Beurre blanc —literally translated from French as "white butter"— is a hot emulsified butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

 sauce

Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...

 made with a reduction of vinegar

Vinegar

Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...

 and/or white wine (normally Muscadet

Muscadet

Muscadet is a white French wine. It is made at the western end of the Loire Valley, near the city of Nantes in the Pays de la Loire region neighboring the Brittany Region. More Muscadet is produced than any other Loire wine. It is made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, often referred to simply as...

) and grey shallots into which cold, whole butter is blended off the heat to prevent separation. The small amounts of lecithin and other emulsifiers naturally found in butter are used to form an oil-in-water emulsion. Although similar to hollandaise in concept, it is not considered either a classic leading or compound sauce. This sauce originates in Loire Valley

Loire Valley

The Loire Valley , spanning , is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. Its area comprises approximately . It is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, asparagus, and...

 cuisine.

Origin

The chef Clémence Lefeuvre (née Clémence Prau) invented beurre blanc, apparently by accident, some time around the beginning of the 20th century. She served this sauce at her restaurant "La Buvette de la Marine" in the hamlet of "La Chebuette" in the village of Saint-Julien-de-Concelles situated on the banks of the Loire River a few kilometers upstream from Nantes

Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

. Legend holds that she intended to prepare a béarnaise sauce

Bearnaise sauce

Béarnaise sauce is a sauce made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks and flavored with herbs. It is considered to be a 'child' of the mother Hollandaise sauce, one of the five sauces in the French haute cuisine mother sauce repertoire...

 to go with pike but forgot to add the tarragon

Tarragon

Tarragon or dragon's-wort is a perennial herb in the family Asteraceae related to wormwood. Corresponding to its species name, a common term for the plant is "dragon herb". It is native to a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere from easternmost Europe across central and eastern Asia to India,...

 and egg yolks. Some sources claim that this invention occurred while she worked as a cook for the Marquis de Goulaine at Château de Goulaine

Château de Goulaine

The Château de Goulaine is a château of the Loire Valley located near Nantes, France. This castle has been home to the family of the marquis de Goulaine for over a thousand years...

. Aristide Briand

Aristide Briand

Aristide Briand was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic and received the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize.- Early life :...

, long-time Prime Minister of France and Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...

 laureate, said at her death in 1932 that her passing "was a bit like national mourning".

Preparation

A good beurre blanc is rich and buttery, with a neutral flavor that responds well to other seasonings and flavorings, thereby lending itself to the addition of herbs and spices. It should be light and airy yet still liquid, while thick enough to cling to food. Beurre blanc is prepared by reducing wine, shallots, and herbs, if used, until it is nearly dry. Although not necessary, cream can be added at this point to act as a stabilizer to the sauce. Lemon juice

Lemon juice

The lemon fruit, from a citrus plant, provides a useful liquid when squeezed. Lemon juice, either in natural strength or concentrated, is sold as a bottled product, usually with the addition of preservatives and a small amount of lemon oil.-Uses:...

is sometimes used in place of vinegar, and stock can be added as well. Cold, one-inch cubes of butter are then gradually incorporated into the sauce as the butter melts and the mixture is whisked. The sauce can separate by either overheating or cooling. If it heats past 136 °F, some of the emulsifying proteins will begin to break down and release the butterfat they hold in emulsion. If the sauce cools below 80 °F, the butterfat will solidify.

Derivatives of beurre blanc sauce

Beurre Rouge- substitute a dry red wine for the white wine and red wine vinegar for the white wine vinegar.

Lemon-Dill- add heated lemon juice and chopped fresh dill to the sauce.