Hollandaise is considered a "mother sauce" in French cuisine, and is enjoyed on dishes like eggs Benedict, roasted or grilled veggies, and seafood. However, hollandaise is a delicate emulsion of egg yolks with liquids like lemon juice, so it has a tendency to break, a frustration that can be avoided with a secret ingredient.

To stop your hollandaise from separating, add a dollop of mayonnaise. Like hollandaise itself, mayo has a creamy consistency that uses egg yolks, making it a good emulsifier that keeps hollandaise creamy for hours and prevents it from breaking, whether you’re making the sauce for immediate serving or you plan to reheat it later on.

Other ingredients in hollandaise include butter, egg yolks, lemon juice, water, and optional seasonings. Melt the butter while you whisk together the egg yolks, lemon juice, and water in a separate bowl, then heat the egg yolk mixture over a double boiler, whisking constantly until it thickens, then slowly mix in the butter off the heat.