Sauce Hollandaise

Hollandaise sauce is at the same time a classic, made ubiquitous in diners by its presence in Eggs Benedict and an enigma, its status questioned by recent revelations uncovered by Alex. More on that second point later. For now, though, let’s get right into the mother sauce that might not be one. Mother sauce or not, it’s a classic, and classics deserve to be made properly.

Let me start out by recognizing just how intimidating Hollandaise can be. In my pieces explaining the way to make the other sauces which were thickened by various colors of roux, you read “DO NOT STOP WHISKING” at least once in each of those recipes. This will be no exception. I’m serious. It’s so important, I’ll say it again now, and then yet again another time later on. When you’re making Hollandaise, DO NOT STOP WHISKING.

Hollandaise is an emulsion of egg yolk, clarified butter, and lemon juice. Emulsions, as discussed in the piece about mayonnaise, are when two substances that shouldn’t normally combine do combine because either by physical force, or by the addition of another substance, or both, they are held together. The reason I have said so many times that you CANNOT STOP WHISKING is that doing so would irreparably break the Hollandaise emulsion. A broken emulsion creates tiny pieces (the size of a grain of rice, if that big) of cooked egg yolk floating around in a pool of clarified butter. There is no way to recover from this. If this happens, throw it away, clean your pan, and start over.

First off, addressing the ingredients. Butter normally contains three things: milk protein solids, water, and fat. Clarifying the butter separates the components by density; skim off the solids and evaporate out the liquids until only fat is left. This pure butterfat is “clarified butter.” This ingredient is one of the cornerstones of sauce hollandaise.

Next, an important point about equipment. Hollandaise requires the use of a double boiler. This is not a special piece of equipment per se, but rather the combination of several common kitchen tools for a specific purpose. A double boiler simply is a bowl placed over the opening of a pan with simmering water underneath. This more gently cooks whatever is in the bowl.

 
To prepare a hollandaise, begin with the egg yolks and lemon juice in a bowl, and set that bowl over a double boiler. Whisk constantly to aerate the sauce and to pasteurize the eggs without scrambling them. DO NOT STOP WHISKING. To that last point, I cannot overstate the importance of keeping the water underneath the eggs only at a simmer; if the water boils, the eggs will coalesce, and an emulsion will be impossible. As you whisk and the eggs cook very gently in the double boiler, the extra air you introduce by whisking and the cooking process should significantly lighten the color. Lemon juice is mostly water, and clarified butter is all fat. Naturally, fat is less dense than water; the egg yolks’ protein matrices will hold these components together.

As the eggs begin to lighten and take on more volume, slowly stream in clarified butter. DO NOT STOP WHISKING. Once all the clarified butter has been incorporated and the emulsion complete, take the sauce off the double boiler, season with salt and cayenne, and serve immediately.

If you make this, be sure to leave a comment down below letting me know!