Hollandaise sauce Hollandaise sauce Hollandaise sauce ( or ; ), formerly also called Dutch sauce, is an emulsion of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice (or a white wine or vinegar reduction). It is usually seasoned with salt, and either white pepper or cayenne pepper. Hollandaise is one of the five mother sauces in French cuisine. It is well known as a key ingredient of eggs Benedict, and is often served on vegetables such as steamed asparagus. "Sauce hollandaise" is French for "Dutch sauce". The name implies Dutch origins, but the actual connection is unclear. The name "Dutch sauce" is documented
Hollandaise sauce in English as early as 1573, though without a recipe showing that it was the same thing. The first documented recipe is from 1651 in La Varenne's "Le Cuisinier François" for ""asparagus with fragrant sauce"": La Varenne is credited with bringing sauces out of the Middle Ages with his publication and may well have invented hollandaise sauce. A more recent name for it is "sauce Isigny", named after Isigny-sur-Mer, which is famous for its butter. Isigny sauce is found in recipe books starting in the 19th century. By the 19th century, sauces had been classified into four categories by Carême.