Bearnaise sauce is a tasty and popular sauce made with clarified butter that is then emulsified in egg yolk and white wine vinegar before been flavored with certain herbs. Most people mistake this sauce for the hollandaise sauce, but they are not the same.
Bearnaise sauce is similar to the hollandaise sauce and is said sometimes to be the child to the mother’s sauce, hollandaise sauce.
The main difference between these sauces is the herbal flavors like the shallot, chervil, tarragon, and peppercorn. In contrast, the hollandaise sauce only contains white wine vinegar or lemon juice. But what does bearnaise sauce taste like?
Bearnaise sauce has an acidic taste from the white wine and an herbal taste from the herbs used in it. Bearnaise sauce appears yellow and pale, and you can also see flecks of green herbs in it; for its texture, it is smooth and creamy.
What Does Bearnaise Sauce Taste Like?
Bearnaise sauce has a creamy and acidic taste because of the ingredients used in making it. The bearnaise sauce is made from clarified butter, egg yolk, white wine vinegar, and some herbs, which renders it very healthy and, at the same time, nutritious.
When prepared correctly, bearnaise sauce is expected to have a creamy and smooth consistency.
Bearnaise sauce is very much like other sauces but what sets it apart from the others is the inclusion of herbs-tarragon and shallots. Naturally, the bearnaise sauce has a thick consistency, so if yours does not achieve this, then there has to be a problem somewhere.
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What Does Bearnaise Sauce Go With?
There are a lot of dishes that require bearnaise sauce as an accompaniment ranging from meats and fish to veggies.
Some amazing bearnaise sauce accompaniments include chicken, salmon, and omelets; it can be drizzled on your egg benefit, smeared on your fried egg sandwich, and drizzled on your favorite vegetables like the green leaves and Brussel sprouts.
How Do I Make Bearnaise Sauce at Home?
For this recipe, you are going to be needing;
- Shallot (minced)
- White wine vinegar
- Egg yolks
- Lemon juice
- Cracked black pepper
- Fresh tarragon
- Kosher salt
- Unsalted butter
Procedure
- In a skillet, add your minced shallots, vinegar, pepper, and a tablespoon of tarragon leaves, and bring it to a boil.
- It would be best to cook this mixture until almost all of the liquid has evaporated and then remove the heat and pour it into a metal mixing bowl and allow for a few minutes to cool.
- While waiting for it to cool, fill a small saucepan with an inch or two of water and then bring to a boil under medium heat to the cooled shallot. Add your egg yolk and a little cold water, and then whisk properly.
- Place the metal bowl that contains the moisture over the boiling water but ensure that the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
- While over the hot water, mix your shallot mixture until t begins to thicken, and you can now begin to add a dash of water until it emulsifies and coats the back of your spoon.
- You can now remove your sauce from heat and add a tsp of salt to taste, chopped tarragon leaves, and season with salt to serve.
You should note that generally, you cannot reheat sauces. You can only place them in a sous vide bath for up to four hours to keep them warm.
It would help if you placed your sauce tightly in a jar before placing it inside the vide bath and always ensure that your sauce does not get too hot while you whisk so you do not end up with scrambled eggs.
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What Is the Difference Between Bearnaise Sauce and Hollandaise Sauce?
The major difference between these two sauces is the flavorings. Bearnaise uses a lot of herbs like the chervil, shallots, and tarragon, while the hollandaise sauce is made with lemon juice and white wine vinegar as major ingredients, not the ones mentioned above.
Bearnaise sauce cannot even be said to b much different from the hollandaise sauce because it is like a daughter sauce to one of the seven mother sauces, hollandaise. The seven major mother sauces are the hollandaise, bechamel, velouté, Espagnole, tomato, and mayonnaise sauce.
These sauces are very tasty, but depending on what type of consumer you are, you would prefer one or a few over the other.