Welcome to Foodie Geographer! (Topic: Hollandaise Sauce)

Edited 12/30/2013

Welcome to Foodie Geographer!  This will be a food blog in which I relate everything to cultural or physical geography.  For example, consider Hollandaise sauce, a key part of an Eggs Benedict.

Eggs Benedict.  My fave!

I won't provide a recipe for Hollandaise sauce.  I might post recipes for other things in the future, but I am terrible at making this, so I won't for now.

Hollandaise sauce was invented in its original form by the Dutch, first appearing in a cookbook in 1593 by Carel Baten.  It became very popular in France, and was known as Dutch sauce until the 1800s.  It is difficult to know what was in the original Dutch version without knowing Dutch, which I don't.  The only partially-translated form of the text I found online is here:

http://www.kookhistorie.nl/index.htm

(Hint: After clicking the link, scroll down to see the partially-translated text.)


The classic French version is more well-known.  From there, it was popularized in Great Britain and Germany, and now in the United States.  Today, it remains to be considered a quintessential French sauce.  The cookbook Larousse Gastronomique hints that egg yolks were not originally in the recipe (now a key ingredient).  Instead, it was a butter-based sauce.

Now for the geography!  Where in the Dutch sphere of influence did the original recipe for Hollandaise sauce come from?  Well, usually when people moved to different countries in the late 1500s and early 1600s, they had to travel short distances, unless by boat.  Assuming the Dutch who brought Hollandaise sauce to France did not go by boat, they would have came from a region that was then under Dutch control situated relatively close to France.  The modern term "Hollandaise" seems to suggest Holland, so it would be southern Holland because the south of Holland specializes in the production of butter.  Also, southern Dutch cuisine is famous for sauces and gravies.

Now, we can see what the original Hollandaise sauce may have been like.  There is still a sauce in Dutch cuisine known as "Volendam fish sauce" (butter en eek), a butter sauce where vinegar is added (recipe).  This sounds something like the Hollandaise sauce we know today, except we add egg yolks and substitute vinegar for lemon juice.

And there you have it, an example of applied food geography.  Hope you enjoyed reading it; check back later!