Make it don't buy it: hollandaise sauce
Great with salmon, eggs benedict or doled out over freshly cooked asparagus, hollandaise sauce is one of the five ‘mother sauces’ of French cooking.
Follows the pictures below along with the method, as these should give you guidance as to what you're looking for in terms of texture and colour.
Method in pictures
Variations
Choron sauce
Prepare as above and add ½–1 tsp tomato purée to the finished sauce. This can be served with fish or chicken.
Herb hollandaise
Omit the mace from the reduction and add one small chopped shallot and a few herb sprigs, such as parsley, chervil or chives. Proceed as for hollandaise and add ½–1 tsp freshly chopped herb (the same herb used to infuse the reduction) to the finished sauce. Season with lemon juice and cayenne pepper. This is not a classic variation but delicious nonetheless.
Mousseline sauce
Make as for hollandaise and add 50ml lightly whipped cream to the finished sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning. This can be served with fish or vegetable dishes.
Béarnaise sauce
Omit the mace from the reduction and add one small chopped shallot and a few tarragon and chervil sprigs. Proceed as for hollandaise and add ½–1 tsp each of chopped tarragon and chervil and 1 tsp of glace de viande to the finished sauce. A classic sauce to accompany steaks.
Paloise sauce
Make as for béarnaise sauce, but substitute 2–3 tsp chopped or chiffonaded mint for the tarragon and chervil. A delicious variation of a béarnaise to serve with lamb.
Ingredients
- 50 ml white wine vinegar
- 50 ml water
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 mace blade
- 1.8 fl oz white wine vinegar
- 1.8 fl oz water
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 mace blade
- 0.2 cup white wine vinegar
- 0.2 cup water
- 6 black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 mace blade
- 150 g unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 drops lemon juice, adjust to taste
- 1 pinch salt and white ground pepper
- 5.3 oz unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 drops lemon juice, adjust to taste
- 1 pinch salt and white ground pepper
- 5.3 oz unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 drops lemon juice, adjust to taste
- 1 pinch salt and white ground pepper
Details
- Cuisine: French
- Recipe Type: Sauce
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 20 mins
- Cooking Time: 20 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- For the reduction, put the wine vinegar, water, peppercorns, bay leaf and mace in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce the liquid by at least two-thirds, then strain to remove the peppercorns, bay and mace.
- To make the sauce, cut the butter into 1cm cubes. Put the egg yolks, a cube of butter and a small pinch of salt in a small bowl. Using a wooden spoon, cream the butter into the egg yolks, add ½–1 tsp of the reduction and stir to combine.
- Half-fill a roasting tin with water and set over a medium heat, to create a warm bain marie. Heat until the water is hand-hot (it should be comfortable to dip your fingers into). A bubble might occasionally rise to the surface, but if you have the water too hot, the sauce will curdle. Turn off the heat.
- Stand the bowl containing the egg yolk, butter and reduction mixture in the bain marie, off the heat, and stir until the egg yolks visibly start to thicken.
- Beat the remaining butter in, a cube at a time, making sure that the sauce has re-thickened before adding the next cube of butter. As more butter is added, the heat can be turned on to low (but take care that the water does not boil) and the butter can be added more quickly. If the sauce becomes very thick and appears greasy, add a little more reduction or cool water.
- Once all the butter has been added, remove the bowl of sauce from the roasting tin, taste it and adjust the seasoning. To achieve a balanced flavour, you may need to add more reduction, lemon juice, salt and ground white pepper. The sauce can be kept for about 30 minutes before serving, by standing the bowl in a warm bain marie, off the heat.
Method & images courtesy of Leiths School of Food and Wine
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