Making a traditional Hollandaise, yolks in a vinegar reduction (all photos by Donna).
Elise emailed a couple weeks ago to ask if I'd posted on Hollandaise. She'd posted the blender version, first popularized by Craig Claiborne in the 1970s in The New York Times, and wanted to link for contrast to an old-school version. The blender version is unquestionably a no-brainer and results in a delicious Hollandaise-style sauce, a lemony yolky butter, thin enough to pour. A classical French Hollandaise sauce is an emulsified butter sauce that is almost like a mayonnaise, nearly that thick, and, as I was taught it, includes an additional flavoring step, a vinegar reduction. It's considered difficult and temperamental but it's neither, as long as you pay attention and don't let it ...
