a little pinch bowl for people to sprinkle on each oyster themselves. Don't stir it in the mignonette, it sinks.5. Serving oysters - I generally serve on either a bed of crushed ice, rock salt (though have to dispose so I rarely do this) or a bed of cheap leafy greens (like watercress, whatever's good value at the time).Make ahead - You can make this the morning of the day you plan to serve. To get ahead the day before, I'd chop the eschallots and keep them in a container then mix on the day.