The Mother Sauces
OH! LA! LA!
French cuisine is known for its complexity and rich history. The French have been known to be the first to perfect the five mother sauces in cooking.
Unlike the refined palettes and the gastro elitist foodies out there who are very aware of these sauces, my simple Texas girl limited world of food never knew about this. So, I am on this new adventure to expand my horizon and learn; but more importantly, allow my taste buds a whole new world of fine cuisine made by my own hands.
I love cooking exciting dishes that are out of my normal wellhouse of whipping up. So, these foundational sauces definitely caught me eye to try to master.
Béchamel
Bechemel is a white creamy sauce.
It can be served alone, as a sauce served with fish or asparagus, or be a part of more complex dishes like lasagna or adds the creaminess to chicken pot pie. It be the base or binder for other sauces like cheese sauce or alfredo sauce
I found this recipe for Bechamel at
I have made this and didn't realize. I make homemade alfredo, which is a million times better than store bought.
Espagnole
Similar to Veloute, which is stock and roux based, Espagnole is beef stock based ( brown stock) with tomato puree, celery, onions, and carrots. The recipe, also, calls for a sachet, which is simply a few dried herbs and spices bundled up in cheesecloth and tied with a long piece of cooking twine to make it easy to fish it out after cooking
Find a great recipe here Delicious Little Bites
Veloute
Savory! Who doesn't love a savory sauce? This mother sauce is made from stock and roux. Various sauces can be made from Veloute' such as soups and can be used with poultry and seafood dishes.
This simple, stock-based sauce forms the base of many other sauces, such as:
Allemande – classic velouté thickened with egg yolks
Bercy – velouté made with fish stock, white wine and shallots
Suprême – classic velouté made with mushrooms and cream
Give The Spruce Eats a try for a super recipe
Sauce Tomate
What is Sauce Tomate made with? Well, you guessed it! Tomatoes.
The sauce is made by cooking tomatoes in a base of pork fat, aromatics, and stock until it reduces into a thick sauce. Traditionally, it was further thickened with a roux.
It is different from Italian marinara because it requires a longer cooking time and need pork fat, veal stock, a sachet of herbs, with a roux thickener.
Try Masterclass
Hollandaise
I must admit, I have made this before and this is just about my most favorite sauce of all time; so far.
Hollandaise sauce, formerly also called Dutch sauce, is a mixture of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice. It is usually seasoned with salt, and either white pepper or cayenne pepper. It is well known as a key ingredient of eggs Benedict, and is often served on vegetables such as steamed asparagus.
Super easy to make, too.
You can get a good recipe here at Downshiftology With Lisa Bryan