Laura The Gastronaut > Julia Child > Sauces > Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise Sauce

May 16, 2019 | Updated August 2, 2023 | Laura

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Julia Child's Hollandaise Sauce

✽ Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I | Julia Child ✽

Julia Child Recipes 24-25 | 503 recipes to go!

✽ Hollandaise Sauce; Egg Yolk and Butter Sauce flavored with Lemon Juice [Sauce Hollandaise], p. 79
✽ Poached Eggs [Oeufs Pochés], p. 116

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✽ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.

✽ You can buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I which contains these recipes here. (affiliate link)

The purpose of this Julia Child section of my blog is to document my journey of learning how to cook. To show my successes, my failures, and what I learned along the way.

Since I didn't create these recipes (if only!), I do not post exact amounts of ingredients or word-for-word instructions. If any of these recipes spark your interest, I highly recommend you buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (affiliate link). It's a great investment and learning tool and contains hundreds of classic recipes.

I hope that you enjoy reading my thoughts, learn something new, and leave inspired to try a new recipe. Bon appétit!

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Butter Count & Cost: Hollandaise Sauce

✽ Butter Count: +18 TB

✽ Cost: $2.89 [~$0.72 per serving]

- Hollandaise Sauce= $2.54 [4-6 servings]
- Poached Eggs= $0.35 [4 eggs]

Check out the total Julia Child butter count & cost here!

→ Looking for a different Julia Child recipe? Here's a list of all of the completed and pending Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipes!

I poached eggs! Successfully!

I have tried to poach eggs before, and it was a fail. Then, we poached eggs for Christmas morning once, and they turned out beautifully… because we used a poacher.

Today, I was bound and determined to poach these eggs without help. Julia walks you through the poaching egg process perfectly. These are my favorite kind of recipes in the book- ones where she takes a ‘complicated’ task and turns it into something so simple with her word choices.

Really, if you want to learn the basics of cooking, go get this book now. It’s worth every penny.

Hollandaise Sauce: Questions

✽ What is Hollandaise sauce?

Hollandaise is a sauce that is made with egg yolks, lemon juice, and butter. The egg yolks are warmed and the melted butter is whisked into the eggs slowly so you end up with a thick and creamy sauce.

✽ What is the history of Hollandaise sauce?

The first documented Hollandaise sauce is from 1651 in La Varenne's Le Cuisinier François. The recipe was for 'asparagus with fragrant sauce'.

Despite being called Hollandaise sauce, it was actually a French creation.

At a point in time, the sauce was known as 'sauce Isigny' which was named after Isigny-sur-Mer, a French commune known for its butter. Isigny sauce has been found in cookbooks from the 19th century.

As for its name, some say butter production slowed down during World War I and the butter then had to be imported from Holland. Others say that the French Huguenots brought back the name from their exile in Holland. Source: Britannica.

✽ What are the mother sauces?

The five mother sauces are béchamel, velouté, espangnole, hollandaise, and tomato.

Marie-Antoine Carême established the four mother sauces in the early 1800s: velouté, béchamel, allemande, espagnole. About 100 years later, Auguste Escoffier changed allemande to a daughter sauce (variation of a velouté). He then added tomato sauce and Hollandaise sauce to the list. Source: Escoffier Online.

Looking for more Julia Child sauce recipes to read about?

→ Check out all of the sauce recipes that I've completed so far!

Fun Poached Eggs Facts

Find these facts plus more on Poached Egg Magic and Mental Floss.

✽ How long have people been eating poached eggs?

People have been eating poached eggs for a very long time, all the way back to ancient times! Both ancient Greeks and Romans enjoyed poached eggs.

✽ What is the most famous dish with poached eggs?

The most well-known poached egg dish is Eggs Benedict which is an English muffin topped with Canadian bacon, poached egg, and Hollandaise sauce.

✽ What does poached mean?

The word 'poached' originates from the French word 'poché' which means small pouch or pocket.

How to Make Poached Eggs with Hollandaise Sauce

✽ Step 1: Poach Eggs

Luckily, I am still at my parent’s house on spring break so that means I got to use super fresh eggs. Right from the coop! One important note when poaching eggs is that you want your eggs to be really fresh. An un-fresh egg is “unpoachable because the white trails off in wisps in the water leaving the yolk exposed.”

Also, one tablespoon of vinegar per quart of water really helps as well and keeping the water at the barest simmer.

I didn’t get any pictures of the process because I didn’t want to get distracted. It was worth it because the eggs turned out perfect.

✽ Step 2: Melt Butter

I next made a hollandaise sauce. I love hollandaise sauce. I remember the first time I had it a few years ago, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. So buttery and so good.

This is another one of those recipes- Julia’s words walk you through the whole process as if she is standing right beside you. The technique of hollandaise is key. “We feel it is of great importance that you learn how to make hollandaise by hand, for part of every good cook’s general knowledge is a thorough familiarity with the vagaries of egg yolks under all conditions.”

First, butter is melted and set aside.

Hollandaise Sauce Julia Child

✽ Step 3: Beat & Heat Egg Yolks

Egg yolks are beaten until thick and sticky, and then a bit of cold water, lemon juice, and salt are beaten into the eggs.

Cold butter is added, and it all is stirred on very low heat until it becomes a smooth cream.

More cold butter is added to egg yolks to stop the cooking process.

✽ Step 4: Add in Melted Butter

Lastly, the warm melted butter is slowly beaten into the egg until you get a beautiful and creamy Hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise sauce is not difficult to make, but you do need to put your full attention into it or things can take a turn for the worst. Do not put more butter than what the yolks can absorb and all while not scrambling the eggs. Julia does an excellent job walking you through the whole process.

Really though, go get this cookbook for all the recipes but especially these two.

Julia Child Poached Eggs

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Edit: These pictures are.. not great. I apologize. When making these early recipes I was working in an extrememly tiny kitchen that had pratically zero counter space and very poor lighting. My only saving grace was that somebody once had one of those pull-out cutting boards installed. What a life saver.

I was also in pharmacy school, getting minimal sleep, working for free, completely broke, didn't know the first thing about taking photos, and knew practically nothing about French cooking (or cooking in general for that matter).

I've debated taking these old posts down but decided to keep them up because they are all a part of my journey. These photos and my written struggles remind me how far I've come. I can pretty much make some of these base recipes in my sleep now!

You don't need fancy equipment or the finest ingredients to enjoy cooking and make good food. As one of my favorite cartoon characters, Ms. Frizzle, says, "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!"

*This blog, Laura the Gastronaut, and this post were/are not endorsed or supported by Julia Child or The Julia Child Foundation.

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Category: Julia Child, Sauces, Eggs Cuisine: French
Keywords: julia child's hollandaise sauce, french hollandaise sauce, julia child poached eggs recipe

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More Sauce Recipes:

Béarnaise Sauce (another delicious sauce similar to Hollandaise sauce)
Hollandiase Sauce Made in the Electric Blender (a very easy way to make the same tasty sauce)
Orange-flavored Hollandaise (a citrusy spin on a classic)
→ Check out all of the completed Julia Child sauce recipes!

✽ You can find this recipe and all the other Julia Child recipes I make in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I (affiliate link).
→ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.

✽ Check out my Julia Child Recipe Checklist to see a list of all my completed and pending recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking!

Bon appétit!

May 16, 2019 by Laura Ehlers

*This Hollandaise Sauce blog post may contain some Amazon affiliate links. These link to products that I personally use and recommend. If you purchase anything using my links, it will not cost you anything. It will though give laurathegastronaut.com some financial support which helps me keep this blog running. Thank you for reading my blogs and your continued support.