What is béarnaise sauce?

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

French cuisine is famous for its variety of flavors and a large number of sauces that can both spice up a dish and hide some minor mistakes of the cook.

Classic

The classic Béarnaise sauce below is one of the five most important and common sauces in this country's cuisine. At the same time, French chefs divide their sauces into two categories: universal, as well as those that are served specifically for a particular dish.

Bearn belongs to the first group, it goes well with both meat and poultry. It can be served hot and cold. Before proceeding with the description of the recipe, we highlight two features of the preparation of the sauce:

• to achieve its true taste, it is worth giving preference to fresh seasonings;
• you need to get a thermometer in order to regulate the temperature of the oil. Since, overheating it, you can quickly spoil the sauce.

Sauce

So, for cooking you will need:

• 2 tbsp. spoons of fresh tarragon (if it is dried, then add only 1 tablespoon);
• 1 sprig of chervil (we only needpetals);
• half bunch of parsley;
• 1 shallot (can be replaced with onion, but then chop it and add only 1 tbsp);
• 3 champignons (large);
• half bunch of chives;
• a pinch of pepper, s alt and 10 black peppercorns;
• 5 eggs;
• 200 ml white wine;
• 250g butter;
• ½ art. tablespoons lemon juice (preferably freshly squeezed).

Béarnais sauce is thought to be primarily made from eggs and butter, but once you try it, you will surely realize that each component is equally important, and the absence of any one greatly affects the taste. The herbs that are included are spicy, which is why the taste of the gravy is very specific, but at the same time wonderful.

The classic cooking method

When starting to make béarnaise sauce, remember that when ready it should be thick and uniform, like mayonnaise.

1. French chefs start by preparing herbs, sorting through them and picking off the necessary petals.
2. Then they are finely chopped and laid out in different containers.
3. Pepper seeds are crushed with the back of a knife or a spoon.
4. Shallot cut into thin half rings.
5. All this is added to white wine and brought to a boil. Cook over low heat until the volume is reduced by half. Now, while it all cools down, you need to separate the whites from the yolks.
6. Through a fine sieve, pour our cooled spicy wine into a container with yolks. Then we take a fairly large saucepan (the one that is suitable for a water bath), fill it with water and let it boil. Mix the mass with yolks and wine (right in a water bath) thoroughly, so that the resulting consistency looks like cream for a cake. As a result, the volume should double.
7. Stirring constantly, pour the pre-melted butter into the mass with yolks in a thin stream. It is very important not to stop stirring during the whole process. After 5-6 minutes, you can add the remaining finely chopped herbs and s alt to taste.

Alternative cooking method

Béarnais sauce can also be prepared in a slightly different way, but using all the same ingredients.

1. First, very finely chopped onion stew over low heat in white wine vinegar or wine. At this stage, add black ground pepper. We wait until the liquid in the pan decreases by about 80%. It is worth noting once again that you need to stir all the time and very carefully!
2. Putting aside the pan, proceed to the next step: mix the yolks with butter. Pour the remaining wine vinegar into the same mass through a sieve, in which the onion was prepared. Mix everything.
3. Béarnais sauce curdles easily, so a steam bath is essential.
4. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and then immediately turn off the fire. Slowly lower the container with the future sauce into boiling water and stir very intensively.
5. As soon as it starts to thicken, you need to add the butter that you previously cut into small pieces.
6. As soon as the oil has dissolved, you can add chopped chervil and tarragon.

Béarn sauce. What to eat and how to serve

As mentioned above, this sauce is very versatile and goes well with many dishes. It is usually served with asparagus or cauliflower. In France, Béarnais sauce is often served with a T-bone steak. This is because the tender texture makes the meat a little softer, and the spices saturate it.

The sophistication of this simple gravy will never drown out the taste of a dish of fish, as the herbs in it perfectly complement both hard and soft seafood. Béarnaise sauce goes great with eggs benedict instead of regular hollandaise. You can even offer it for breakfast, for example, with hot sandwiches.

Tips

• If during the process you notice that your Béarnais sauce separates a little, then you need to add 3-4 ice cubes to the sauce and beat.

• Cooking temperature should not exceed 60 °. Otherwise, you will get a simple omelette. On the other hand, if the temperature is lower, the sauce will not thicken and will acquire a very unpleasant smell.

• You can pour already whipped yolk into a heterogeneous or too liquid sauce, and then rub the mass through a sieve again.

• The sauce can be stored for no more than three days in the refrigerator, at room temperature it is better to keep it for about 6-7 hours.• You need to heat it up only in a water bath.

Conclusion

Now you know how toprepare béarnaise sauce, what herbs to use, and what to combine it with. We hope that thanks to our tips you will be able to cook it yourself.