Hollandaise is one of the mother sauces of classic French cooking and widely used around New Orleans, where it usually contains an extra pinch of cayenne. It’s not hard to make if you can keep it from breaking, which will happen if the sauce gets too hot once the butter goes in. I avoid this by whisking butter that’s at room temperature, not melted.

Hollandaise should be made right before it’s needed. If you try to keep it warm, it might break. If that happens, you can sometimes bri