Béarnaise sauce
This very tasty sauce, flavoured with tarragon, chervil and shallot, with its hint of acidity, is perfect for grilled fish or meats. Its well-known as a difficult sauce, but here are all the tips that you need to succeed.
246,9334.9/5
Last modified on: May 22th 2016
For 6 people, you will need:
1 bunch chervil
1 bunch 
1 pinch 
1 
How long does it take?
| Preparation | Cooking | Start to finish |
|---|---|---|
| 36 min. | 30 min. | 1 hour 6 min. |
At what time?
When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?
Work this out...
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?
Work this out...
Step by step recipe
Stage 1
10 min.
Peel and chop finely 1 shallot.Chop tarragon and chervil finely.
Reserve one teaspoon of chopped herbs for garnishing.
Stage 2
1 min.
Put shallot and herbs in a small pan, salt and pepper generously.Stage 3
15 min.
Pour in 100 ml white (spirit) vinegar and 100 ml dry white wine.Reduce over low heat until you are left with about 1/5 of the original volume.
Stage 4
3 min.
Pour the contents of the pan into a Stage 5
You should get only 2 to 4 tablespoons of this tasty liquid which is the base for your sauce.This base could be made several days beforehand, and kept in a sealed jar in the fridge.
Stage 6
5 min.
On the day, melt 250 g butter, remove the foam which rises to the top and discard it.Your goal is to clarify the butter, removing as far as possbile the white impurities (whey) which will be left on the bottom.
Leave to cool.
Stage 7
5 min.
Prepare a bain-marie.Put 2 egg yolks, sauce base, and 1 pinch flour in the bowl over the bain-marie.
Stage 8
10 min.
Put over low heat, and beat to form a sabayon.Stage 9
Continue to beat until it thickens, and "holds" the whisk.Stage 10
Then add the melted butter, a little at a time, while beating continously.Stage 11
15 min.
Your Béarnaise will develop its texture. Continue until all the butter is added, apart from the very last bit in the container with all the impurities (discard).Stage 12
2 min.
And finally add the spoonful of herbs.Serve without too much delay. If your dish is not ready, leave the sauce to wait in the bain-marie, not too hot, with a lid.
Remarks
Some technical words: Béarnaise is a sauce of the warm emulsified kind (like hollandaise and mousseline), which means a hot base, here a well-flavoured sabayon, where butter is added to get this smooth texture.
Usually chefs make bearnaise in a different way: everything in a single pan, without a bain-marie. Faster, but more difficult.
Usually chefs make bearnaise in a different way: everything in a single pan, without a bain-marie. Faster, but more difficult.
Nutritional information
How much will it cost?
For 6 people : 5.40 €
Per person : 0.90 €
Source: Nicolas.
More recipes?
This recipe use (among others) | Butter: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Rillettes stuffed mushrooms, Eggs Benedict , Colcannon, Du Barry soup, Flamiche, ... All |
 | Dry white wine: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Mushrooms on toast, French style, Fish in white wine, Beurre blanc sauce, Sauce Normande (for fish), Scallops with cabbage julienne, ... All |
 | White (spirit) vinegar: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Beurre blanc sauce, Fresh pasta dough, How to prepare sorrel, Poached eggs, How to prepare romanesco, ... All |
 | Egg yolk: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Langoustine sabayon tart, Household cake (Gâteau de ménage), Blackcurrant, vanilla and lime verrine , Crusty cockle tart, Hazelnut and orange cake, ... All |
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2019-03-31)
Note: We'll never share your email with anyone else.
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.Note: We'll never share your email with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.
Post your comment or question
You are welcome, if you wish, to comment on this recipe: why you like it or not, what you have changed, what results it gave, point out a mistake or omission, etc. You can also ask a question. I answer all questions (in a broken English, sorry) unless someone else does it before me.
Please feel free to say what you think, I'm always very interested in your opinion. Your comment will appear on line with the recipe, so please write in standard readable English, not SIM or only in CAPITALS, otherwise your comment may be rejected.
Please look at advice for submitting a comment or image (what you should or should not do). By the way, don't type your e-mail address in the comment, otherwise you might be spammed.