“Sally was demonstrating trout mousse rolled inside salmon fillets and napped- such a nice word- with hollandaise sauce. She made the hollandaise on her hot plate and handed it to me to keep warm on our back-table hot plate. When I took the pan from her, smiling for the audience, I could see that it had curdled; little bits of hard yolk were visible up close. I wasn't exactly sure what to do about it. I certainly didn't want to point it out to her, but I knew she wouldn't want to use it as it was. So I made another one. I melted butter on my hot plate and crouched under the skirted table with the butter, egg yolks, lemon juice, and the blender. I waited for Sally to turn on the food processor to puree the trout, and then, knowing the processor would drown me out, I turned on the blender and whirred yolks, butter, and lemon juice into a perfect hollandaise and put it in a pan identical to the one Sally had handed to me. I saved hers just in case she was planning to discuss curdling, but when I handed her the newly made one, she just gave me that schoolgirl grin and said, "Nice work" and went back to the demonstration.” ImprovisationReplacementCasey CostelloHollandaiseSally WoodsCurdled Book:Last Bite Source: Last Bite