Béarnaise

Description

This classic French sauce is traditionally used as a garnish for grilled meat or fish dishes. Light yellow in color, smooth and creamy in texture, it consists of egg yolks, shallots, reduced vinegar, and butter, and is often flavored with tarragon and chervil. It is believed that a chef named Collinet (the inventor of soufflé potatoes) first put Béarnaise on the menu of a restaurant called Le Pavillon Henri IV on the outskirts of Paris for its grand opening in 1836. It is assumed that the sauce was named after the Béarn region, the birthplace of Henri IV, as the restaurant was named after the ruler. The sauce is also used as a base for a variety of other sauces, such as Choron, Foyot, Colbert, and Paloise.