Béarnaise sauce
TypeSauce
Place of originFrance
Main ingredientsEgg yolk, clarified butter, white wine vinegar

Béarnaise sauce (/bərˈnz/; French: [be.aʁ.nɛz]) is a sauce made of butter, egg yolk, white-wine vinegar, and herbs. It is regarded as a "child" of hollandaise sauce.[1] The difference is only in the flavoring: béarnaise uses shallot, black pepper, and tarragon, while hollandaise uses white pepper or a pinch of cayenne.

The sauce's name derives from the province of Béarn, France. It is a traditional sauce for steak.[2][3]

History

Legend has it that the sauce was accidentally invented by the chef Jean-Louis-François Collinet, the accidental inventor of puffed potatoes (pommes de terre soufflées),[4] and served at the 1836 opening of Le Pavillon Henri IV, a restaurant at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The restaurant was in the former residence of Henry IV of France, a gourmet himself, who was from Béarn.[4][5]

Although the sauce is a French invention, it caught on in the Nordic countries in the late 20th century, where it forms a major part of local steak cuisine with steaks and fries,[6] and is occasionally used there as topping on pizza, whether as part of the pizza or as a cold dressing put on afterwards.

Preparation

A Béarnaise sauce is simply clarified butter, an egg yolk, a shallot, a little tarragon vinegar. It takes years of practice for the result to be perfect. – Fernand Point [7]

As with hollandaise, there are several methods for preparing béarnaise.

The most common method of preparation uses a bain-marie, whisking to a temperature of 66 °C (150 °F),[8] where a reduction of vinegar is used to acidify the yolks.

Auguste Escoffier[2] calls for a reduction of wine, vinegar, shallots, fresh chervil, fresh tarragon, and crushed peppercorns (later strained out), with fresh tarragon and chervil to finish instead of lemon juice. Others are similar.[9]

Alternatively, the flavorings may be added to a finished hollandaise (without lemon juice). Joy of Cooking[10] describes a blender preparation with the same ingredients.

Derivatives

See also

References

  1. The family is sometimes referred to as "mayonnaise sauces" as they are, like mayonnaise, based on the emulsion of an oil in egg water.
  2. 1 2 Escoffier: 89
  3. Julia Child
  4. 1 2 "La sauce béarnaise". 16 May 2015.
  5. "What is Bearnaise sauce? | Cookthink". Archived from the original on 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  6. "Ad libitum: Populære bøfrestauranter inviterer på steak fries og bearnaise" (in Danish). MigogKbh. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  7. Restaurateur Fernand Point (1897–1955) in Ma Gastronomie.
  8. "How to Make Hollandaise | A French Mother Sauce | Stella Culinary".
  9. Cookwise, pp.304-5
  10. 1 2 3 Joy of Cooking p.359
  11. Escoffier: 90
  12. Escoffier: 91
  13. Escoffier: 141
Sources
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