Beurre blanc

This is the simplest butter sauce, but has little keeping quality, so make it just before serving. You need cold butter cut into small cubes and a reduction of white wine. The wine needs to reduce in order to become viscous enough to hold the butter. Perversely, this sauce shouldn’t taste particularly buttery, rather silky smooth, with the lemon or vinegar coming to the fore. It’s really like a hot salad dressing, just as hollandaise is a warm mayonnaise.