At some point in a series of articles on French sauces, it seems to me almost essential to pause long enough to stress the important role played by butter. Good butter bears the same relationship to French sauces that good sauces bear to French cooking. One is inconceivable without the other. Some of the sauces, the hollandaise types, for example, need large amounts of butter to achieve their distinctive texture and flavor; others, like the white sauce types, use it generously to obtain the fine flavor required by these delicate mixtures; and sauces in the brown sauce group are generally finished with a small amount of butter to produce a final flavor and texture that only butter imparts. Finally, there are les beurres composés, also called the butter compounds or compounded butters, that are combinations of butter with some other ingredient—garlic, lobster, tarragon, and so on—which are made wholly of butter except for the added flavor and which are usually served with broiled or fried meats and fish.
The French consider butter in a little different light from what Americans do. They are not at all concerned with the need for butter to eat on breadstuffs. In fact, they seldom spread butter on those thick slices of very light, very crusty French bread they like so well. For hors d'oeuvres—or perhaps when eating salad—they might eat cheese on the bread or perhaps rillette or liver pâté. But with the entree, bread is eaten dry, although of course small pieces are broken off and dropped on the plate to pick up the last vestiges of the sauce, a habit that is vraiment le bon goût—really good eating. But when it comes to cooking, particularly the sauces, nothing can take the place of butter. Even if the meat or fish is cooked in any other fat, that is usually poured off after the food is cooked and butter is put in the pan when the sauce is made.
French butter is extremely good, and since most of the big cities are quite closely surrounded by fertile farming sections, fresh farm butter arrives daily. It is often unsalted because it can be purchased in small amounts and used quickly. In the country sections it is made often and naturally always fresh. Of course, more cows are calved in spring and summer, so there is usually more cream and consequently more butter during these two seasons. My grandparents were farmers living a few miles from the small town where I was brought up and they came once or twice a week with farm produce, including butter, for us. In the summer, my mother always put down crocks for the winter. She had two ways of doing it. One was to melt the butter slowly, using as little heat as possible, until all the sediment which it contained sank to the bottom of the pan. Then she poured the clear liquid butter into the crock to harden and stored it in our cool cellar. The sediment in the bottom of the pan she let brown a little, spreading it on bread for us children to eat between meals. We loved it. The other way was to spoon the butter into the crock between layers of vinegar, cover the crock closely, and store it in the cellar. When she wanted to use it, she would spoon some out and wash off the vinegar with cold water. This method of preservation was considered the better, and the butter was used for the more particular cooking.
To make les beurres composés is very simple and provides really tasty sauces about as quickly as any way I know. These compounded butters have another application, however, that is unusual, quick, and most versatile. This application is to the surface of bread, cracker, or toast; canapé, appetizer, or hors d'oeuvre; of any size, shape, or purpose on the appetizer or tea tray. Use any of these butters in their own compound simplicity, or build up the canapé with other toppings that are relevant to the flavor of the butter combination.
There is only one warning. In most of these butters, with the exception of those like beurre meunière or black butter, the butter is never melted to the point of oiliness, merely brought to a creamy consistency, usually with a whip. Its final melting takes place when it reaches the hot food. In making these combinations, the general rule is to allow 1 tablespoon butter in the recipe for each serving.
Almond Butter
Blanch ½ cup almonds in boiling water and remove the skins. Pound to a paste, adding a little water if necessary, and gradually add ½ cup butter. Strain through a fine sieve. Use in cream sauce for chicken sauté.
Anchovy Butter
The usual proportion is 3 parts butter to 1 part anchovy. Cream together 6 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons anchovy paste or well-pounded filet of anchovy and strain through a fine sieve. For broiled fish.
Bercy Butter
Put 4 shallots, finely chopped, in a saucepan with 6 ounces dry white wine and cook until it is reduced to ¼ the original quantity. Cool. Add 4 tablespoons butter that has been creamed with 2 teaspoons chopped parsley and season with a little salt and pepper. Use with broiled steak or chops.
Black Butter
Continue cooking brown butter (below) until it is very dark brown, almost black. Slow cooking will insure a more even browning and a better flavor. For calves' brains and vegetables.
Brown Butter
Melt butter and cook slowly until it is hazelnut brown. For vegetables and fish.
Carlton Butter
Add 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons finely chopped chutney, and 2 teaspoons chili sauce to 6 tablespoons creamed butter and mix all together well. For broiled or baked fish.
Colbert Butter
To ½ cup maître d'hôtel butter (seé below) add ½ teaspoon melted beef extract or glace de viande or concentrated veal gravy and ½ teaspoon chopped tarragon. Use with fried fish.
