Hollandaise Sauce

Method

1. Melt 225g butter in a heavy pan over medium heat and skim the foam. Once the butter is clear, strain it through a sieve or muslin and hold it at 60 degrees C.
2. Simmer 75ml water with 14ml lime juice, 3g salt and 1g ground white pepper until it reduces to about 25ml, then let it cool.
3. Add the reduction to 3 egg yolks and whisk until light and airy.
4. Set a pan of hot water on the stove, sit the bowl of yolks over it, keep the water at a bare simmer and whisk until the mixture thickens.
5. Lift the bowl off the pan and pour in the butter slowly, whisking all the while. When the mixture gets too thick, add a splash of water and carry on until all the butter is in.
6. Add a little cayenne pepper, taste for a light sourness and hold the sauce warm at 60 degrees C.

Tips

• Temperature during whisking decides everything: too low and the sauce stays thin, too high and the yolks set into curds.
• A thread of butter at a time with constant whisking keeps the sauce from splitting.
• A split sauce can be saved by whisking a fresh yolk in a clean bowl and pouring the broken sauce into it slowly.
• Use a heavy stainless steel or glass bowl, as a thin one heats fast and cooks the yolks in patches.
• This sauce is served warm, since it sets as it cools and never whisks back to the same smoothness.