🔬 CHEF TECHNIQUE · Beurre blanc: the sauce that tests every chef

Three ingredients. Five minutes. And it has humbled more young cooks in my kitchens than any other sauce. 🧈

Beurre blanc comes from the Loire, near Nantes. The story goes that a cook named Clémence forgot the egg yolks for a béarnaise and served the butter sauce anyway. True or not, it became one of the great classics of French cuisine.

👨‍🍳 How we make it in a hotel kitchen
1. Reduce 2 finely chopped shallots with 100 ml dry white wine and 50 ml white wine vinegar until only about 2 tablespoons of liquid are left. This reduction is the flavour.
2. Lower the heat. Whisk in 250 g very cold unsalted butter, cut in cubes, a few at a time. We call this "monter au beurre".
3. Season with salt and white pepper. Strain for a fine finish, or keep the shallots for a rustic one.

🔬 Why it works
It is an emulsion: millions of tiny butterfat drops held in the reduction by the milk solids in the butter. Hold it at 55-60 °C. Above about 70 °C the emulsion breaks and the fat separates. Too cold and the butter sets solid. During service we keep it in a warm bain-marie or a thermos, never on direct heat.

🚑 Split sauce? Whisk a tablespoon of cold water or cream into a clean pan and add the broken sauce slowly. It comes back.

💡 My twist for a Filipino table: replace half the vinegar with calamansi juice and add a few slices of ginger to the reduction. Perfect with grilled fish or prawns.

Have you ever made a butter sauce at home, or is this your first time? Tell me below 👇

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