Crayfish Butter
Make a mirepoix as follows: Put 1 onion and 1 carrot, both finely diced, 1 small bay leaf, and a little thyme in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon butter and cook slowly for a few minutes. On this mirepoix put the finely chopped carcasses of 12 to 15 crayfish and cook all together slowly for about 30 minutes. Cool. Add ¼ pound butter and pound all together well until the butter becomes creamy, and then rub through a fine sieve. The butter should have a good pink color. For finishing fish sauces.
Garlic Butter
Boil 6 cloves garlic for a few minutes and drain. Crush and pound them well with 6 tablespoons butter. Strain through a fine sieve. Or crush some garlic very finely and mix it with creamed butter to taste. Use chiefly for steaks.
Green Butter
Parboil for 5 minutes in just enough water to cover: 1 tablespoon parsley, 1 teaspoon chervil, 1 teaspoon tarragon leaves, 6 to 8 spinach leaves, and 2 shallots, chopped. Remove them to cold water; drain and dry well in a towel. Pound to a paste along with 4 to 6 tablespoons butter and strain through a fine sieve. For finishing cream sauces for broiled poultry or as a fish sauce.
Lobster Butter
Pound together about 1 pound cooked lobster shell plus any of the creamy part of the lobster that clings to it and the coral, if available, along with ¼ pound butter. Melt the mixture slowly in the top of a double boiler and strain through cheesecloth. Let this cool. Any small particles of shell that may have passed through the cloth will sink to the bottom of the pan and the creamy butter with the lobster flavor and pink color can be spooned off the top. For finishing fish sauces.
Maître d'Hôtel Butter
Cream ¼ pound butter with ½ teaspoon chopped parsley, the juice of ½ lemon, and a little salt and pepper. For broiled meat, poultry, fish.
Manié Butter
This is a thickening agent for sauces rather than a real sauce or butter. Cream together butter and flour in the proportion of 5 parts butter to 3 parts flour or about 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon flour. Add to the liquid, gravy, sauce, or whatever is to be thickened and bring just to the boil, but do not boil.
Marchand de Vin Butter
Put 4 shallots, finely chopped, in a saucepan with 6 ounces good red wine and cook until reduced to ¼ the original quantity. Cool. Add 4 tablespoons butter that has been creamed with 1 teaspoon chopped parsley and season with a little salt and pepper. Use with broiled steak or chops.
Meunière Butter
Add a little lemon juice and a little chopped parsley to brown butter. For fish.
Mustard Butter
Add 2 teaspoons prepared mustard, little by little, to 6 tablespoons melted butter. For fish.
Paprika Butter
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, add ½ onion, chopped, and cook until light brown. Add 1 teaspoon paprika, mix well, and let cool. Add 4 tablespoons creamed butter and strain through a fine sieve. For broiled poultry or fish or to finish a paprika sauce.
Polonaise Butter
Cook ¼ pound butter to a hazelnut brown, adding 2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs as the butter browns. The crumbs should be golden-brown. Use for vegetables such as asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, or any kind of paste-like noodles.
Shallot Butter
Parboil 4 teaspoons finely chopped shallots in a little water for 1 or 2 minutes. Drain and dry in a towel. Add the shallots to 6 tablespoons butter, crush all together well, and strain through a fine sieve. A little finely chopped chives may be added, if desired. For broiled meat, poultry, fish.
Shrimp Butter
Pound 12 to 15 cooked shrimp very finely along with ¼ pound butter. When it is soft and creamy, strain through a fine sieve.
Butter for Snails(Beurre pour Escargots)
Cream ¾ pound butter and add 2 teaspoons chopped shallots, 4 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste, 1 tablespoon finely chopped celery, 1 teaspoon salt, and a little pepper. Mix all together well. Put a little prepared butter in each snail shell, return the prepared snail to its shell, and cover with more of the snail butter before the final baking of the snails. Sufficient for 50 snails.
Tarragon Butter
Parboil 6 tablespoons tarragon leaves in a little water for 2 or 3 minutes. Drain and dry on a towel. Crush with 6 tablespoons butter and pass through a fine sieve. For broiled meat, poultry, fish.
Tomato Butter
Peel, seed, and chop 4 ripe tomatoes, put them in a saucepan, and cook until all the surplus moisture is cooked away. Add 4 tablespoons creamed butter and strain through a fine sieve. Mainly for fish, but also meat, poultry, white meat.
White Butter
Cook 3 ounces vinegar with 1 teaspoon chopped shallots until reduced to ¼ the original quantity. Cool to luke-warm and add 4 tablespoons creamed butter. Add 1 teaspoon chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. For poultry, meat, fish.
