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Sauce

Bearnaise Sauce

A sauce made with olive oil, hot water, eggs, tarragon vinegar, cayenne, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fredonia, N.Y. Trinity parish guild, comp. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,297 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Bearnaise Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. Add cayenne to taste.

  2. Beat the yolks until creamy; add the water and oil.

  3. Stand the bowl in a pan of boiling water, and stir until the eggs thicken.

  4. Take from the fire and add the vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Serve

  1. Serve with broiled steak.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

212Calories
7 gProtein
19 gFat
3 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Fredonia, N.Y. Trinity parish guild, comp. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,297 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  2. Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,263 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Olive + eggtop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Egg and vinegar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,922 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks emulsify the oil and water and thicken into a creamy sauce when gently heated.
Olive oil
Adds richness and body as it is emulsified into the yolks.
Hot water
Loosens the yolk mixture so the oil emulsifies smoothly and the sauce stays pourable.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the rich, buttery flavour of the sauce.

The step that matters

Stir over boiling water until the eggs thicken. Egg yolk proteins set with heat, so the bowl should sit over simmering water rather than direct fire. Too much heat scrambles the yolks and breaks the emulsion, leaving a grainy sauce.

“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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