Au jus is French for "with broth" (literally "with juice"). In American cuisine, the term is most to refer to a taste-enhancing sauce for beef recipies, which may be used either as a part of the product or placed on the side for dipping. The Cuisine of the United States is characterized by the broad diversity of the possible foods, but more importantly the willingness of the country as a whole to integrate widely divergent foods. ...

Ingredients and Preparation

Au jus literally refers to a food served in its natural juices. ^[1] To prepare natural au jus, the cook may simply skim off the fat from the juices left after cooking and bring the remaining meat stock and water to a boil.

However, the au jus taste with which many American consumers are familiar is a more heavily seasoned sauce, utilizing several additional taste enhancers. Au jus recipes often use soy sauce, worcesterchire sauce, salt and pepper, sugar (and/or brown sugar), garlic, and/or onion products in varying combinations, to create a thicker product more comparable to gravy. While some such recipes are made part of the cooking process, others are prepared seperately, to be added to the meat shortly before consumption. Soy sauce (US) or soya sauce (UK) is a fermented sauce made from soybeans (soya beans), roasted grain, water and sea salt (US will use salt unless otherwise stated). ... In chemistry, salt is a term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ... Look up Pepper in Wiktionary, the free dictionary There are several completely different plants referred to by the name of pepper; most are used in food for the hot sensation that the chemical piperine or capsaicin induces on the tongue. ... A sugar is a carbohydrate which is sweet to taste. ... Brown sugar is an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals combined with molasses. ... Garlic (Allium sativum) is a bulbous perennial food plant of the family Alliaceae. ... Binomial name Allium cepa L. Onion in the general sense can be used for any plant in the Genus Allium but used without qualifiers usually means Allium cepa L., also called the garden onion. ... Gravy is a thickened sauce, usually made from a base of the juices and extractives that run from meat during cooking. ...

Au jus is also sold in a powderized, packaged form similar to the above, to be rubbed into the meat before cooking or added afterwards. Powderized forms generally use a combination of salt, dried onion, and sometimes sugar as primary flavoring agents. ^[2] In chemistry, salt is a term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ... Binomial name Allium cepa L. Onion in the general sense can be used for any plant in the Genus Allium but used without qualifiers usually means Allium cepa L., also called the garden onion. ... A sugar is a carbohydrate which is sweet to taste. ...

Linguistic Use

In American English, "au jus" is often misused to mean simply "broth", resulting in nonsensical sentences like "All of our French Dip sandwiches are served on a specially baked french roll, dipped in our au jus." ^[3] American English (AmE) is the form of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... A French dip sandwich is a hot sandwich consisting of thinly sliced roast beef on a French roll or baguette. ...

External links

• French dip with au jus