Hollandaise sauce and the chemistry behind old and new preparation techniques

Abstract

Hollandaise sauce has been part of western gastronomy since 1593. Being both an emulsion and a foam, it is a good educational platform for heterophasic systems. Preparing Hollandaise sauce generally includes two phases: forming the foam and forming the emulsion. The sauce is a challenging product and fails easily. Improved preparation techniques have been introduced throughout history. This work combines food historical, scientific and educational perspectives to Hollandaise sauce and introduces an experimental setup to compare the quality of sauces prepared with different techniques.