Béarnaise sauce explained

Béarnaise sauce
Country:France
Type:Sauce
Main Ingredient:Egg yolk, clarified butter, white wine vinegar, herbs

Béarnaise sauce (; in French be.aʁ.nɛz/) is a sauce made of clarified 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.[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

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 1500NaN0,[7] where a reduction of vinegar is used to acidify the yolks.

Auguste Escoffier 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.[8]

Alternatively, the flavorings may be added to a finished hollandaise (without lemon juice). Joy of Cooking[9] describes a blender preparation with the same ingredients.

Derivatives

See also

References

Sources

External links

Notes and 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. [#escoff|Escoffier]
  3. [#master|Julia Child]
  4. Web site: La sauce béarnaise. 16 May 2015.
  5. Web site: What is Bearnaise sauce? Cookthink . 2010-03-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090602135725/http://www.cookthink.com/reference/2617/What_is_Bearnaise_sauce . 2009-06-02 . dead .
  6. Web site: Ad libitum: Populære bøfrestauranter inviterer på steak fries og bearnaise. da. 21 April 2023. 21 June 2023. MigogKbh.
  7. Web site: How to Make Hollandaise | A French Mother Sauce | Stella Culinary.
  8. [#cookw|Cookwise]
  9. [#joy|Joy of Cooking]
  10. [#escoff|Escoffier]
  11. [#escoff|Escoffier]
  12. [#escoff|Escoffier]