Sauce
Hollandaise History
Most historians
agree that the original Sauce Hollandaise recipe originated in
Normandy (a region famous for its butter and use of butter in
cooking) and was first known as Sauce Isigny, after the town of
Isigny in Normandy. The recipe can be found in recipe books
dating from the 1800s.
There are also
claims that the recipe exists in recipe books from the 17th and
18th century, but closer examination of the ingredients and
preparation calls this into question. For example, there is a
recipe for "sauce a la hollandoise" in the 1758 edition of
Marin's Dons de Comus.
However, as this recipe includes flour, bouillon and herbs and
does not include egg yolks, it can be argued that it is not the
same recipe at all, merely sharing the same name. Likewise the
recipe by Francois Pierre de La Varenne in
Le Cuisinier Francois
appears similar to Sauce Hollandaise but cannot be said to be
the same.
At some point
the recipe was renamed to Sauce Hollandaise (meaning either from
Holland or Holland-style), although historians have different
explanations for the recipe being renamed. One explanation is
that during World War 1 little butter was produced in France and
so it had to be imported from Holland, with the result that the
recipe was renamed to reflect the source of the butter. Another
is that Holland is well known for the quality of its butter, so
the name is based on this. Unfortunately, despite general
agreement that this is a French recipe, there does not seem to
be a definitive answer for the reference to Holland.
There are a
number of variations on the Sauce Hollandaise recipe, differing
mainly in the ratio of ingredients (how much butter to how much
egg yolks, etc.). There are also a number of recipes similar to
Sauce Hollandaise but including additional ingredients (e.g.
spices). For our classic recipe, click on
Sauce
Hollandaise recipe.
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