The base is yellow.

Three days ago, I wrote about one of the five mother sauces, Sauce Béchamel or white sauce. Two days ago I wrote about the second of the mother sauces, Sauce Velouté. Yesterday I wrote about the third mother sauce; Sauce Espagnole. Today is the turn of the first mother sauce that is not based on roux but uses egg yolks as the thickening agent. The liquid is melted butter. They might not be the healthiest of sauces but I couldn't imagine a world without Eggs Benedict! I am, of course, talking about Sauce Hollandaise.

Hollandaise is an emulsified sauce (an emulsion is a mixture of two liquids that would ordinarily not mix together, like oil and vinegar), and uses clarified butter because whole butter, which contains water and milk solids, can break the emulsion. Clarified butter is just pure butterfat, so it helps the emulsion remain stable.

To clarify butter:

1. Gently melt unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat. As the butter melts, you'll see a layer of foam rising to the surface. The bubbles are the butter's water content boiling off, and the white residue is the milk solids separating out from the butterfat and water
2. As the butter continues to simmer, use a ladle to skim the foam and milk solids from the surface of the liquefied butter. Note the clear, golden liquid underneath the foamy residue. This is different from the technique for making ghee, in which the milk solids are allowed to settle to the bottom and turn slightly brown
• Keep a separate bowl for the milk solids you skim off — it's fantastic on popcorn! You can also add the leftover milk solids to mashed potatoes or as a topping for vegetables. They're also be delicious over pancakes, waffles or French toast
3. In a few minutes you'll have skimmed off most of the milk solids, leaving just the pure, yellow butterfat

Some people are not comfortable eating Hollandaise as it contains egg yolks. Although the egg yolks are heated through, you might want to use pasteurised egg yolks which are now available in most supermarkets. I, however, do not worry too much as the yolks are cooked over a pan of simmering water. It's best to serve hollandaise right away. You can hold it for about an hour or so, provided you keep it warm. After two hours, though, you should toss it — both for quality and safety reasons. Serve the sauce with poached eggs, vegetables or poached fish.

Sauce Hollandaise

Ingredients:

• 240 millilitre clarified butter, warm but not hot
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (1 small lemon)
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• Salt, to taste
• White pepper or cayenne pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Heat an inch or two of water in a saucepan over a medium heat
2. Mix the egg yolks and the cold water in a glass or stainless steel bowl (not aluminum)
• Whisk for a minute or two, until the mixture is light and foamy. Whisk in a couple of drops of lemon juice, too
3. The water in the saucepan should have begun to simmer. Set the bowl directly atop the saucepan of simmering water
• The water itself should not come in contact with the bottom of the bowl
4. Whisk the eggs for a minute or two, until they have thickened and are a very pale yellow
5. Remove the bowl from the heat and begin adding the melted butter
• Add the butter slowly at first, just a few drops at a time, while whisking constantly, if you add it too quickly, the emulsion will break
• Place the bowl on a damp tea towel to keep the bowl from moving
6. Continue beating in the melted butter
• As the sauce thickens, you can gradually increase the rate at which you add it, but at first, slower is better
7. After you've added all the butter, whisk in the remaining lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper (or a dash of Tabasco sauce)
• The finished hollandaise sauce will have a smooth, firm consistency, similar to mayonnaise. If it's too thick, you can adjust the consistency by whisking in a few drops of warm water

All the recipes below are based on the full recipe above, unless stated otherwise.

Sauce Béarnaise (typically served with grilled steak)
In a saucepan, heat 60 millilitre white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons chopped shallots, ½ teaspoon crushed black peppercorns and ½ tablespoon tarragon to a simmer and reduce until the mixture is nearly dry. There should be about two tablespoons of liquid remaining. Remove from heat and transfer to a glass or stainless steel bowl (not aluminum). Add 4 egg yolks to this bowl and whisk for a minute or two, until the mixture is light and foamy. From here on in, the process is the same as with Hollandaise. Once all the butter has been incorporated into the egg mixture, strain the sauce into a new bowl, stir in 1 tablespoons chopped chervil (or parsley) and ½ tablespoon tarragon. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper (or a dash of Tabasco sauce). The finished Béarnaise sauce will have a smooth, firm consistency. If it's too thick, you can adjust the consistency by whisking in a few drops of warm water.

Sauce Dijon (serve with vegetables, fish or grilled chicken)
Make a Sauce Hollandaise as above. Once all the butter has been incorporated into the egg mixture, add 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard and whisk this into the sauce.

Sauce Foyot (perfect with grilled steak)

Melt 2 tablespoons Glace de Viande (meat glaze, see here on how to make it) in a pan over low heat. Make a recipe for Sauce Béarnaise (as above). Stir the melted meat glaze into the Béarnaise.

Sauce Choron (with grilled steak)
Make a recipe for Sauce Béarnaise (as above). In a small saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of tomato paste until it just starts to change colour. Leave the tomato paste to cool, then mix the tomato paste into the Sauce Béarnaise.

Sauce Maltaise (cooked asparagus and broccoli)
Make a recipe for Sauce Hollandaise (as above). Once all the butter has been incorporated into the egg mixture, whisk in 60 millilitre of blood orange juice and 1 teaspoon of orange zest.

Sauce Mousseline (this is sometimes called a Sauce Chantilly and can be used for seafood, vegetables and poultry)
Make a recipe for Sauce Hollandaise (as above). Whisk 120 millilitre double cream till it forms stiff peaks and fold this into the Hollandaise.
You can replace the salt and pepper with 1 tablespoon caster sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract to make a Sauce Mousseline that can be used for desserts. For a lighter version of both versions of the sauce, you can replace the cream with an equal quantity of whipped egg whites.

Seven sauces, with a variety of uses (including desserts). More variations to the sauces can be created by adding herbs or spices. The best tip when making Sauce Hollandaise, and its small sauces, is to take it slow and not to worry too much. As long as you make sure that the boiling water doesn't touch the bowl, and that the clarified butter isn't too warm, your egg yolks will behave like a dream but if you find that your eggs are scrambling after all, try adding a tablespoon of ice cold water; whisk like mad as you add the water, this might just bring it back.

Tomorrow I will post the last mother sauce, so stay tuned and, most importantly

Enjoy