- Bearnaise sauce
thumb|right|200px|Béarnaise sauceBéarnaise sauce (French: "Sauce béarnaise") IPA-all|be.aʁ.nɛz [] is asauce made ofclarified butter and egg yolks flavored withtarragon andshallot s, withchervil andtarragon simmered invinegar to make a reduction. "A Béarnaise sauce is simply an egg yolk, a shallot, a little tarragon vinegar, and butter, but it takes years of practice for the result to be perfect," wrote the restaurateurFernand Point (1897-1955) in "Ma Gastronomie." It is a traditional sauce forsteak . [Julia Child (1961), "Mastering the Art of French Cooking ", Alfred A. Knopf]History
The sauce was likely first made 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 fromParis . Evidence for this is reinforced by the fact that the restaurant was named for King Henry IV, a gourmet himself, who was born in the former province ofBéarn .Preparation
Like
Hollandaise sauce , Béarnaise sauce is anemulsion of butter in egg yolks. The difference is only in their flavoring: Béarnaise uses a reduction of vinegar and tarragon, while Hollandaise uses lemon juice. Such emulsions require some practice to prepare properly. The prime dangers are curdling the egg yolk mixture through excessive heat, and separation of the emulsion by rushing the addition of clarified butter. French culinary mythology has inherited a tale thatBeurre blanc sauce, yet another emulsion, was born from an error when making a Béarnaise sauce but there is no evidence to support this.Variations of the recipe may call for using
red wine vinegar , complementing vinegar with awhite wine , using regular (solid, non-clarified) butter or replacing chervil withparsley [ [http://ochef.com/1106.htm What is the proper way to make a Béarnaise Sauce?] ] .Misspellings and misusages
Béarnaise sauce is frequently (and erroneously) referred to as "Bernaise sauce", (even by
francophones ), or "Bernoise sauce", or even "Bernese sauce". The latter three names mean "pertaining toBerne ", the capital city ofSwitzerland , in no way connected with this sauce or its origins.References
External links
* [http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/513696 A recipe]
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