Beurre blanc

Beurre blanc is a classical French Nantes sauce composed of a reduction of chopped shallots, dry white wine and vinegar, mounted with cold butter pieces. The sauce was born in Saint-Julien-de-Concelles in the early 1900s, attributed to Clemence Lefeuvre. Beurre blanc traditionally accompanies pike, pike-perch and Loire salmon. The mounting technique rests on a delicate emulsion, butter must be incorporated in small doses without boiling, around 65 to 75 degrees Celsius, otherwise the sauce breaks. Beurre blanc figures in almost all French three star selections (Source: Curnonsky, Cuisine et vins de France, 1953).