— John Beemster

Let's talk a little bit about the, the blong, uh, and the emulsion that is, uh, the backbone, right? The, um, uh, the, really the technique at the base of that particular sauce. And, uh, you know, first of all, you know, as you put your liquids into the pan, whether, whatever it is, you know, uh, wine of some sort is, is typical. Uh, it could be another type of wine. Uh, sometimes a fortified wine like vermouth, uh, maybe used, uh, sometimes the addition of vinegar is used, and you're getting flavor as well as acidity, okay? Uh, at, at this point. And that's gonna be reduced with some sort of an aromatic. Um, in the classical, uh, Euro-American kitchen shallots, uh, have tended to be, uh, the preferred, uh, aromatic at this stage of a bur blanc. And, uh, or a, a butter sauce, right? As, um, it's sometimes called in, uh, in American English anyway. And, um, so at, at this point, um, the, the contents of the pan should be reduced. The, the liquid needs to be reduced, um, considerably. Now, it depends on the overall quantity that we're starting with, and, and the quantity that we're, uh, we're going to, um, produce in terms of, of the finished sauce. But, uh, you know, I think for some of these smaller recipes, uh, in our library, that would probably, you know, serve, uh, let's say four or so people, um, you know, we're talking about a quarter cup or so of wine, maybe a a little additional, uh, vinegar. And so the quantity is pretty small. Uh, we're gonna reduce that to something, um, you know, in, in the realm of, uh, a couple of teaspoons of liquid in the pan. Okay? Now, some of this is gonna depend upon the size of the pan, uh, that you use, all right? Um, and, um, you, you want some moisture in the pan, but you, we want to intensify the flavor, uh, at that point, uh, in this initial stage. And then keeping the contents warm. Uh, so moderate, moderate, moderately low heat is, is often gonna be fine. Uh, we're gonna add cold butter, and it's usually gonna come in the form of chunks that we have prepared. Okay? Uh, they could be smaller, uh, pieces as well, but oftentimes they're about the size of that first joint of your thumb. And, um, now you've got, uh, the choice of adding these pieces one by one, uh, or adding it all at once, okay? And you might try it either way to see, uh, what might work better for you, depending on the size of the pan, depending on the heat intensity under the pan. Uh, but ultimately there's a balance that it we're trying to strike between the heat of the, the pan and the contents, uh, along with the chilled butter itself, okay? And we, using a whisk, um, stir that butter around in the pan, um, and, and don't do it gently. You put a little bit of, uh, uh, of energy into it, uh, so that, um, as it melts, we try to, um, sort of keep it, uh, I in contact with the cold butter that's still swirling around. And that's gonna help maintain, uh, the, the, the temperature balance, uh, the speed at which the butter melts and the emulsion that we want to maintain, right? I mean, otherwise, um, if the pan is too hot, uh, or the butter quantity is too small, and ultimately the butter melts too quickly, then it will simply break. And, um, you know, we, we don't have an emulsion. So breaking means the separation of the fat, uh, con, uh, component and the water component. And, um, uh, so you'll get some streaking, um, uh, visual streaking through the sauce as the, uh, as the broken butter is being swirled about. So, um, it, it takes some practice, um, you know, these sort of butter sauces, uh, you know, in a, in on ground culinary school setting, uh, students are, are working this several times, um, in order to, uh, practice, um, the, the balance that's gonna be required. Okay? Keep in mind also that, um, if you're working with a, uh, a hot pan, um, you might be able to simply turn the fire off under the pan and the contents of the pan, uh, and the pan, uh, itself, you know, the amount of heat that it's carrying, uh, may be adequate to melt the butter and maintain that emulsion. And so try that approach as well. And, um, see if you can, you know, strike a balance in terms of, um, the emulsion. Now, when it comes to the, the, uh, the palate interest of a butter sauce, uh, they are heavy because they are predominantly fat. Uh, butter is approximately, uh, 80% fat, uh, with a remainder of that mostly, uh, water and a small percentage, uh, milk solids. And then, uh, you've got vinegar, which is mostly water, and you've got the wine, which is mostly water. We've reduced those right in that first phase, um, so that we're trying to intensify the flavor. And so the idea is that the, your finished product, um, should have, uh, the elements of wine in terms of flavor, as well as acidity, uh, that will balance the heaviness or the fattiness of the butter. And, uh, so if you're not getting that, then consider adjusting at the end, uh, primarily the, uh, the, the acidity. And this is where, you know, some recipes might call for the, uh, addition of, uh, some more vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice, okay? And also, salt, uh, will play a role in the final seasoning. So, uh, generally speaking, in cooking, when it comes to final seasoning of anything, we usually talk about salt and acidity, and acidity can come from different sources, whether it's vinegar or, uh, a citrus fruit like lime or lemon or something else. Um, there's tamarin and cocom and, and other souring, uh, agents. Uh, but keep in mind that salt and acidity will be your friend, uh, friends, I should say, uh, when it comes to the final balancing of a dish. Okay? Um, so, so John, I hope you'll give that a try, uh, in order to find a balance in the interest on the pallet, as well as trying to maintain the emulsion. Thank you.