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Sauce Bearnaise--bearnaise Sauce

A rich, emulsified sauce made from shallots, peppercorns, wine vinegar, Bechamel, egg yolks, butter, and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,476 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Sauce Bearnaise--bearnaise Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the reduction

  1. Combine shallots, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, and white wine vinegar in a saucepan; reduce until nearly dry.

Cook the base

  1. Add Bechamel sauce and egg yolks; place the pan in a bain-marie with boiling water, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon or whisk.

  2. When the mixture thickens and the yolks are cooked (without boiling), add soft butter while stirring constantly.

Finish and serve

  1. Season with salt, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice if needed; strain through a fine cloth into another saucepan.

  2. Stir in chopped tarragon and chervil.

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.

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. Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. White wine + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Thyme + white winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,503 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  5. Shallot + white winetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together881 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Thicken the sauce and emulsify the butter into a smooth, rich texture.
Butter
Adds richness and body, carrying flavour and giving the sauce its smooth mouthfeel.
White wine vinegar
Provides acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the richness of the butter and yolks.
Shallots
Add a mild aromatic onion flavour once reduced with the vinegar.
Tarragon
Contributes the characteristic aniseed aroma that defines a classic béarnaise.

The step that matters

Cooking the yolks over the bain-marie. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat but scramble if they get too hot or boil. Keep the water below a boil and stir constantly, so the mixture thickens smoothly and the butter can then be whisked in without curdling.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shallot, white wine, vinegar, sauce, egg, butter, pepper):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Parsleyfits about as well
  4. Thymethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shallot, white wine, vinegar, sauce, egg, butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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