The sauce recipes that follow conclude the white sauces begun in the September issue and include butter sauces of the hollandaise type.
Egg Sauce
Add 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped, and ½ teaspoon chopped parsley to 1 pint crème sauce. If a richer sauce is desired, fold in 1 tablespoon hollandaise sauce. Use for steamed fish.
Livonienne Sauce
To 1 pint white wine sauce add 2 tablespoons carrots, cut in julienne and cooked, 1 tablespoon julienne of truffles, 1 tablespoon chopped green leaves of lettuce parboiled for 5 minutes, and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley. Use with fish.
Marinière Sauce
Follow directions for poulette sauce, omitting the mushrooms.
Matelote Sauce
Cook 1 onion and 1 carrot, both finely chopped, in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon butter until golden. Add a little thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 clove garlic, the peelings of mushrooms, and some chopped fish head and bones (salmon or sole preferred). Simmer for 10 minutes. Add 1 quart red wine, cover the pan, and cook until it is reduced to ½. Strain through a fine sieve. Thicken with manié butter made by creaming together 1 tablespoon butter with 1 teaspoon flour and adding to the sauce. Bring to the boil again and finish with 1 tablespoon butter. Serve with fish.
Mushroom Cream Sauce
Clean and peel ½ pound small mushrooms and cook them in 2 tablespoons butter until lightly browned. Add 1 cup cream and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Thicken with ¼ cup velouté or crème sauce and season with salt and pepper. Use with chicken, sweetbreads, or fish.
Mustard Sauce
Mix 1 teaspoon English mustard with 1 tablespoon water and combine with 1 cup hot crème sauce. If a richer sauce is desired, fold in 1 tablespoon hollandaise sauce.
Nantua Sauce
Add ½ cup cream to 2 cups béchamel and cook for 5 minutes. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons crayfish butter. This is made by pounding and crushing cooked crayfish (from which the tail meat has been removed to be served separately) with butter in the proportion of a dozen or more crayfish to 3 to 4 tablespoons. Strain through a fine sieve, extracting only the butter which takes on the flavor and color of the crayfish. Mix well with the hot béchamel sauce. Then let the sauce cool and remove any butter that rises to the surface. If necessary, add a little pink vegetable coloring to give the sauce its characteristic pink color. Use with fish or eggs.
Newberg Sauce
Cut a 1 ½-pound lobster, both shell and meat, into about 4 pieces and season them with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan, add the lobster pieces, and sauté for about 4 minutes. Add 1 shallot, chopped, ¼ cup sherry, and ½ cup cream. Cover the pan, bring to a boil, and boil for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the lobster and cook the liquid in the pan until it is reduced to 1/3 its original quantity. Thicken by adding 2 tablespoons velouté or crème sauce, or with manié butter made by creaming together 1 tablespoon butter with 1 teaspoon flour, and finish with another ¼ cup sherry. Strain through a fine sieve or muslin cloth. If the sauce is too thick, more cream and more sherry may be added. The lobster meat is removed from the shell and served in the sauce. This classic sauce may be used with any kind of fish.
Normande Sauce
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, add 1 teaspoon flour, and cook until it just starts to turn golden. Add the cooking liquor from the fish, oysters, or mussels for which the sauce is being made and also some of the cooking liquor from the mushrooms which will garnish the dish, having about 1 cup liquor in all. Cook for about 10 minutes. Mix 2 slightly beaten egg yolks with ½ cup cream and combine with the sauce. Cook until the boiling point is reached but do not boil. Strain through a fine sieve.
Poulette Sauce
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan, add 6 to 8 mushrooms, minced, and cook until they just start to brown. Add 2 shallots, finely chopped, mix well, and add ½ cup cream. Cook until it is reduced to ½ the original quantity and add ½ cup béchamel or crème sauce. Bring to a boil and correct the seasoning with salt. Add 2 slightly beaten egg yolks mixed with a little cream. Bring again to the boiling point, stirring constantly, but do not boil. Add the juice of ½ lemon and ½ teaspoon chopped parsley. Use with fish, calf's brains, or other specialties.
Paprika or Hongroise Sauce
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan, add 1 onion, finely chopped, and cook until it is golden. Add 2 tablespoons paprika and mix well. Gradually add 1 cup cream, stirring constantly, and thicken the sauce by adding 6 tablespoons velouté or crème sauce. Correct the seasoning with salt. Use with fish, poultry, or veal.
