Why it works: Tarragon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,399 recipes mention both. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the reduction
Combine white vinegar, peppercorns, and bay leaves in a saucepan.
Boil the mixture until the vinegar reduces by half.
Make the sauce
Combine egg yolks, butter, cream, and a dusting of cayenne in another saucepan.
Place this saucepan over boiling water and stir until thickened, being careful not to let it boil.
Remove from heat and stir in tarragon vinegar and salt to taste.
Strain the reduced vinegar and add it to the mixture.
Serve in a sauce-boat.
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.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,399 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Vinegar + tarragontop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify with the butter and thicken the sauce when gently heated.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that helps form a smooth emulsion with the yolks.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and a softer, silkier texture to the sauce.
- White vinegar
- Provides acidity that gives the sauce its characteristic tang.
The step that matters
Heating the yolk mixture over simmering water. Egg yolks thicken from gentle heat but scramble if they boil. Stirring over water that is hot but not boiling lets the yolks set into a smooth, pourable sauce.
“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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