saupiquet

Saupiquet comes from sauce piquant. It’s an old term for a strong flavoured sauce often served with roast rabbit or hare, made from the liver and blood of the animal, onions, garlic, wine vinegar (or wine, or Armagnac), and various herbs, including serpolet (wild thyme), and sometimes juniper berries; another version uses anchovies and capers.

Saupiquet Carcassonnaise from the Carcassonne area, is made with goose or pork fat, onions, ham, bouquet garni, wine, bouillon, and thickened at the end with blood and chopped liver.

Today you are more likely to see saupiquet de jambon (also known as saupiquet montbardois), a dish from Burgundy invented in the 16th century, made with slices of cooked ham (jambon blanc), ideally on the bone, baked with a sauce of butter, shallots, tomato paste, Chablis, crème fraiche and fresh herbs, and often including juniper and tarragon; some add peas, too.