Hot Ravigote Sauce
Combine 1/3 cup dry white wine, 1/3 cup vinegar, and 6 shallots, finely chopped, in a saucepan and cook until it is reduced to 1/3 the original quantity. Add 1 pint crème sauce or sauce blanche and boil gently for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat, add 2 tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon mixed chopped chervil, tarragon, and chives. Use for boiled poultry or fish.
Shallot Sauce
Put 1 tablespoon chopped shallots and ¾ cup white wine in a saucepan and cook until it is reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Add 1 ½ cups velouté and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Remove from the fire, add 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and finish with 2 tablespoons butter. Use for fish.
Soubise Sauce
Cover 1 cup chopped onions with hot water, parboil for 3 to 4 minutes, and drain. Put the onions in a saucepan with 1 tablespoon butter and cook slowly until they are soft but not brown. Add 1 pint béchamel sauce and cook for 15 minutes longer. Strain through a fine sieve, return to the fire, and add, little by little, 1 cup cream. Correct the seasoning with salt. Use with fish, lamb, veal, or sweetbreads.
Villeroy Sauce
Cook 3 cups velouté until reduced to 2 cups. It should be very thick. Combine with 2 slightly beaten egg yolks and cook until it reaches the boiling point, stirring constantly, but do not let it boil. Let the sauce cool to lukewarm before using. It is used to coat pieces of chicken, lamb, sweetbreads, or vegetables, or for croquettes. The food is then coated with bread crumbs, beaten egg, and again with bread crumbs and fried in deep hot fat.
White Wine Sauce for Fish
Place 6 filets of fish in a large, shallow saucepan with 1 tablespoon butter, ½ teaspoon salt and a little pepper, 2 shallots, chopped, ½ cup mushroom trimmings, and a generous ½ cup each dry white wine and fish stock. Let the fish cook in it and when they are done, remove to a serving dish. Cook the liquid until it is reduced to 1/3 its original quantity and add 1 cup crème sauce or velouté and ½ cup sweet cream. Finish with 2 tablespoons sweet butter, correct the seasoning with salt, add a few drops lemon juice, and strain through a fine sieve over the fish.
And now to go on to the butter sauces of the mayonnaise type, of which there are fewer and most of which are simpler. Hollandaise sauce, an emulsion formed by the combination of egg yolks and butter, is the base sauce of a group of several variations.
Making hollandaise seems to scare many otherwise competent cooks. Unless proper precautions are taken, it will, of course, separate. But the proper precautions are so simple that there is no real reason for anyone's ever having a failure. Use a double boiler and keep the water in the bottom part just below the boiling point, add the butter a little at a time, having each addition well incorporated in the mixture before adding more, and stir the sauce every minute of the time.
Hollandaise Sauce
Put 3 egg yolks and 1 tablespoon water in the top of a double boiler and stir briskly with a wire whip or slotted spoon until creamy. Remove the top of the boiler to a warm place or else add a little cold water to the bottom part to keep the water below the boiling point. Add ½ pound butter, a little at a time, stirring constantly, and having each addition thoroughly blended before the next is added. Season to taste and, if to be used with fish, add a little lemon juice. To make the sauce lighter add 1 tablespoon hot water.
Béarnaise Sauce
Remove the leaves from the stems of 3 sprigs tarragon and 3 chervil. Chop the stems and mix with 2 shallots, chopped, 4 peppercorns, crushed, and ¼ cup each tarragon vinegar and white wine. Cook all together until it is reduced to a thick paste. Beat 3 egg yolks slightly, add 1 tablespoon water, and combine with the paste in the top of a double boiler. Stir briskly with a wire whip or slotted spoon until creamy, adding water to the bottom of the double boiler to keep it just under the boiling point. Add ½ pound butter, a little at a time, stirring constantly and having each addition thoroughly blended before the next is added. Season to taste with salt and a very little cayenne pepper. Strain through a fine sieve and add the chopped leaves of the tarragon and chervil. Use with broiled steak.
Choron Sauce
To 1 cup béarnaise sauce add ¼ cup tomato purée or tomato sauce reduced until it is very thick. Use with broiled meat, chicken, or fish.
Maltaise Sauce
When hollandaise sauce is ready to serve, add 2 or 3 tablespoons orange juice of good color and a little finely grated orange rind. The sauce should be pink and a little pink vegetable coloring may be added to make it so. Use with asparagus.
Mousseline Sauce
Just before serving, add 2 tablespoons whipped cream to 1 cup hollandaise sauce.
Valois Sauce
To 1 cup béarnaise sauce add 1 teaspoon melted beef extract to give a light brownish color. Use with eggs or broiled chicken.