Sauce Béarnaise: The Classic French Sauce That Isn't From Béarn

Sauce Béarnaise: The Classic French Sauce That Isn't From Béarn | Food Tour de FranceSauce béarnaise — one of the great sauces of classical French cuisine, named after the Béarn region of the southwest and associated with the city of Pau — was not actually created in Béarn at all. Today's Food Tour de France episode finishes in Pau and tells the full and rather wonderful story of a sauce invented in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, just outside Paris, by a chef called Jean-Louis-François Collinet who looked up at a bust of Henri IV on the wall — the king who was born in Pau — and named his accidental creation after the king's hometown on the spot. A hot emulsified sauce of clarified butter, egg yolks, shallots, tarragon and chervil that became one of the defining preparations of French gastronomy. Named after a place it has nothing to do with. Which is, in French food history, not even slightly unusual.The episode covers the full origin story of béarnaise — the failed shallot reduction that became a classic, the involvement of Alexandre Dumas as possible co-inventor, the specific role of tarragon that makes béarnaise béarnaise and nothing else — and the technique that Fernand Point, whose episode we covered earlier in the main Fabulously Delicious series, described with characteristic precision. A béarnaise, he said, is nothing but an egg yolk, a shallot and a little tarragon — but it takes years of practice before the result is perfect. The episode also covers the small family of derivatives that béarnaise has spawned — sauce Choron with tomato, sauce Foyot with meat glaze, and the sauce paloise of the Basque country, where mint replaces the tarragon and the result is served with lamb.The Food Tour de France is a daily series running alongside the 2026 Tour de France on Fabulously Delicious — one episode for every stage start and finish. Pau gets two episodes in the series — yesterday's garbure episode covered the great slow-cooked cabbage and duck stew of the Gascon tradition, and today the béarnaise completes the picture of a city whose name is attached to two of the most celebrated things in French food culture — one of which it actually produced, and one of which it definitely did not. Search Fabulously Delicious on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for the full series.As Fabulously Delicious steps into its sixth year, one thing is clearer than ever: five years of French food culture has taught Andrew that the subject is genuinely inexhaustible. My book Paris: A Fabulous Food Guide to the World’s Most Delicious City is your ultimate companion. This is a new 2026 update for the book and you’ll find hand-picked recommendations for the best boulangeries, patisseries, wine bars, cafés, and restaurants that truly capture the flavor of Paris. You can order it online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠andrewpriorfabulously.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For those who want to take things further, why not come cook with me here in Montmorillon, in the heart of France’s Vienne region? Combine hands-on French cooking classes with exploring charming markets, tasting regional specialties, and soaking up the slow, beautiful pace of French countryside life. Find all the details at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠andrewpriorfabulously.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can help keep the show thriving by becoming a paid subscriber on substack where you'll also get fabulous extra content. Every contribution makes a huge difference. Join here at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merci beaucoup!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#FrenchFoodPodcast #FabulouslyDelicious #foodpodcast #saucebearnaise #Béarnaise #pau #FrenchFood #FoodTourDeFrance #TourDeFrance2026