Hollandaise sauce

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 250 g butter
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Salt
• Pepper, white
• Cayenne pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 20 minutes

Dutch sauce

Authentic Dutch sauce (called hollandaise sauce in French cuisine) is arguably the most versatile classic sauce of all. Versatile because it can be served with fish, meat, and vegetables, or because it is often used as a base for other sauces (e.g., Chantilly sauce). It is prepared as follows: Melt the butter in a saucepan, but do not heat it! Put the egg yolks, lemon juice, water, and salt in a saucepan and place the pan in a simmering water bath. Beat with a whisk (or an electric mixer is better) until the mixture is creamy. Remove the pan from the water bath (important, otherwise the sauce will curdle) and gradually add the melted butter, first a teaspoon at a time, then a tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper and serve immediately. The sauce cannot be reheated, as it will curdle. But it is also delicious lukewarm over hot asparagus. If you don’t like it quite so rich, you can use less butter, but then you’ll also end up with less sauce.