Where it seems to be all about reducing the calorific value of traditional recipes, one should also think about the mousseline sauce. It is the lighter variant of the all-purpose weapon of the holiday kitchen – the hollandaise. Where “light” in France by Auguste Escoffier or later by Paul Bocuse meant: based on cream instead of butter, and only partially.
Granted, that’s a bit cheated. After all, sauce mousseline is itself a traditional recipe and cream is of course neither modern nor lean. But let’s not kid ourselves: fat is a flavor carrier, and traditional French cuisine is also popular because of its full-bodied flavor. You don’t want to get rid of opulence entirely. To this day, mousseline sauce is a good compromise that goes with many things, whether with fine vegetables, potatoes, fried fish, crustaceans, bowls or Eggs Benedict. Better just a little heavy than very heavy.
For years, Germans have been fooled into believing that hollandaise is a sauce that tastes just as good out of a tetra pack. And which was only invented to create plate swimming pools between March and June, which allow a few pale asparagus spears to take a deep bath. Both are nonsense, of course. Sauce hollandaise like mousseline is either eaten freshly prepared or you save the calories. The second rule of thumb is: less is more. If you pay attention to this, you will have a delicious and, yes, also modern accompaniment for all kinds of festive meals, especially in the mousseline sauce.
Making a mousseline sauce yourself is less complicated than many people think. The crux of the matter: creating an emulsion from egg yolk, white wine and melted butter that doesn’t flocculate. All the ingredients should be at about the same temperature, so the egg yolks shouldn’t be cold in the fridge and the melted butter shouldn’t be too hot. In addition, the butter may only be added in very small quantities one after the other so that the sauce builds up successfully. The rest is patient stirring.
Not even the name of the sauce is original
A good basic recipe for mousseline can be found in Teubner’s classic cookbook “Sauces”. To do this, bring a finely diced shallot, 1 stalk each of tarragon and parsley, 1/2 bay leaf and 5 white peppercorns to the boil in 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and 1/8 l of white wine and reduce everything to a quarter, pass through a sieve and allow to cool until lukewarm . Melt 150 g butter, skim off the foam with a spoon (clarify) and leave to cool. Separate 2-3 eggs, beat the yolks with the white wine reduction in a bowl over the water bath for about 5 minutes, remove everything from the water bath and gradually work in the clarified butter while stirring. At the end, fold in 200 g of whipped cream and season with salt, cayenne pepper and a little lemon juice.
Sauce mousseline is slightly runnier than hollandaise. And you should definitely change both variants. Cooks in a hurry replace the white wine reduction with 1-2 tablespoons of mild vinegar or leave it out. The sauce also tastes great with fish with chopped tarragon and capers. Or with some pureed mango, lime juice and Espelette chili. A bit of mustard makes the sauce spicier, some orange juice and a few briefly blanched orange zests make it the Maltese sauce (both great with fish). A hint of garlic also tastes good in butter eggs with cream.
Don’t be shy about experimenting! Hollandaise may be a venerable traditional recipe, but not even the name is original. The famous chef François-Pierre de La Varenne invented the butter and egg yolk emulsion as early as the 17th century. He called it Sauce Isigny, after Isigny-sur-Mer in Normandy, where the supposedly best butter came from at the time. But when agricultural production was restricted during the First World War, butter had to be imported from Holland. The French then renamed the sauce and kept the name. Remarkable for a country that is stricter than almost any other country with its culinary brands.
You need that
150g melted butter
2-3 egg yolks
1/8 l white wine
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 shallot
1 sprig each of tarragon and parsley
1/2 bay leaf
salt, cayenne pepper
some lemon juice
200 grams of whipped cream