My first day on the job, they asked me to make the hollandaise. I was 17 and had gone to culinary school, so it seemed easy enough. But I took one look at the giant cast-iron stove they were using—it was literally glowing red—and told the chef that it was too hot. And 32 egg yolks? That was too many! He sent me off to pick chervil instead. (One problem: I didn't know what chervil was.) It took me a month of burned forearms and scrambled eggs, but I got it. I learned to make a figure eight with the whisk so it touches all sides of the pan; to keep my hand on the base of the pan to make sure it's just warm, never hot; to whisk the eggs until they are foamy and airy before slowly pouring in warm clarified butter; and then, that squeeze of lemon. Today, when I cook hollandaise at home, I make it in a blender.