Black butter sauce, the original recipe

Taste one black butter sauce properly is no longer a matter of course even in France, where many chefs now avoid trying their hand at the classic recipe to accompany – optionally – veal brains, boiled or sautéed fish, chicken breast, vegetables and fried eggs. The fact is that extreme attention must be paid to it, to ensure that the sauce finally turns out to be a nice homogeneous brown without, despite the name, turning black, an unequivocal sign of excessive cooking with a consequent unpleasant bitter taste. This is why the procedure sees the use of clarified butter, with a decidedly higher cooking point.

Ingredients for about 150 ml : 170 g of clarified butter, 4 tablespoons of wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste.

Method: cut the butter into pieces and put it in a saucepan over a moderate heat. When melted and slightly amber in colour, remove the foam and pour into a bowl. Filter the butter into the same saucepan, previously cleaned, and turn the heat back on to low. After the initial sizzle, the sauce will begin to brown. When it becomes hazelnut-coloured, remove from the heat and add the very finely chopped parsley.
Put the vinegar in another empty saucepan and boil rapidly until it has reduced by more than half. Add the hazelnut butter, season with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce in a covered container over a pot of hot water until ready to serve.

More stories from Vanity Fair that might interest you:

Tahina: how to make sesame sauce at home

Soy sauce, the recipe to make at home

5 French appetizers (quick and easy) to make at home

How to prepare a vintage and super chic French dinner

How to make Joël Robuchon’s legendary mashed potatoes