To make bearnaise, simmer minced shallot and tarragon stems in wine vinegar until only two or three spoonfuls remain, whisk that reduction with three egg yolks over gentle heat until thick, then whisk in twelve tablespoons of warm melted butter drop by drop and finish with fresh chopped tarragon.
What is bearnaise?
Bearnaise is hollandaise with a past. Same architecture, egg yolks emulsifying a pound of warm butter, but where hollandaise starts from lemon juice, bearnaise starts from a reduction: shallots, tarragon, and cracked pepper simmered down in wine vinegar until the pan holds barely three spoonfuls of intensely flavored liquid. That reduction is the sauce's spine, everything after it is enrichment.
It earned its place beside steak because the tarragon-vinegar sharpness does what lemon cannot: it stands up to char and beef fat without disappearing. If hollandaise is a morning sauce for eggs, bearnaise is its evening sibling, built for the grill.
What goes in bearnaise?
- ·1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- ·1 small shallot, minced
- ·2 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped, stems reserved
- ·1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
- ·3 egg yolks
- ·12 tbsp (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and warm
- ·1 tsp cold water
- ·Salt to taste
- ·Squeeze of lemon (optional, to brighten)
Three yolks carry twelve tablespoons of butter comfortably, with three tablespoons of reduction where hollandaise would use lemon juice. Reduce hard at the start: the vinegar should cook down by two-thirds, or the finished sauce turns sharp instead of fragrant.
How do you make bearnaise?
- Simmer the vinegar, shallot, tarragon stems, and cracked pepper in a small pan until reduced to about 3 tablespoons. Strain and cool slightly.
- Whisk the yolks with the reduction and a teaspoon of cold water in a metal bowl.
- Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk constantly until the yolks thicken to ribbon stage, three to five minutes. If you see scrambling at the edge, pull the bowl off and whisk hard.
- Off the heat, whisk in the warm butter a few drops at a time to start, then in a thin stream, until thick and glossy.
- Fold in the chopped tarragon leaves. Season with salt, and a squeeze of lemon if it needs lift.
- Hold near the stove, never over direct heat, and serve within the hour.
What should you know before making bearnaise?
- Butter and yolks should both be warm, not hot. Butter that sizzles will scramble the base on contact.
- If it breaks, start with a fresh yolk and a teaspoon of water in a clean bowl, and whisk the broken sauce into it slowly. It comes back.
- Make the reduction in quantity and keep it refrigerated for two weeks. With it ready, bearnaise is a ten-minute sauce.
Where did bearnaise come from?
Bearnaise was created around 1836 at Le Pavillon Henri IV outside Paris and named for Henri's home region of Bearn. Escoffier codified it among the great emulsified sauces in Le Guide Culinaire in 1903.
Drawn from the public-domain text of Auguste Escoffier, Le Guide Culinaire (1903).
What can you make from bearnaise?
Common questions.
What is the difference between hollandaise and bearnaise?
Same emulsion, different acid. Hollandaise is sharpened with lemon juice, bearnaise with a cooked reduction of vinegar, shallot, and tarragon, which makes it deeper and better suited to red meat.
Why did my bearnaise break?
Almost always heat: butter too hot, bowl too hot, or butter added too fast. Rescue it by whisking the broken sauce slowly into a fresh yolk with a teaspoon of water.
Can I make bearnaise ahead?
The reduction, yes, weeks ahead. The finished sauce holds about an hour somewhere warm. Refrigerating and reheating an emulsified butter sauce usually splits it.