White-wine vinegar
White-wine vinegar is made when acetic acid bacteria oxidise the alcohol in finished white grape wine, yielding a pale, wine-derived souring condiment for dressings, sauces and cooking.
Beurre blanc
White butter · Beurre rouge (red-wine version) · red butter
Beurre blanc is a warm emulsion of cold butter whisked into a reduction of white wine, vinegar or lemon juice and shallot, a sauce from the Loire Valley and its red-wine version, beurre rouge.
A butter emulsion held by acid
Beurre blanc is a warm emulsion of cold butter whisked into a reduction of white wine, vinegar or lemon juice and shallot. It is a butter sauce, not an egg sauce, and its emulsion is held together by the butter's own emulsifiers, including a trace of lecithin, which form an oil-in-water emulsion.
The reduction of acid keeps the milk solids suspended, which is why the sauce stays creamy instead of turning oily.
Sources for this section
Origins and the modern version
The sauce is recorded as early as 1669, when Le nouveau cuisinier francois suggests it with pumpkin. Several towns claim the modern version. In one account a mix-up at the Chateau de Goulaine around 1900 left the sauce without its egg yolk, and the head cook Clemence Lefeuvre was congratulated on her new sauce.
Other accounts place the invention at her restaurant in Saint-Julien-de-Concelles, where a diner's remark led her to add chopped shallots, vinegar and white pepper, according to her grandson, reported in 2014. The food writer Curnonsky called her the high priestess of the beurre blanc.
Sources for this section
Making it
The reduction is made from white wine and vinegar or lemon juice with very finely chopped shallots, cooked until the acids are concentrated. Cold whole butter is then whisked in gradually, and the sauce is served hot or warm.
The article gives no temperature for the emulsion. The lead specifies cold butter added slowly, so the butter should not be melted before it goes in, and the heat should be kept low enough that the sauce does not separate.
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Beurre rouge and serving
Beurre rouge uses dry red wine in place of the white wine and vinegar. Madame Prunier recommended it for barbel, carp, eel and tench. The white version is traditionally served with pike, and it also suits other fish, vegetables and eggs.
The article does not cover storage or holding. A sauce that is kept warm or stored needs a tested method that this page does not give.
Sources for this section
History
Several towns claim the modern version. In one Nantes-area account, a mix-up at the Chateau de Goulaine around 1900 led the head cook, Clemence Lefeuvre, to serve a sauce without its egg yolk, and she was congratulated on her new sauce. Other accounts place her invention at her restaurant in Saint-Julien-de-Concelles, where, according to her grandson, a diner's remark that it tasted like mussel sauce led her to add chopped shallots, vinegar and white pepper.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
White wineReduced with the vinegar or lemon juice and shallot.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read. Dry red wine for beurre rouge.White wine vinegar or lemon juiceReduced with the wine and shallot.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.ShallotVery finely chopped.
Amount not stated
Cold whole butterWhisked in gradually.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.Method
Risks and precautions · Elevated risk
Butter sauce held warm after making
A warm dairy emulsion held at serving temperature supports bacterial growth; the article gives no holding or storage advice.
Hazard sourceServe promptly; use a tested holding method for any batch kept warm or stored
Control sourceThe sources give no storage or holding advice for beurre blanc. Do not treat this page as a holding method.
- Reduce white wine with vinegar or lemon juice and very finely chopped shallots until the acids are concentrated.
- Gradually whisk in cold whole butter. The acids keep the milk solids suspended, so the sauce stays creamy and does not turn oily.
- Serve the sauce hot or warm. The article gives no holding temperature.
- For beurre rouge, use dry red wine in place of the white wine and vinegar.
Places
Saint-Julien-de-Concelles
Documented preparation · Region evidenceNamed in one account of the modern sauce's invention; the article presents several towns' claims.
France
Historical attestation · Country evidenceThe sauce is recorded in Le nouveau cuisinier francois (1669).
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Sources
WikipediaHistory · Method · Variants
Beurre blanc1669 record with pumpkin; Goulaine mix-up around 1900; Lefeuvre; Saint-Julien-de-Concelles; Curnonsky; acid keeps milk solids suspended; cold butter; beurre rouge; Prunier fish; no storage advice
Cited in: A butter emulsion held by acid; Origins and the modern version; Making it; Beurre rouge and serving