🍽️ Bistro · Hot sauces

White Wine, Thyme & Cream Sauce

Name: White Wine, Thyme & Cream Sauce
Total time: 50 min
Yield: Full batch from 8 L cream; measure the finished volume
Cuisine: Bistro
Ingredients: Aromatics:; 300 g onions — Finely diced.; 200 g garlic — Minced.; 100 g fresh thyme leaves — Stalks removed; source amount is assertive.; 30 ml vegetable oil — Editorial measured amount for sweating the aromatics.; Cream base:; 1 L dry white wine; 400 g vegetable bouillon — Source quantity; concentration must be checked.; 8 L double or whipping cream; Cornflour slurry:; 300 g cornflour — Keep some slurry back; add only as needed.; 600 ml cold water — Editorial working quantity to make a pourable slurry.

A rich cream sauce with dry white wine, softened onion, garlic and thyme. Cornflour lets you control the final consistency for chicken, fish or pasta.

Time50 minLevelSee methodMakesFull batch from 8 L cream; measure the finished volume

Illustrative photo: A white sauce in a cooking pan. The photographed sauce is béchamel, used as a visual reference for colour and texture. Photo by Jacek Halicki, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. View source. This image illustrates the dish; it is not a photo of a kitchen-tested version of this recipe.

Behind the plate

Batch: Commercial batch.

Equipment: Heavy stockpot, at least 15 L capacity, Whisk, Immersion blender, Measuring jug.

The recipe

Ingredients

Aromatics:
300 g onions — Finely diced.
200 g garlic — Minced.
100 g fresh thyme leaves — Stalks removed; source amount is assertive.
30 ml vegetable oil — Editorial measured amount for sweating the aromatics.
Cream base:
1 L dry white wine
400 g vegetable bouillon — Source quantity; concentration must be checked.
8 L double or whipping cream
Cornflour slurry:
300 g cornflour — Keep some slurry back; add only as needed.
600 ml cold water — Editorial working quantity to make a pourable slurry.

Method

1. Sweat the aromatics: Warm the oil over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic and thyme. Cook gently for 5–8 minutes, stirring, until soft without browning.
2. Reduce the wine: Pour in the white wine and bring to a lively simmer. Reduce for 5–8 minutes to soften the raw wine flavour. Reduction does not guarantee removal of all alcohol.
3. Add the cream: Stir in the bouillon, according to its label, then the cream. Heat gently, stirring from the base. Bring to a gentle simmer; avoid a prolonged rolling boil.
4. Blend carefully: Take the pot off the heat. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth, keeping the head submerged. For a very fine sauce, pass it through a sieve.
5. Thicken gradually: Mix the cornflour with the cold water. Return the sauce to gentle heat. Stir the slurry again, then whisk it into the sauce in stages. Simmer for 2–3 minutes after the final addition, or as the cornflour label directs. Stop when the sauce lightly coats a spoon.
6. Record the yield: Taste for salt before seasoning further. Measure the finished volume and record how much slurry was used. Serve, or cool quickly for storage.

Chef’s notes

Keep the base moving with a flat-edged paddle to prevent scorching.
The listed slurry is a maximum working amount, not an instruction to make the sauce excessively thick.
Editorial review: 8 L cream plus 1 L wine cannot substantiate the source’s 11–12 L finished-yield claim; measure the actual volume.
Editorial review: Bouillon 400 g and thyme 100 g are preserved source quantities. Trial a smaller batch and confirm the specific product strength.
Editorial review: Oil 30 ml and a 600 ml slurry-water working quantity are editorial proposals; the source used an unspecified fat and 300 ml water.
Storage: Hot-hold at or above 63°C, or cool rapidly in shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours at 0–5°C. Reheat only once to at least 70°C throughout, stirring gently. Use a validated business shelf life.
Conditional allergens: Bouillon may contain celery and other allergens. Wine may contain sulphites.

At the table

Use with chicken, fish, mushrooms or pasta. This is also the cream base for the pepper and brandy sauce.