Hollandaise Sauce: A History, How

Hollandaise sauce: a history, how it is used and when it is the appropriate time to use it.

Hollandaise sauce is one of the classic sauces of French cuisine, a sauce that is still popular and much-used in restaurants today. Any chef, regardless of whether he or she likes to use the sauce frequently, should know how to prepare a hollandaise sauce, as it is regarded as one of the cornerstones or tests of mastering the basics of professional cooking techniques. The word sauce derives from a French word that means a relish to make a food more appetizing. "Sauces are liquid or semi-liquid foods devised to make other foods look, smell, and taste better, and hence be more easily digested and more beneficial" (Stradley 2004). Hollandaise is considered a basic sauce, a kind of white savory sauce that can be used with nearly endless variations.

Sauces were first created because of the lack of refrigeration in the early days of cooking, to mask the flavor of tainted foods, or to make the less appetizing parts of an animal seem more enticing. Hollandaise sauce literally means Holland-style or from Holland in French. It is widely thought to have come to France as a Flemish or Dutch sauce thickened with eggs with the consistency of savory custard, and made with a little butter beaten in to smooth the texture. The French adopted it into their in their own culinary repertoire made it uniquely 'French' and most people regard its current incarnation as a French sauce. All French chefs trained in the Escoffier tradition will know how to make hollandaise sauce, whether they like the sauce or not!

In France, the sauce was originally often called Sauce Isigny after a town in Normandy, Isigny-sur-Mer, known for its butter and cream, the critical components of the sauce. However, during World War I, France had to import butter from Holland and the name was changed back to hollandaise sauce and was never changed again (Stradley 2004). The first recorded use of a hollandaise-like sauce in a cookbook is from 1651. It is found in the pages of Le Cuisine Francois (the True French Cook in English). Francois Pierre de La Varenne (1618-1678) records its use in his "Asparagus in Fragrant Sauce." He instructs the cook to choose the largest asparagus, "scrape the bottoms and wash, then cook in water, salt well, and don't let them cook too much. When cooked, put them to drain, make a sauce with good fresh butter, a little vinegar, salt, and nutmeg, and an egg yolk to bind the sauce; take care that it doesn't curdle; and serve the asparagus garnished as you like" (Stradley 2004).

The durability of this recipe is confirmed in the fact that asparagus with hollandaise sauce, with or without the accompanying Eggs Benedict, remains a popular brunch staple to this day. However, the origins of hollandaise sauce are somewhat in dispute. For example, according to food historian Alan Davidson, the earliest recorded versions of the sauce specifically referred to as "hollandaise" dates back to 1758, in the form of "sauce a la hollandaise" from Marin's Dons de Comus. But this recipe included butter, flour, bouillon, and herbs but no egg yolks ("Hollandaise Sauce," Gourmet Sleuth, 2007). At this point, evidently, hollandaise was used in a more broad sense to refer to a dairy-based sauce that contained some form of seasoning and butter.

Today, hollandaise sauce is always some kind of bechamel sauce, from the family of white sauces that are considered the basic sauces of French cuisine. Hollandaise itself gave birth to many other sauces, including bearnaise sauce, the most typical variation of hollandaise sauce. "Bearnaise sauce, which is related to hollandaise sauce, is most often served with steak" ("Hollandaise Sauce," 2007, Gourmet Sleuth). Bearnaise sauce combines the basic hollandaise with white wine or vinegar, diced shallots, tarragon, and peppercorns. These are all cooked together, reduced, sieved and added to hollandaise sauce. Tarragon is what gives bearnaise its distinctive taste. It is because of its stronger, almost pungent taste that bearnaise sauce is served with beef and some shellfish, not more delicate substances like vegetables and eggs (Stradley 2004).

Hollandaise sauce can be served hot with vegetables, fish, and eggs (most famously with Eggs Benedict and ham). It should not be served extremely hot; however, rather it should be served warm. Unfortunately, if not prepared or stored correctly, this lukewarm temperature can place this egg-based sauce in the temperature danger zone for generating bacterial growth. Other sauces derived from the hollandaise sauce family "include sauce aux capres, moutarde, mousseline and maltaise ("Hollandaise Sauce," 2007). These are also often served with fish, although not nearly as often with eggs as hollandaise. They are less familiar to American diners than French diners. Americans are apt to be familiar with another hollandaise derivative, mayonnaise.

Hollandaise, when prepared properly "will be a pale lemon color, opaque, but with a luster not appearing oily. The basic sauce and its variations should have a buttery-smooth texture, almost frothy, and an aroma of good butter. Making this emulsified sauce requires a good deal of practice -- it is not for the faint of heart" ("Hollandaise Sauce," Gourmet Sleuth, 2007). The difficulty of the sauce makes it a test for the chef's technique and prowess, because so much of the sauce's correct preparation is dependant upon timing, above all else.

The critical difficulty in preparing hollandaise is to avoid separation and to create emulsification of the different components. If the sauce starts to separate, cooks are instructed to add one or two tablespoons of cream and beat the sauce with a wire whisk until it is smooth, or if the sauce curdles, put the hollandaise in a blender and blend until it is uniform. Obviously, a cook's instinct is essential on knowing how to balance the needs of the eggs, dairy, seasoning, and acidic components.

However, just as many variations exist of this basic sauce, there are likewise many tricks to avoid emulsification and separation. According to food science expert Harold MeGee, eggs are not needed at all and proper emulsification can simply be accomplished with butter. This also reduces the risk of food contamination and bacterial growth, for those who fear serving warm, not hot, sauces with eggs. McGee also states that if one does wish to use eggs they are not needed in quantities normally called for in traditional recipes.

Eggs Benedict is a traditional brunch staple, particularly for brunch buffets. It is likely to be the most familiar way that people encounter hollandaise sauce. Eggs Benedict was supposedly born when a Wall Street broker asked for toast, bacon, poached eggs, along with pitcher of hollandaise sauce as a hangover cure, in 1894 at the Waldorf Hotel which then added it to the menu. The request for a pitcher of this very rich sauce is an indication of the difference between modern dining habits and those of more than a century ago!

Today Eggs Benedict are usually made with English muffins, or a fancier variation of this fork-split muffin, Canadian bacon, and poached eggs. The dish is served open-faced at a restaurant and is then smothered with hollandaise sauce. In some instances, the dish may be served closed, such as if is being taken 'to go.' Eggs Florentine, made with spinach rather than Canadian bacon is an increasingly popular alternative, given how well that spinach pairs with butter and cream-based sauces. It is less hearty vegetarian alternative for vegetarians who still consume eggs and dairy (Karpf 2007). Asparagus, tomato, and other variations, substitutions, and additions to Eggs Benedict are possible, as the dish can be made with any vegetable that pairs well with hollandaise and can provide variation to a typical brunch menu with relative ease. Again, if the brunch is served as a buffet, care must be taken to keep the sauce warm, but hot enough to avoid bacterial growth, and also the sauce must be carefully prepared so it does not harden or separate. Preparing the dish fresh at an omelet station is one solution, or keeping the sauce separate from the eggs over an open flame, so the diners can spoon it over the other components of the dish when they are ready to consume the eggs, ham, and bread. Fish is also often paired with hollandaise, especially more delicate white fish.

The lemony notes in hollandaise sauce also make it ideal for fish. Parsley is also often combined with the flavorings of white fish and hollandaise. It should be noted, however, that some diners may balk at such a paring of fish and milk, given that some native cuisines, like Italian cuisine, do not pair fish and dairy-based components like cheeses.