Compound butters (french: beurre composé, pl. ''beurres composés'') are mixtures of
butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...
and supplementary ingredients. Primarily, they are used to enhance flavor in various dishes, in a fashion similar to a
sauce
In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...
.
Auguste Escoffier
Georges Auguste Escoffier (; 28 October 1846 – 12 February 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. Much of Escoffier's technique was based on that of Marie-Antoi ...
(1903), ''Le Guide culinaire
''Le Guide Culinaire'' () is Escoffier's 1903 French restaurant cuisine cookbook, his first. It is a classic and still in print. Escoffier developed the recipes while working at the Savoy, Ritz and Carlton hotels from the late 1880s to the time ...
'', Editions Flammarion['']Larousse Gastronomique
' () is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques. The first edition included few non-French dishes and ingredients; later editions include many ...
'' (1961), Crown Publishers
(''Translated from the French, Librairie Larousse, Paris (1938)'')
Compound butters can be made at home or purchased commercially. A compound butter can be made by whipping additional elements, such as herbs, spices or aromatic liquids, into butter. The butter is then reformed, usually in plastic wrap or parchment paper, and chilled until it is firm enough to be sliced. These butters can be melted on top of meats and vegetables, used as a spread or used to finish various sauces.
''Beurres composés'' include:
*
Beurre à la bourguignonne – garlic and parsley butter
*
Beurre Maitre d'Hotel, butter with parsley and lemon juice
*
Café de Paris butter
*
Garlic butter
Garlic butter, also known as ''beurre à la bourguignonne'', is a compound butter used as a flavoring for many dishes or as a condiment.'' Larousse Gastronomique'' (1961), Crown Publishers(''Translated from the French, Librairie Larousse, Pari ...
* Beurre au citron – lemon butter
References
External links
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Butter
French sauces
Steak sauces
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