Oeufs en meurette
Photo: Popo le Chien · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

The meurette is the Burgundian red wine sauce, built on the region's own wine with lardons, onions and shallots sweated in butter,. Oeufs en meurette, poached eggs laid on toasted garlic bread and covered in that sauce, is the best-known use of it and one of the fixed starters of the Burgundy bistro repertoire. It is traditionally drunk with the same red wine that went into the sauce, which in Dijon usually means a Côte de Nuits Pinot Noir.

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Common allergens: Eggs, Gluten, Sulphites, Milk

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 50 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 8 very fresh eggs
  • 750ml red Burgundy
  • 2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 100g smoked lardons
  • 1 garlic clove, plus 1 more to rub the toast
  • 1 bay leaf and 2 thyme sprigs
  • 30g butter mixed with 1 tbsp flour
  • 8 slices of baguette
  • Salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar

Method

  1. Fry the lardons until crisp, lift out, and soften the shallots and garlic in the fat for three minutes.
  2. Add the wine, bay and thyme and simmer until reduced by about half, around 20 minutes.
  3. Lower the heat so the wine barely trembles and poach the eggs two at a time for three minutes each, lifting them out onto a warm plate.
  4. Strain the wine, return it to the pan and whisk in the butter and flour paste a little at a time until the sauce is glossy and coats a spoon; season, adding a pinch of sugar if it tastes sharp.
  5. Toast the bread, rub it with the cut garlic, set two eggs on each plate on the toasts, spoon over the sauce and scatter with the lardons.

Tip from the editors. Poaching in the wine turns the whites purple; for white eggs, poach them in simmering water with a splash of vinegar instead.

Where to eat oeufs en meurette

Oeufs en meurette in Dijon

Meurette et Persillé ★ 4.0

€€ French regionalCite GastronomieChef Florent Colombo

Meurette et Persillé is chef Florent Colombo's Burgundian dining room inside the Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie et du Vin complex in Dijon.

OrderThe oeufs en meurette, the dish the restaurant is named for and its clearest signature plate.

TipIt sits inside the Cité de la Gastronomie complex, so pair a meal with the free permanent exhibitions on the French gastronomic meal.

Directions

William Frachot 2 ★ ★ 4.9

€€€€ Tasting €125-190French fine diningDarcy GareChef William Frachot

William Frachot holds two Michelin stars at Chapeau Rouge in Dijon, pairing Burgundy terroir with reworked oeufs en meurette and river fish.

OrderThe reworked oeufs en meurette with river fish that anchors his tasting menus.

TipThe adult tasting menu starts at €125; book the Wednesday or Thursday seating for an easier table.

Directions Book

La Brasserie des Loges ★ 3.9

€€ BrasserieCentre Historique

La Brasserie des Loges seats guests beside the Musée des Beaux-Arts on Place du Théâtre in Dijon, serving Burgundian brasserie classics daily.

OrderThe Menu Bourguignon, a set three-course run through the region's classics.

TipIt stays open every day of the year bar three, useful for a Sunday or holiday table when smaller kitchens shut.

Directions

Le Caveau de Saulx ★ 4.1

€€ Wine barCentre Historique

Le Caveau de Saulx runs commented blind tastings of rare wines from every region in a 16th-century cellar on Rue Vannerie in Dijon, with local platters.

PourA blind-tasted glass poured without the label shown

WineRare and surprising Burgundy bottles chosen for blind tastings

FoodCharcuterie and cheese boards

TipSay if you want the labels kept hidden; the cellar closes for its annual holiday from 17 July to 15 August.

Directions

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