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Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce I

A dish of boiled asparagus served with a homemade Hollandaise sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By P.E.O. Sisterhood. Chapter Z (Harrisburg, Ill.) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓

Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce I

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the asparagus

  1. Wash fresh asparagus, cut off tough ends, and tie in bunches so they stand erect in boiling water.

  2. Keep the tips out of the water while it boils, as they cook more quickly and become too soft.

  3. When tender, remove from water, drain, and keep hot until served.

  4. If using canned asparagus, drain it, cover with boiling water, then while hot serve with the sauce.

Make the Hollandaise sauce

  1. To make Hollandaise sauce, whisk ½ cup soft butter, 2 egg yolks, 1 tablespoon vinegar or 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, and cayenne to taste.

  2. Place about half the butter, the lemon juice, and the eggs in a saucepan that is in a larger pan containing hot water.

  3. Stir constantly; as it thickens, gradually add the rest of the butter.

  4. If the sauce gets too hot and separates, keep the water in the lower pan hot but below boiling.

  5. When thickened, remove from heat, add salt and cayenne, and serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

99Calories
7 gProtein
6 gFat
6 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By P.E.O. Sisterhood. Chapter Z (Harrisburg, Ill.). Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  2. Vinegar + lemontop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,334 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Egg + vinegartop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg yolks thicken the butter into a stable, emulsified sauce when gently heated.
Butter (in the method)
Provides fat and richness, forming the body of the emulsified sauce.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and egg flavour.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and helps stabilise the emulsion.

The step that matters

Keep the sauce gently heated and stir constantly. Egg proteins thicken the sauce when warmed gently, but too much heat scrambles them and the butter separates out. Keeping the outer water below boiling and stirring constantly prevents this.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vinegar):

  1. Currantfits about as well
  2. Strawberryfits about as well
  3. Raspberryfits about as well
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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