Compound Butters

Compound butters can be used in two ways: served straight on top of grilled or roast foods, or incorporated into sauces. I find the flavour and texture of seasoned butter in beurre blancs and so on more satisfying than plain butter, and have never moved away from using them. They were a staple at the Bluewater Grill, until I decided to do away with butter altogether. Over the years, however, I started to see the value in finishing sauces with butter again, though nowhere near the quantities I had used in the past. At Rockpool, we use a little butter to impart flavour and add a silkiness to the sauce; it’s not too rich or hard to digest at all. Nearly all the butter that is used in the Rockpool sauces, with the exception of the red-wine sauce, are compound butters.