At its best, hollandaise is pure alchemy — with nothing more than butter , lemon, egg yolk, salt . It’s silky, indulgent, and just acidic enough to feel like magic on the tongue.

But let’s be honest: you probably think you already know hollandaise. The brunch workhorse. The Eggs Benedict standby. The sauce you maybe attempted once and never tried again.

And yet — hollandaise has range. Yes, it’s temperamental. Yes, it will turn on you if you rush it. But get past the fussiness, and what you’ve got is a sauce that’s endlessly remixable: spicy, frothy, airy, even salad-dressing-adjacent.

I didn’t actually try hollandaise until culinary school, but when I did, I was transfixed. I loved its viscosity, that rich, luxurious texture that clung to everything it touched, enveloping everyth

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