Sauce Choron — Tomato Béarnaise

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Choron is béarnaise coloured and flavoured with tomato concassée or concentrated tomato purée — the warmest and most visually striking of the hollandaise family. Named for the chef Alexandre-Étienne Choron (1837-1924), it trades the stark yellow of its parent sauce for a sunset coral-orange, and adds a gentle acidity that makes it the preferred accompaniment to grilled beef, particularly tournedos and entrecôte. Begin with a fully made béarnaise: shallot, tarragon, and chervil stems reduced in white wine vinegar until nearly dry; egg yolks whisked over gentle heat until thick and pale; clarified butter added in a thin stream until the emulsion is stable, thick, and creamy. Strain through a fine sieve. This is your foundation. For the tomato addition, two schools exist. The classical method: 2-3 tablespoons of very finely chopped tomato concassée (peeled, seeded, diced tomato, cooked gently in butter until dry and concentrated — the water must be removed or it breaks the emulsion). The modern method: 1-2 tablespoons of double-concentrated tomato paste, sieved smooth. Both work. The concassée gives texture and a fresher tomato character; the paste gives cleaner colour and a more concentrated flavour. Fold the tomato into the béarnaise gently — do not whisk vigorously, which can break an emulsion that is already at the limits of its stability. The finished Choron should be coral-orange, hold its shape on a spoon, taste first of tarragon and butter (the béarnaise identity), then of tomato as a warm afterthought. The tomato addition should feel like a blush, not a transformation. Choron is almost always served with grilled red meat. The combination of butter, tarragon, and tomato against the char and iron of a grilled steak is one of the great flavour marriages in French cuisine — each element exists to support the meat, and together they create a whole greater than the sum.

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