Gribiche sauce — French sauce with hard-boiled eggs and herbs

Put two eggs in a small saucepan and add cool water to about 2 cm above their shells. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer gently for 9–10 minutes. The water is only for cooking and is not an ingredient in the sauce. Meanwhile, prepare a bowl of cold water to cool the eggs.

Transfer the eggs to cold water and leave for about 10 minutes, replacing the water with cool water as needed. Peel only once cooled, then dry. The two peeled eggs should weigh about 100 g in total; use both whole. Discard the shells and cooking and cooling water; none goes into the sauce.

Drain cornichons and capers in a strainer, then weigh out 30 g and 15 g respectively. Do not add the brine to the sauce and do not rinse the drained ingredients. Finely dice the cornichons and roughly chop the capers. Set everything aside in a small bowl; do not squeeze extra juice from the cut pieces.

Wash parsley and tarragon, dry thoroughly, then pick off the leaves. Weigh out 8 g parsley leaves and 2 g tarragon, without thick stems. Chop finely with a sharp knife without crushing into a wet paste. All the weighed herbs will go into the sauce later, so do not reserve any for garnish.

Halve the cooled eggs. Put all cooked yolks in a medium bowl and thoroughly mash with a fork into fine crumbs. Dice all whites into pieces about 3 mm and set aside separately. The yolks must be fully set; keep both components in their entirety for the next steps.

Add all 15 g Dijon mustard and 5 g of the weighed 15 g vinegar to the mashed yolks. Work with a fork or small whisk for 1–2 minutes to make a thick paste as uniform as possible. Do not push it through a strainer: small bits of yolk or mustard may remain, and all ingredients must go into the sauce.

Whisking constantly, add 60 g olive oil a few drops at first, then in a very thin stream once the base starts coming together. Pause the pouring frequently and mix thoroughly. Whisk in the remaining 10 g vinegar in two additions. After about 3–4 minutes, the sauce should be thick and combined without a separate puddle of oil; use all the weighed oil and vinegar.

Use a spoon to fold in all diced whites, cornichons, capers, chopped parsley and tarragon, and 0.3 g black pepper. Scrape in small bits and juices from the bowls that held the weighed ingredients. Mix gently to keep distinct pieces. Do not add salt: the mustard, cornichons and capers already contribute salt to this version.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Stir briefly before serving, then transfer all the sauce, thoroughly scraping the sides, into four portions of about 60 g. Serve cold as an accompaniment to a meal. Store covered in the refrigerator and use within 24 hours; do not leave out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours in total.