Hollandaise sauce

Hollandaise is a warm emulsion of egg yolk, melted butter and lemon juice or vinegar, one of the pillars of classic French cooking. It is best known for its role in eggs Benedict and for being notoriously difficult to make well.

History

The first documented recipe appears in 1651, in La Varenne's book, within a dish of asparagus served with a fragrant sauce. He is often credited with moving French cooking away from medieval sauces toward lighter preparations, and he may well have shaped this one, although this cannot be confirmed.

The French name means 'Dutch sauce' and is linked to the Franco-Dutch war, though the exact origin of the name remains debated. In the nineteenth century it also appears in cookbooks as Isigny sauce, after the Norman town famous for its butter. In English, 'Dutch sauce' was common through the 1800s before giving way to the French term in the twentieth century.

Carême placed it among his categories of sauces, and Escoffier included it among the mother sauces of haute cuisine, alongside mayonnaise, with which it shares its emulsion base. Prosper Montagne suggested adding a reduction of white wine or vinegar to improve its flavour, as in Béarnaise.

Culture

Today hollandaise is served mainly with eggs Benedict, steamed asparagus and other vegetables. Its derivatives form a broad family: Béarnaise, with a reduction of vinegar and tarragon; mousseline, lightened with whipped cream just before serving; maltaise, flavoured with orange and traditionally served with asparagus; Dijon, with mustard; and noisette, made with browned butter. The technique demands patience: it must be kept warm over a water bath, since it splits if it cools, and its airy texture sets it apart from mayonnaise.

Trivia