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Bearnaise sauce with full butterfat ©️ Nel Brouwer-van den Bergh

Béarnaise sauce (original)

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Sauce
Cuisine American, Belgian, Canadian, Dutch, French
Servings 4 persons

Ingredients
  

For the tarragon vinegar based gastrique

  • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small shallot
  • 2 tbsp tarragon
  • 1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground pepper

Ingredients for the oil phase (ghee)

  • 3.5 oz (100 g) butter fat or ghee (made from 4.2 oz (120 g butter)

Other Ingredients

  • 4 egg yolks (total 2.4 oz or 70 g)

Instructions
 

Instructions to make the gastrique

  • Dice the shallot
  • Heat the olive oil in a small pan and glaze the shallot at medium fire for 5 minutes
  • Add the vinegar, the wine, the tarragon and add the salt and pepper
  • Let simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on (low heat) and then increase the fire a bit and take the lid off to let the vinegar and alcohol cook off a little. Aim to keep 1.75 oz (50 g) liquid left
  • Strain the mixture through a small sieve and press with a spoon the shallot/tarragon mixture in the sieve to release all its juices. Let the gastrique cool down to room temperature and reserve

Instruction to make the oil phase

  • Melt the ghee to approximately 120 F (50 C). Find instructions to make ghee from butter easily yourself, under remark 1.

Instructions to bring the sauce together

  • Bring egg yolks and gastrique to room temperature. Thereafter mix them in a stainless steel bowl or a metal pan with a whisk ( I prefer a thin bottomed pan or bowl as it is more responsive to the heat that is added or taken away
  • Heat the bowl au bain marie under constant whisking. After a few minutes the temperature will approach 163 F (73 C) and the mixture will become thicker and more viscous. Continue the whisking for a few tens of seconds, so that you whisk a lot of air in, making an in-situ sabayon. Be careful not to overheat.

Notes

Method: au bain marie
Food allergy and intolerance information: milk, egg yolk
Keyword bearnaise sauce, butterfat, ghee, sauce based on tarragon vinegar