Feeling saucy? Try Béarnaise with food other than steak

A recent storm has passed over Twitter on Irish food and the way in which it is labelled. When we must sit down and argue semantics about what “produced in”, “product of” and “made by” signify, I think we’re in trouble.

Wherever the product comes from is not a problem, as long as it’s clearly labelled. It is okay to eat food from other countries (we wouldn’t survive otherwise: think of our non-existent sugar industry), providing the words “Ireland” or “Irish” are not used as empty marketing tools.

Cod suffers from this phenomenon. The ocean is a big place and who owns the fish is a perilous question, as anyone who watched the documentary Atlantic will know very well.

We gave away a lot of our fish and now we want it back. We need to look to future generations before making executive decisions about the sea our children will inherit.

Making the sauce

Cod pairs wonderfully with the classic Béarnaise sauce. Most people associate this sauce with steak, but I feel it works better with the tender delicacy of poached white fish.

Clarify 300g of cubed butter by melting it over a low heat. When the butter foams, remove from the heat and leave it a few minutes so that the white solids sink to the bottom of the pot. Sieve the butter through some muslin, discarding the solids.

Combine 60ml of cider vinegar with some shallots and some tarragon. Heat until the volume of liquid has reduced by half. Strain and cool. Lightly beat three egg yolks with one teaspoon of water. Stir the egg yolk mixture into the vinegar and add the juice of half a lemon.

Pour the mixture into a bowl placed over a pan of gently simmering water. Whisk continually until the sauce has thickened. Remove the bowl from the heat and slowly fold in the clarified butter until the mixture is nice and smooth.

Fold in the some chopped tarragon and season with a little sea salt. Serve with a piece of poached cod and some seasonal sprouting broccoli or Brussels sprouts.