Hollandaise & Bearnaise Sauce Preparation — The Culinary Pro (2024)

FAQs

What are the differences of preparation and cooking of hollandaise and béarnaise warm emulsion sauces? ›

Both Hollandaise and Bearnaise sauces use egg yolks, butter and an acid. A Hollandaise uses lemon juice, while the Béarnaise uses tarragon and vinegar reduction: that is, chopped tarragon in (white) wine vinegar boiled down. Aside from the reduction, the preparation of both sauces is the same.

It's what happens next that sets them apart: Hollandaise gets its acidity from lemon juice (sometimes vinegar) and is usually seasoned with salt, white pepper, and cayenne pepper. Béarnaise, meanwhile, builds upon hollandaise with white wine vinegar, shallots, tarragon, and other fresh herbs.

These sauces should be held at low temperatures, 120°F/50˚C. Because they contain egg yolks and must be held in the food temperature danger zone, prepare as close to service as possible and never hold for longer than 4 hours before discarding.

Tips & Techniques > Troubleshooting Hollandaise

If the heat is too high, the egg yolks will curdle and the sauce will become grainy. When a sauce splits, this means that the fat has separated from the egg foam (the sauce has lost its emulsion). The result will look thin, greasy, and lumpy.

The lecithin in the egg yolks ensure that the liquid and the fat globules are evenly combined. It prevents the globules from merging together, otherwise known as curdling. So, in short: Hollandaise sauce is a warm emulsion of egg yolks and liquid that are bound with clarified butter.

To make Béarnaise, you start with a reduction of wine, vinegar, shallots, and tarragon. Set it aside while you make the hollandaise, which is a semi-permanent emulsion of egg yolks and clarified butter. Stir the herbal reduction into hollandaise, and voila! You have Béarnaise sauce.

Hollandaise should be held between 120F to 145F (49 to 63C) so it does not split or curdle. If the sauce is heated above 150F, the eggs can overcook, become grainy and the sauce can potentially split.

Make sure the butter is between 130-140 degrees Fahrenheit (55-60 degrees Celsius). While constantly whisking, add the butter to the sabayon in a steady stream. Add enough butter until you achieve a somewhat thick consistency.

Yolks are combined with a herb-infused vinegar reduction over a double boiler, then melted butter is carefully and slowly drizzled in while whisking. Too fast and the sauce will split. Too hot and the eggs will scramble. Too cool and it won't thicken properly.

Note: for raw egg products held warm (such as hollandaise or béarnaise sauce, or similar), it is recommended that the product is prepared just before service and must only be held for that service period (generally up to 2 hours) then discarded.

What is wrong with hollandaise sauce? ›

Why Does Hollandaise Sauce Break? Over-heating or overcooking the egg yolks is one culprit. Next time, be sure to use a double boiler and heat the yolks gently to avoid overcooking them. The second cause is either adding too much butter or adding it too quickly.

The three different types of emulsion sauces are Temporary - SImple Vinaigrette Semi permanent - Dijon mustard vinaigrette Permanent- Hollandaise. 7.

Bechamel starts with a light roux, and is made with milk. It gets its flavor from onion, bay leaf, snd clove, along with a hint of nutmeg and white pepper. Hollandaise is a liaison of egg yolks and butter, flavored with lemon juice, white pepper and a dash of cayenne, according to Julia Child.

Hollandaise sauce is unlike the mother sauces we've mentioned so far, due to a liquid and a thickening agent, plus flavorings. Hollandaise is a tangy, buttery sauce made by slowly whisking clarified butter into warm egg yolks. So the liquid here is the clarified butter and the thickening agent is the egg yolks.

Béarnaise is a fat-in-water emulsion—in this case, butter emulsified into a reduction of white wine and vinegar flavored with shallots, tarragon, and chervil, all bound and thickened with egg yolks.