Béarnaise sauce (; ) is 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 flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

made of

clarified butter Clarified butter is butter from which all milk solids have been removed. The result is a clear, yellow butter that can be heated to higher temperatures before burning. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to ...

egg yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example bec ...

, white wine vinegar, and

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

s. It is regarded as a "child" of

hollandaise sauce Hollandaise sauce ( or ; from French meaning "Dutch sauce") is a mixture of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice (or a white wine or vinegar reduction). It is usually seasoned with salt, and either white pepper or cayenne pepper. It is ...

. The difference is in the flavoring: béarnaise uses

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

, and

tarragon Tarragon (''Artemisia dracunculus''), also known as estragon, is a species of perennial herbaceous plant, herb in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread in the wild across much of Eurasia and North America and is cultivated for culinary and medic ...

, while hollandaise uses white pepper or a pinch of

cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...

. The sauce's name derives from the province of

Béarn Béarn (; ; or ''Biarn''; or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in Southwestern France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country, ...

, France. It is a traditional sauce for

steak A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally Grilling, grilled or Pan frying, fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce. Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle (beefsteak), but can also ...

. Escoffier: 89

History

According to a common explanation, the sauce was accidentally invented by the chef Jean-Louis-François Collinet, the accidental inventor of puffed potatoes (''pommes de terre soufflées''), and served at the 1836 opening of Le Pavillon Henri IV, a restaurant at

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. ...

. The restaurant was in the former residence of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

, a

gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...

himself, who was from

. Although the sauce is a French invention, it became popular in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

in the late 20th century, where it forms a major part of local steak cuisine with steaks and

fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are ''List of culinary knife cuts#Batonnet, batonnet'' or ''Julienning, julienne''-cut deep frying, deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepa ...

, and is occasionally used there as topping on

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

, 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 A bain-marie ( , ), also known as a water bath or double boiler, a type of heated bath, is a piece of equipment used in science, Industry (manufacturing), industry, and cooking to heat materials gently or to keep materials warm over a period of ...

'', whisking to a temperature of , where a reduction of vinegar is used to acidify the

yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example bec ...

Auguste Escoffier Georges Auguste Escoffier (; 28 October 1846 – 12 February 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur, and culinary writer who popularised and updated traditional French cooking methods. Much of Escoffier's technique was based on that of Marie-A ...

and other sources call for a reduction of wine, vinegar, shallots, fresh chervil, fresh

, and crushed peppercorns (later strained out). Alternatively, the flavorings may be added to a finished hollandaise (without lemon juice). ''Joy of Cooking'' Joy of Cooking p.359 describes a blender preparation with the same ingredients.

Derivatives

* Sauce Choron (also called béarnaise tomatée) uses tomato purée instead of herbs. It is named after Alexandre Étienne Choron. * Sauce Foyot (also called Valois) is béarnaise with

meat glaze Meat glaze (French: ''glace de viande'') is a dark brown, gelatinous flavouring agent used in food preparation. It is obtained by reducing brown stock through evaporation by slow heating. Compared to demi-glace, meat glaze is about twice as concen ...

( glace de viande) added. * Sauce Paloise uses

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

instead of tarragon. Escoffier: 141

References

;Sources * * * * *

External links

Béarnaise sauce
from the British Good Food TV channel {{DEFAULTSORT:Bearnaise Sauce French sauces Occitan cuisine Steak sauces Foods featuring butter Egg-based sauces Creamy sauces

History

Preparation

Derivatives

See also

References

External links