Béarnaise sauce is a sauce made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks and flavored with herbs. It is considered to be a ‘child’ of the mother Hollandaise sauce, one of the five sauces in the French haute cuisine mother sauce repertoire. The difference is only in their flavoring : Béarnaise uses shallot, chervil, peppercorn, and tarragon while Hollandaise uses lemon juice.
The sauce was likely first created by the chef Collinet, the 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, not far from Paris. Evidence for this is reinforced by the fact that the restaurant was named for Henry IV of France, a gourmet himself, who was born in the former province of Béarn.
Béarnaise is a traditional sauce for steak, French Fries and beef (Fondue Bourguignonne).
- Preparation time : 10 mn
- Cooking time : 12 mn
- Cost : cheap
Ingredients : 6 servings
- 4 chopped shallots
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chervil leaves
- 1 branch of thyme
- bay leaf
- 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons dry white wine
- 2 egg yolks
- 125 gr butter
- lemon
- salt and pepper
Step 1
Peel and chop shallots finely. Combine in a small pan with 3 pinches of pepper, 1 tablespoon tarragon and 1 tablespoon chervil, 1 branch of thyme, 1/2 leaf of bay leaf. Then add vinegar, dry white wine and simmer over medium heat until it reduces to 1 tablespoon. Remove from heat and let it cool down. Filter the sauce.
Step 2
In the pan, whisk in the egg yolks and add 1 tablespoon water.
Step 3
Place over the bottom of a double boiler containing simmering water (but not boiling water). Add dice butter and whisk constantly.
Step 4
When the Béarnaise sauce gets the consistancy of Mayonnnaise, add 1 tablespoon tarragon and 1 tablespoon chervil. Salt and pepper and add some lemon juice (a few drops). Serve cold.
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