That time I ruined a whole hotel brunch service with bad timing

Last month I was running brunch at a 80-seat place in Portland and decided to batch my hollandaise 45 minutes early. Turns out holding it over a double boiler that long makes it split no matter how whisk you. I had to re-fire 20 eggs benedict orders while the server stood there staring at me. Has anyone else had a sauce disaster that backed up their whole line?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellablack7d ago

Man, that double boiler hollandaise thing is a straight up trap. I've seen it ruin more than a few Sunday services. For me it was a beurre blanc reduction that I let hang out just a few minutes too long on the pass, and suddenly it looked like cottage cheese. Had to send out a whole round of fish cold while I frantically whisked up a new batch, which of course threw off the timing for every other ticket on the rail. It's one of those lessons you only learn once, but man it hurts when you're in the weeds.

max4727d ago

Tell me about it. I had a béarnaise break on me during a mother's day brunch rush, which is basically a war crime in a kitchen. I was trying to hold it on a warm corner of the flat top (dumb, I know) and I guess the temp just spiked for a second and boom, scrambled eggs. Had to send out three tables of steak frites late while I started over, and the whole station just fell apart for like 45 minutes. The worst part is you can see it happening in slow motion, that second where it starts to look grainy, but you're already sunk. Never trust a warm stovetop to hold an emulsion, that's my rule now (learned the hard way, obviously).