Talk:Béarnaise sauce

Requested assessment from "Start" class. Dmforcier (talk) 18:39, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Huzzah! Assessed at 'B' Class. Congrats and thanks to all. Dmforcier (talk) 20:41, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

"Recipe" section

Currently, this is how that section of the article stands:

Ingredients

• 30 mL (2 tablespoons) tarragon vinegar
• 30 mL (2 tablespoons) sherry wine vinegar (or dry white vine)
• 1 shallot
• 2 egg yolks
• 75 - 100 g (1/3 - 1/2 cup) 3 - 4 oz melted butter (warm but not hot)
• salt and cayenne pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped tarragon
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Preparation

1. Put the vinegars and finely chopped shallot and herbs in a small saucepan; simmer until reduced to 1 tablespoon. This is the flavorful glaze. Strain and set aside to cool.

2. Add the egg yolks and whisk until the ribbon stage with a balloon whisk.

3. Place the bowl over a pan of hot water (a double boiler) and continue whisking. Gradually add the softened butter, whisking until the sauce thickens and all the butter has been added.

4. Season and serve.

Notes

• Do not use dried tarragon, if you cannot find fresh tarragon, use one from vinegar bottle.
• To find the right temperature to emulsify the egg mixture and the butter, the bowl should be just hot enough so that you can still touch it. If you cannot hold the bowl it is too hot. Be forewarned that this trick may not always work depending on a multitude of conditions.

As noted in the article, this passage is a how-to recipe and should be transwikid to Wikibooks. I would like to propose a rewrite of this section, incorporating the ingredients, a short summary of the preparation steps, and omitting the "quantification."

Would it be acceptable for me to post a (tentative) replacement paragraph on the talk page and get it analyzed by any editors who care to check it out. If I get support for the article, I'll be bold and do it. Sincerely, GlobeGores 04:44, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea. Actually, I would have done so myself, if I had ever tried to make bearnaise sauce. --Wasell^(D) 07:03, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Done Mike Hayes (talk) 20:56, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

there is nothing wrong with using the entire amount of butter you're going to put in (about 80 ml worth of butter per yolk) if you use it straight from the refrigerator. it will melt gradually as you whisk, having the same effect as slowly drizzling softened butter. that way it's not clarified butter of course, but it also prevents the yolks a little from curdling. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.8.236.37 (talk) 21:50, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Rewrite

The Hollandaise article was originally based on a single preparation. I re-wrote it to show the half dozen ways to make it. This article was likewise based on a single preparation. In this case it is the most common - and IMO best - way, but I could still list four major methodologies. Further, since Bearnaise is so similar to Hollandaise in prep, I refer to the Hollandaise Prep section rather than duplicate it all here.

Also added the Derivatice sauces from Escoffier, and better citations.

BTW, the first paragraph of the History section is dubious at best.
Dmforcier (talk) 21:52, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

image

there must be someone who can provide a better image. chopped chives or whatever that is does not belong in a béarnaise. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.8.236.37 (talk) 21:47, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

I agree. This has bothered me for about a year now. Furthermore, a nice sauce béarnaise should be thick. The one in the picture looks a bit watery. --84.55.122.31 (talk) 21:22, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

While I've only recently started making my own bernaise sauce, I must agree the picture in this article looks very different than what I have ended up with, as well as what I have been served at fine restauraunts.(Thick,creamy,and pale yellow in color) No offense intended to the uploader of said picture, but it appears to be at the very least somewhat thin and possibly on the verge of "splitting" (As a true chef would put it I suppose) I am planning on making a batch this upcoming weekend and will endeavour to take a picture to upload here. Stryder1975 (talk) 23:18, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

I agree. What are chives doing in there? There's nothing wrong with putting chives on just about anything, but they don't belong in the sauce ... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.69.114.213 (talk) 12:36, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

I updated the infobox image with a sauce that I made this evening. I think it looks closer to what you'd find in a restaurant. Alexander Guy (talk) 02:58, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

[5] note goes nowhere and stinks of elitism.

A Béarnaise sauce is simply clarified butter, an egg yolk, a shallot, a little tarragon vinegar. It takes years of practice for the result to be perfect.[5]

Where does it state or suggest in that note that "it takes years of practice for the result to be perfect". Also if it's "simply clarified butter", etc, then what suggests it takes years of practice? I've made this sauce only a few times and I've had pros tell me I have made it perfectly. That sort of elitist thinking should be reserved for bad television cooking shows, not Wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.38.197.76 (talk) 21:34, 12 January 2014 (UTC)

A French professional chef publishing Ma Gastronnomie is expected to be elitist. Besides, he's talking about doing a Bernaise under the intense quality and time pressure of a restaurant kitchen.
Your outrage is duly noted. Dmforcier (talk) 20:15, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Why is this Prep video thing even here?

The "preparation" video (that I removed) is just a travesty. The procedure seems to be a blender prep done manually - the worst of all possible combinations. The yolks aren't cooked, beating goes on forever, and two chefs are required (one playing the blender)! Unreduced vinegar of some sort is added directly, no tarragon (or any other herb), no peppercorn.

Worst, though, is the result - a solid, paste-like "sauce" (too little butter, too cold) with large chunks of raw shallot in it. Simply awful!

First, the presence of a "how-to" video violates Wikipedia's policy of No How-To articles. Second, as an illustration of the subject it is simply wrong. Whatever is being made, it is not Bearnaise. Dmforcier (talk) 20:35, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Hollandaise is not really a mother sauce

The ancestor of Bernaise is Hollondaise, but Hollondaise is technically a daughter sauce of Mayonnaise. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.163.178.158 (talk) 20:59, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

an-editor-note-asking-for-reference

Introduction states: name is related to the province of Béarn, France.[citation needed] Why is citation needed here? This could be a sleepy editor or bot which asks for citation whenever there is a special etymology or an explanation uses a geographical name, or what? Isn't it weird here, this "citation needed"? Furthermore there is an explanation under "history" chapter. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Donald j axel (talk • contribs) 11:05, 8 July 2022 (UTC)