Why it works: Shallot and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 602 recipes mention both. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Sauce Béarnaise
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Reduce the white wine by half and let it cool.
Whisk in the egg yolks until combined.
Make the sauce
Gradually incorporate ⅓ cup of butter while whisking over low heat.
Once the sauce thickens, strain it into another saucepan.
Whisk over very low heat, gradually adding more butter until well combined.
Finish with salt, shallot juice, and chopped tarragon.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Shallot + tarragontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together602 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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White wine + buttertop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,083 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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White wine + tarragontop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together409 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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White wine + shallottop 11% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together881 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Butter + shallottop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify the butter and thicken the sauce as they set gently with heat.
- Butter
- Provides richness and fat that gives the sauce its smooth, velvety body.
- White wine
- Reduced to concentrate flavour, adding acidity and depth to the sauce.
- Shallot juice
- Adds sharp, aromatic onion-like flavour that balances the richness of the butter.
The step that matters
Gradually adding butter over low heat. Egg yolks can scramble if the heat is too high or the butter goes in too fast. Adding butter slowly while whisking lets the yolks form a stable emulsion, which keeps the sauce smooth and thick.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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