Sauce hollandaise isFrench for "Hollandic sauce".[note 1] The first documented recipe is from 1651 inLa Varenne'sLe Cuisinier François[7] for "asparagus with fragrant sauce":[8]
make a sauce with some good fresh butter, a little vinegar, salt, and nutmeg, and an egg yolk to bind the sauce; take care that it doesn't curdle[8]
La Varenne is credited with bringing sauces out of theMiddle Ages with his publication and may well have invented hollandaise sauce.[11] A more recent name for it issauce Isigny, named afterIsigny-sur-Mer, which is famous for its butter.[6][12] Isigny sauce is found in recipe books starting in the 19th century.[13][14]
By the 19th century, sauces had been classified into four categories byCarême. One of his categories wasallemande, which was a stock-based sauce using egg and lemon juice.Escoffier replacedallemande with egg-based emulsions, specifically mayonnaise, in his list of themother sauces ofhaute cuisine.[15]Hollandaise was included in the section on derivatives[16] but in the English translation, the mention of mayonnaise as a mother sauce was removed andhollandaise was moved to the section on mother sauces.[17]
While many assume that a true hollandaise sauce should only contain the basic ingredients of eggs, butter, and lemon,Prosper Montagne suggested using either a white wine or vinegarreduction, similar to aBéarnaise sauce, to help improve the taste.[18]
In English, the name "Dutch sauce" was common through the 19th century, but was largely displaced byhollandaise in the 20th.[1]
To make hollandaise sauce, beaten egg yolks are combined with butter, lemon juice, salt, and water, and heated gently while being mixed. Some cooks use adouble boiler to control the temperature. Some recipes add melted butter to warmed yolks; others call for unmelted butter and the yolks to be heated together; still others combine warm butter and eggs in a blender or food processor.[23] Temperature control is critical, as excessive temperature can curdle the sauce.[24][25] Some chefs start with a reduction. The reduction consists of vinegar, water and cracked peppercorns. These ingredients are reduced to "au sec" or almost dry, strained, and added to the egg yolk mixture.
Hollandaise and its derivative Mayonnaise (Hollandaise appearing in the 17th century and Mayonnaise appearing in the 18th century) are among theFrench mother sauces,[2][27][28] and the foundation for many derivatives created by adding or changing ingredients, including:
The most common derivative is egg yolk with reductionsauce Béarnaise. It can be produced by replacing the acidifying agent (vinegar reduction or lemon juice) in a preparation with a strainedreduction of vinegar,shallots, freshchervil, freshtarragon, and (if to taste) crushedpeppercorns.[29][30][31] Alternatively, the flavorings may be added to a standard hollandaise. Béarnaise and its children are often used on steak or other "assertive" grilled meats and fish.
Sauce Choron is a variation of Béarnaise without tarragon or chervil, plus tomato purée.[31][32]
