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hollandaise : an emulsion of thoughts

November 30th, 2009

Hollandaise, a warm egg sauce, and it is also just one of the few Basic Sauces. In that it means to say that from these few Basic Sauces other sauces are derived from. It is a mix of a watery substance which is fluid combined with oil/melted fat also perfectly fluid (imagine when you whisk balsamic vinegar with oil to make a vinaigrette,  yurp like that… kinda)

There always seems to be this certain “fear” that hangs over any cook who gets his arm ready to take it on. I mean there should not be but it seems to strike a certain tension. I guess it just takes some experience and a huge amount of arm power to get it right. The new cook’s fear, fear of “splitting” the sauce … the novice cook’s fear, fear of not getting the correct consistency and so all the horror story goes… So before anything, we need to understand what a Hollandaise actually is ?

To get started let’s break down the ingredients involved.

• Egg yolks – using the freshest egg yolks are important. The older the egg yolks are, the lecithin molecules are broken down into cholesterol molecules. The fresher it is the more lecithin molecules it contains, the better the surfactants molecules (containing proteins and lecithin) which are essential during the whisking in of the fat. As it coats the dispersed fat droplets.

• Lemon juice – besides it giving hollandaise a yummy flavour by balancing the creaminess of the butter, its acidity also stabilizes the sauce. The acidity reacts on different surfactant molecules which prevents coagulation while retaining the properties of the surfactant molecules while the proteins coagulate. It also breaks down the intramolecular bonds of proteins so it can arrange itself on the face of the lipid drops and act as surfactants.

• Salt – besides seasoning the sauce, it adds ions that link to various electrically charged parts of the surfactant molecules. (This in turn reacts with the lemon juice that has caused the protein to be positively charged. Now this makes the forces of electrical repulsion to appear between the egg aggregates and the droplets. All identically charged, the heads of the surface-active molecules repel each other causing it complications in flowing. This increases the viscosity of the sauce which also means that the sauce has thickened.) Imagine taking a hundred identically charged magnets and forcing it into one box. The magnets do not flow in the exact same position and it would take a lot of effort to do so, mostly failing.

• Melted butter – besides giving hollandaise its addictive flavour, when emulsified with the liquid portion of the sauce (egg yolks and lemon juice) it increases in viscosity. Simply put, it thickens up. Sometimes thick enough that it is possible to cut with a knife (or a teaspoon as you will see).

When making the hollandaise, mix in the yolks, salt and lemon juice together, whisking over heat. Usually around 70 -75 degrees Celsius for the coagulation to take place (also to pasteurize the yolks to avoid salmonella and uncomfortable trips to the doctors and the loo), this process also disperses the surfactant molecules from the yolk into the delicious liquid (here being the lemon juice), then whisking in the butter separates the fat droplets which becomes coated by the dispersed surfactant molecules. Simple English, the mixture emulsifies and binds together (now imagine whisking balsamic vinegar with oil to make a vinaigrette only with the help of an egg yolk to hold the 2 together.. now you get it?)

So in this aspect this is a classically made hollandaise. I really love this sauce as it ‘velvets’ poached eggs, steaks, fish, gratinated pasta, you name it!! The only thing is the richness of hollandaise tends to “fill you up quick” … which may be harmful to your overall meal experience .. imagine you having a completely full sauce boat of hollandaise (because you love it as the intense flavour and richness goes oh so well with your fish)… and you get bloated, then for dessert is a beautiful Crepe Suzette, which, because of being too stuffed from feeling bloated makes you miss out on the full beauty of the dessert… then of course it snow balls to ruin your full dessert wine, coffee and petit fours experience … bummer correct?

Well so I decided to try to make a hollandaise that is full-flavoured, rich and yet light. (The original idea was inspired when working with my chef friend Adam, who is now based in Spain). So first was getting the proportions correct. Proper measurements play a big part. It is not like 1 egg yolk as the eggs differ in different countries. However as much as I would love to share I still have yet to get the perfect proportions of the mix. What I have is a close estimate (in short, I forgot to note it down!!!!) What I have below is the measurements from one of the earlier testings. However the method is the same.

egg yolks / lemon juice / salt

Yes I know I missed taking a photo of the weighed clarified butter (missing the attention to details), however the measurement theory I followed was that of a whole egg. OK, an egg yolk accounts for a third of the shelled egg, leaving two-thirds of the weight to be the white. Using this theory in the few initial tests was decided on the weight of the amount of clarified butter. So in this context the weight of the clarified butter used was 81.60gm. Usually the fat content of a hollandaise is determined by the total amount of liquid weight. However I wanted to determine the technique and needed a much more dense and flavourful mixture to work with, as you will understand from the result below.

(Do not quote this recipe as it was just a test to determine the technique.)

But instead of the regular method I tried my hand at another point of view. Since the theory of “emulsifying” the fat and water content together is the pillar of a hollandaise, I used it as a guideline.

Combine the egg yolks, salt, lemon juice together and mix evenly followed by a spoon of the clarified butter.

Vacuum pack the mix and have a small water bath ready to cook the packed mixed.

Ensure that the needle is inserted in to monitor the temperature of the mix. The aim is to hold it at 70deg for at least 12mins.

Once it is done empty contents into a PACO JET canister with the remaining clarified butter.

Set it in with the mixing blade and process through. Afterwhich, empty contents into a siphon with two N2O chargers and leave to sit at a slightly above ambient temperature for 90mins. This allows the mix to be charged and invaded by the gas.

I am pretty satisfied with the results obtained. It was flavourful, had a nice volume to it. Most importantly it gave the full character of a hollandaise, only it was much lighter. At this stage it is perfect for let’s say, fish and eggs. However it did lose out when paired with a slice of roast beef. (props to Adam for showing the hollandaise in a siphon)

This proved that following the pillar theory and guideline of a recipe is important. However much you would like to change the technique of it. This technique I figure is recommended only if a large amount of hollandaise is required. Don’t just place those whisks away just yet… this is far from perfect… however I think it’s getting there.

Thanks for reading the long post and Happy Fooding!!

References: 1. On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee. / 2. Kitchen Mysteries: revealing the Science of Cooking by Hervé This / 3. An Introduction to Technological Applications of Molecular Gastronomy, INICON, online PDF article. / 4. Hollandaise from a siphon adapted from Adam Melonas, Head of Creative Team, at Paco Roncero, Madrid.