Acoulis (/kuːˈliː/koo-LEE) is a form of thinsauce made frompuréed and strainedvegetables orfruits.[1] A vegetable coulis is commonly used on meat and vegetable dishes, and it can also be used as a base forsoups or other sauces. Fruit coulis are most often used ondesserts.Raspberry coulis, for example, is especially popular with poachedapples orKey lime pie. Tomato coulis may be used to add flavor to other sauces or served on its own (either cold or hot).[2]
The term comes fromOld Frenchcoleïs, meaning flowing[3] or running.
The way of making coulis varies with the type of fruit or vegetable used: it is possible to simply mash raspberries and strawberries through astrainer with a spoon, while ripe pears and melons are usually pureed in ablender prior to straining; apples have to be cooked first. Depending on the consistency of the puree, either achinois (for the softest purees),food mill, ordrum sieve (for the hardest ones) can be used for straining.Reduction of coulis (to strengthen its sweetness and flavor) can be difficult, as the sauce may acquire a jam-like taste when heated, so sometimesvacuum evaporation is used to boil the mixture at a lower temperature.[4]
While fruit coulis can be used with its natural flavor, a small amount offruit brandy (Kirsch,framboise,mirabelle [fr]) is occasionally added when under-ripe fruits are used. Desserts that are not very sweet, likebrioche, can benefit from coulis with added sugar, while the taste of ice cream, on the other hand, improves with a contrasting, unsweetened sauce.[4]
In its current meaning, the term is fairly new in the English language, with widespread use, alongsideNouvelle cuisine, since the 1980s (Merriam-Webster Dictionary provides 1952 as the first recorded use in the modern sense[3]). However, originally with the spellingcullis, the word has six hundred years of history in the English language. Thecullis was derived from anOld Frenchcoleis (originally fromLatin:cōlāre, "to strain"), the French word defining straining, pouring, flowing, or sliding (the meaning is preserved in English "colander"). The term was used to denote strainedbroth, originally likely made from chicken, later also from meat and fish. The cullis was used as a sauce or as a base for other sauces.[5]
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