Bernaise Sauce Recipe

This bernaise sauce recipe features lots of clarified butter, egg yolks, a little tangy vinegar, and the slightly grassy flavor of tarragon. It is served hot, most often as an accompaniment to grilled steaks, and should be made just before serving.

Bernaise vs. Béarnaise

When I first posted this bernaise sauce recipe, I spelt it just like that. Maybe you did too. The actual French spelling is béarnaise and the correct prononciation certainly takes into account that little a. It is more than likely named after the former province of Béarn in southwestern France.

Recipe Notes

Hot Emulsions

This sauce is prepared in a manner similar to a hollandaise sauce recipe. A reduced vinegar mixture is used in place of the lemon juice and tarragon is added for extra flavor.

Hot emulsion sauces have a repuation for being difficult to make, but that adds to their mystique. The key to success is to carefully follow each of the steps. Most importantly:

• Slowly melt and completely clarify the butter. That just means you need to skim off the solid proteins that are floating on top of the melted butter.
• Use a double boiler to gently cook the egg yolk mixture. If you cook them too quickly or add too much heat, they will curdle.
• Add the liquid butter slowly to the egg yolk mixture and don't stop whisking. It's the same principle as for making mayonnaise.

Bearnaise in a Jar

Not to imply that you should not make your own, at least occasionally, but here in France many people will grab for this exact brand on the gorcery store shelf. It is actually pretty good. When you only have a few minutes to fix dinner, pan fry a steak and top with this for a sure taste bud pleaser.