Sauce Foyot (Valois) — Béarnaise with Meat Glace

Ingredients

• For the béarnaise base
• 500 ml béarnaise sauce, prepared to completion and held warm
• 2–3 tbsp (30–45 ml) glace de viande, true brown veal stock reduced by a factor of 10–12, set to a firm rubbery jelly at room temperature

Method

1. 1
   Prepare a béarnaise to full completion. The finished sauce must be stable, pale yellow, and hold its emulsion without trembling or weeping before any glaze is introduced. An already-unstable béarnaise cannot absorb the additional liquid of the melted glaze.
2. 2
   Measure 2–3 tablespoons of glace de viande and warm it gently in a small saucepan or bain-marie until it is fully liquid and no longer solid at its centre. The glaze should be warm to the touch and flow freely — not hot, not cold. Cold glaze creates lumps; hot glaze breaks the emulsion. This is where the dish lives or dies.
3. 3
   Fold the liquid glace into the béarnaise in two additions, working gently with a spoon or spatula. The emulsion is fragile; do not whisk aggressively. After each addition, check that the sauce has absorbed the glaze without separating.
4. 4
   Assess the finished Foyot: it should carry the same pale yellow colour as béarnaise but with a deeper sheen from the dissolved gelatin, a slightly thicker body, and a lingering meaty savour that amplifies rather than dominates the butter and tarragon. The meat flavour is present; it does not read as gravy.