Chefs and diners - is jus pretentious?!
Chefs and diners - is jus pretentious?
Jus is a word I use in cooking, to denote a thick liquid that is made from the natural juices that exude from foods in the cooking process, but the word has come in for some opprobrium on this site tonight. Apparently, it should be 'sauce' or 'gravy'. The latter makes me think of the watery creation that I was 'served' with as an unwanted adjunct to roast beef.
Comments, please!
Answers:
I use the word, also, and don't find it pretentious in the least. I hate when it's thrown around though, like when I go to a diner and see roast beef au jus, and you get salty ****, pretty well. I use it to denote a concentrated stock, sort of. A highly reduced stock, but not gone down to demi. we have a veal and chix jus at the restaurant. (I've had a lot of jager, so this may not make too much sense.)
Is there a question here??? or are you jus talking
Usually that's called a roux.
I would never eat a French dip without the au jus, I don't want sauce or gravy, it must be au jus.
sauce or gravy is usually thickened, but au jus (juice) is usually the pan drippings that the meat cooked with. I've always found it sounds pretentious too.lol
It is pretentious, overused and misunderstood. Just because you make negative associations it doesn't give you chefs the right to butcher the French language just so you can stick an extra five quid on every dish.
If you must say anything, just say 'sauce' and let your cooking speak for itself.
EDIT - Anyone who refers to 'an au jus' needs a smacked bottom ( and French lessons ).
Jus is French for juice and in culinary terms it means a light sauce made from meat drippings and stock/broth and is rarely ever thickened. Sauces and gravies are different than jus as well as different from each other.
Ah Bisto!
Seriously I think the use of the French word "jus" is pretentious in most of it's applications. It's appeared on almost every menu I've seen in the last couple of years.
I'm expecting fish & chips with "picked onion jus" any day now! Why not crispy battered pork with "sweet & sour jus"? It's only a matter of time mate!
Just give it a miss until it goes the way of all pratfashion...
Au jus is the cooking liquid from the pan you cooked your roast in, usually prepared in the oven. Sauce usually refers to the juices rendered from cooking on top of the stove in a fryingpan or a saucepan. Gravy is a thickened sauce made by combining the Au jus with a roux.