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Hollandaise sauce

Sauce hollandaise · Hollandaise · Dutch sauce · Bearnaise (derivative) · Sauce Isigny

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Hollandaise is a warm emulsion of egg yolk and butter finished with lemon juice, one of the French mother sauces, and the base for Bearnaise and other derived sauces.

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Warm glossy pale-yellow Hollandaise sauce in a porcelain sauce boat with asparagus softly in the background.

An egg-yolk emulsion

Hollandaise is a warm emulsion of beaten egg yolk and butter, finished with lemon juice. Escoffier listed it among the mother sauces. It is the base for bearnaise and many other derived sauces.

The lecithin in the yolk is the emulsifier, so the sauce does not set like a custard. It thickens because the yolk and butter are held together gently, and it can be broken by too much heat.

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Origins and the name

The first documented recipe is in La Varenne's 1651 book, in a dish of asparagus with a fragrant sauce. The name is said to mean Dutch sauce, from the Franco-Dutch War, but the article gives this without full certainty.

Prosper Montagne suggested a reduction of wine or vinegar to improve the flavour. A later name, sauce Isigny, points to the butter of Isigny-sur-Mer.

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Making the emulsion

Beaten egg yolks are combined with butter, lemon juice, salt and water, then heated gently over a double boiler while whisked. Methods vary: melted butter may be poured into warm yolks, unmelted butter may be heated with the yolks, or a blender or food processor may be used. The yolks in this version are only gently heated to form and warm the emulsion; no pathogen-reduction endpoint is specified. Use pasteurized eggs or pasteurized egg products for this low-heat preparation.

Some cooks reduce vinegar, water and cracked peppercorns until nearly dry and add the strained reduction. Temperature control is the main risk: the article says excessive heat can curdle the sauce, and it gives no rescue method.

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Bearnaise and the derived sauces

Bearnaise is the most common derivative. Its name comes from the province of Bearn. According to a common explanation, the chef Jean-Louis-Francois Collinet invented it by accident and served it at the 1836 opening of Le Pavillon Henri IV at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The article presents this as a common explanation, not a confirmed fact.

Bearnaise is finished with a reduction of wine or vinegar, shallot, chervil, tarragon and crushed peppercorns, strained and whisked into yolk and clarified butter at about 66 C (150 F) over a bain-marie. Choron adds tomato puree, Foyot adds meat glaze, Colbert adds reduced white wine, and paloise uses mint. Maltaise uses orange, mousseline folds in whipped cream, and noisette uses browned butter.

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Holding and freezing

The article states only that hollandaise can be frozen. It gives no holding times, no reheating advice and no food-safety statement beyond the temperature control needed during preparation.

USDA FSIS identifies hollandaise among foods that can contain raw or undercooked eggs and advises against unpasteurized eggs. FDA guidance recommends pasteurized eggs or egg products for hollandaise. This page's gentle heating is for texture, not a measured safety step. No validated warm-holding or storage time is established here.

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History

The name is said to mean Dutch sauce and to date from the Franco-Dutch War; the article cites this without full certainty. La Varenne may have invented the sauce, a claim the article presents with hedged wording. A later name, sauce Isigny, refers to Isigny-sur-Mer, known for its butter.

Ingredients

Scaling: source batch only

Egg yolksBeaten; the lecithin in the yolk emulsifies the butter.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.
ButterMelted or added unmelted, depending on the method.
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.
Lemon juice
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.
Salt
to taste
Water
Amount not stated
Quantity not given in the sources read.
White wine vinegar and peppercorns (for Bearnaise) (optional)Reduced with shallot, chervil, tarragon and crushed peppercorns, then strained.
Bearnaise only.

Method

Risks and precautions · Elevated risk
Undercooked egg yolks

Hollandaise may contain undercooked egg. USDA FSIS specifically lists hollandaise among foods containing raw or undercooked eggs and advises against unpasteurized eggs.

Hazard source

Use pasteurized shell eggs or pasteurized egg products for hollandaise. The gentle heating described here is for texture and has no documented time-and-temperature pathogen-reduction limit.

Control source

This low-heat method does not establish a pathogen-kill endpoint. Use pasteurized eggs or pasteurized egg products; USDA FSIS advises against eating hollandaise made with unpasteurized eggs.

No validated warm-holding or storage duration is provided here. Serve promptly and use a tested method for holding or storage.

  1. Some cooks first reduce vinegar, water and cracked peppercorns until nearly dry, strain the reduction and add it to the yolks.
  2. Use pasteurized egg yolks or pasteurized egg product. Beat the yolks with the butter, lemon juice, salt and water, then heat gently over a double boiler while whisking. This gentle heating controls texture; the cited sources do not establish a pathogen-kill time or temperature for this method.
  3. Some cooks pour in melted butter, others heat unmelted butter with the yolks, and some use a blender or food processor.
  4. Keep the temperature low and watch closely, because excessive heat can curdle the sauce. Low heat is not a food-safety endpoint.
  5. For Bearnaise, reduce wine or vinegar with shallot, chervil, tarragon and crushed peppercorns, strain it, and whisk it into the yolks and clarified butter over a bain-marie, to about 66 C (150 F).
  6. Serve promptly. This recipe does not establish a validated warm-holding or storage limit.

Conditions

Temperatureup to 66°C
Temperature controlAmbient, monitored

Places

France

Documented preparation · Country evidence

The first documented recipe is in La Varenne's 1651 cookbook; the name's Dutch link is uncertain.

See Franceon the mapLocation source 1 →

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