Hollandaise — On the Table

Words, recipe and photography by Charlene Trist

No matter how experienced you are in the kitchen, emulsion sauces like hollandaise can be frightening. I am sure that most people who have ever attempted to make this silky and luxurious combination of rich egg yolks and butter have experienced the frustration of broken sauces and curdled egg yolks before perfection was achieved. Why you might ask? Thanks to the very different structures and properties of water and lipid (oil or fat) molecules, they are immiscible or in other words, they don’t mix evenly with each other. Additionally, it’s tricky to heat the egg yolks enough to reach the desired thickness, but not so much that the yolks coagulate into scrambled eggs.

Fear no more, with a little molecular understanding, you will not only approach hollandaise with confidence, but you will also learn how to spot a problem correct it.

Tools - what you will need to get started

1 medium sized saucepan

1 large heatproof bowl

1 metal whisk

Ingredients

3 egg yolks

3 tbsp hot water

175g lukewarm clarified butter

Juice of ½ lemon or 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Make a double boiler by sitting the heatproof bowl on top of a pot one third filled with boiling water.

2. In the heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks, 3 tbsp hot water and lemon juice or vinegar until the mixture is pale and thick (ribbon stage). This should take about three minutes.

3. Add lukewarm clarified butter a little at a time, whisking vigorously after each addition.

Hollandaise is a fat and water emulsion. Normally when you mix together fat and water, the mixture is going to separate and the fat will float on top of the water in a greasy layer.

As you whisk the butter breaks into tiny droplets while the egg yolk acts as an emulsifier that coats the oil droplets and prevents them from coalescing with each other. A broken sauce is usually the result of not whisking fast enough, so get that wrist moving quickly!

4. Immediately remove the mixture from the heat and serve without delay.

Learning when to remove the mixture from the heat can be tricky. If you do end up with curdled eggs, do not despair. Simply strain out the solid bits of protein, and add one extra egg yolk and one table-spoon of water and slowly whisk the sauce into the new yolk. Viola! You should now have a creamy, smooth sauce with a rich texture and mild flavour.