History
There is debate as to who originally developed Hollandaise sauce. Some historians believe that it was invented in the Netherlands then taken to France by the Huguenots. A recipe for Hollandaise sauce appears in a Dutch cookbook by Carel Baten, which dates from 1593. In 1651, François Pierre La Varenne describes a sauce similar to Hollandaise in his groundbreaking cookbook Le Cuisinier François: "avec du bon beurre frais, un peu de vinaigre, sel et muscade, et un jaune d’œuf pour lier la sauce" ("with good fresh butter, a little vinegar, salt, and nutmeg, and an egg yolk to bind the sauce"). Alan Davidson notes a "sauce à la hollandoise" from François Marin's Les Dons de Comus (1758), but since that sauce included flour, bouillon, herbs, and omitted egg yolks, it may not be related to the modern Hollandaise. However, Larousse Gastronomique states that, in former times fish 'à la hollandaise' was served with melted butter (implying that at one time egg yolks were not a part of the designation, Hollandaise). Davidson also quotes from Harold McGee (1990), who explains that eggs are not needed at all and proper emulsification can simply be created with butter. He also states that if one does wish to use eggs they are not needed in so great a quantity as normally called for in traditional recipes.
The sauce using egg yolks and butter appeared in the 19th century. Although various sources say it was first known as "sauce Isigny" (a town in Normandy said to have been renowned for the quality of its butter), Isabella Beeton's Household Management had recipes in the first edition (1861) for "Dutch sauce, for fish" (p. 405) and its variant on the following page, "Green sauce, or Hollandaise verte". Her directions for hollandaise seem somewhat fearless:
- "Put all the ingredients, except the lemon-juice, into a stew-pan; set it over the fire, and keep continually stirring. When it is sufficiently thick, take it off, as it should not boil..."
Robert Farrar Capon suggests that Hollandaise is "not one bit less a marvel than the Gothic arch, the computer chip, or a Bach Fugue."
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