The Most Disrespected of All Butter Sauces – Beurre Blanc

I imagine all the butter sauces hanging out together in a night club somewhere.  Some have had white wine, some a bit of brandy.  There’s Scampi, Bercy, Meuniere, Maitre-d’, and the leader of the pack, Escargot butter boasting of his shallots, crushed garlic and parsley overcoat.

They’re a slippery bunch with a short temper; they’ll burn and smoke very quickly.  But on this evening, the rowdy crowd is getting whipped up.  They’re all picking on beurre blanc.  Tablespoon-sized insults fly.  “You’re too simple”. “You’re bland”.  “You have no color”.  They spread the rude comments on thick.

Beurre blanc is the Rodney Dangerfield of butter sauces.  It gets no respect, no respect at all.

If I were the chef in this imaginary setting, I’d be standing up for beurre blanc.  We’d cream all those other dairy based doubters, those bullies of beurre.  I think so highly of the white wine butter sauce that I think it should be elevated to full Mother Sauce status!  The others may taunt and tease, but this whole situation can be clarified very easily.

Beurre blanc is an emulsified butter sauce that is made without the aid of egg yolks.  Yolks are the powerhouse of bringing to unmixable items together in a consistent mixture.  If you were to make mayonnaise from scratch or Caesar dressing, you’d witness the power of emulsification in sauce making.

Butter is 85% fat, 10% water and 5% milk solids that are held together.  It’s an emulsified product itself.  When many butter sauces are made, the butter is completely melted and breaks the bond that the three ingredients have.  Anyone can melt butter.  But when you have all the butter facts, you’ll make more complex sauces.

However, if you can turn the ingredient from solid to liquid and keep it yellow, without white milk solids floating on the top, you’ll create a much more complex flavor.  The key to a great beurre blanc is controlling the heat and keeping the butter in tact.

The milk solids in butter contain a small amount of lecithin, the emulsifying agent in egg yolks.  You can make a sauce that is a bright yellow with deep flavor and NOT cause the butter to separate.  That’s what makes beurre blanc special compared to its close relatives.

It’s a simple procedure but takes a delicate hand to perfect it.  Remember, controlling the heat is the key to keeping the butter whole.  With too much heat in the pan, the butter will break, milk solids float to the top, and you’ve lost the emulsifying power of lecithin in the butter.

Starting with a cold sauté pan, melt a tablespoon of whole butter slowly and gently, keeping the yellow color.  When the butter starts to become frothy, add finely chopped shallots and sauté until they are translucent.  Then, deglaze the pan with just enough white wine to cover the bottom of the pan.  This will drop the temperature and stop the direct heat sauté.  Under a very low and soft heat, let most of the wine evaporate.  “Reduce au sec”, as the French say.  Remove the pan and let it cool slightly.

Here comes the tricky part.  It’s time to add 1 inch cubes of whole butter, letting them melt, but not break into fat, milk solids and water.  Keep it yellow!  If the pan is still too hot, add more cold butter, which will lower the temperature.  If the pan is too cool, place it on the stove for a few seconds to warm.

Keep adding cold butter until you have a pourable sauce that is completely yellow without white “floaties” on top.  It can now be flavored with a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar and your favorite delicate seasonings.

So suck on it Scampi!  You’re a bonehead Bercy!  You’re too slow to get it Escargot!  All three of these sauces use butter like an oil.  They have no respect for the emulsification process and the benefits of a bright yellow, creamy sauce that is created with skill and technique.  Of all butter sauces, it’s beurre blanc that deserves their respect and SHOULD be the sixth Mother Sauce.