Why it works: Shallot and chervil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 266 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Bearnaise Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Combine white wine vinegar and chopped shallots in a saucepan.
Stew over low heat.
Add beef extract and stir until combined.
Whisk in egg yolks and cook over low heat until the mixture begins to thicken.
Remove from heat and gradually add butter, mixing well after each addition.
Add a few drops of water if the sauce is too thick.
Strain the sauce and stir in chopped parsley, chervil, tarragon, and red pepper.
Serve
Serve warm with fillet steaks, chops, or fish.
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.
-
Shallot + cherviltop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together266 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Shallot + parsleytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,718 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
White wine + buttertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,039 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Parsley + cherviltop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together774 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
White wine + vinegartop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,123 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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 cook gently.
- Butter
- Adds richness and body, forming a smooth emulsion with the yolks.
- White wine vinegar
- Provides acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the butter.
- Shallots
- Add a mild aromatic onion flavour to the reduced vinegar base.
The step that matters
Adding the butter. Butter must be added gradually while mixing so the yolks can emulsify it. Adding it too fast or with too much heat can split the sauce into greasy liquid and scrambled egg.
Flavor stand-ins for the chervil
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, vinegar, shallot, beef, egg, butter, parsley):
- Tarragonbetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Dillbetter flavor fit
- Chervilthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, vinegar, shallot, beef, egg, butter, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
You might also like
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Corned Beef87 recipes
Beef Broth67 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.