THE FIVE MOTHER SAUCES

by Hope Pryor

A sauce is the crowning glory of any dish. From the basic "five mother" sauces, there are literally hundreds of variations of sauce that are used to dress, compliment, enhance and bring out the flavor of the food it is served with.

So what are the five mother sauces? There seems to be a slight difference of opinion as to what the actual five mother sauces are, which in the final analysis are truly dependent upon which ones are used in today's cooking. According to the ultimate cooking reference book, The New Food Lover's Companion, by Sharon Tyler Herbst, the French are credited with refining the sophisticated art of sauce-making. The development of various sauces over the years stems from the 19th-century French chef Antonin Carême who evolved an intricate methodology by which hundreds of sauces were classified under one of five "mother sauces." Those basic sauces are the white sauce Béchamel, the light stock-based Velouté, the brown stock-based Espagnole; Allemande, based on stock with egg yolk with a hint of lemon juice (20th century French chef Auguste Escoffier updated the classification replacing sauce Allemande with the egg-based emulsions, Hollandaise and Mayonnaise); and the oil and vinegar-based Vinaigrette. Chef Escoffier also added Tomato Sauce to his updated classification of the mother sauces, however, it actually came about later...although it certainly has earned the title since it is the base for a large variety of sauces in today's cookery.

The method for preparing the various types of sauces incorporates some of the same techniques. For example, a roux is basic to many of the white and brown sauces. This cooked mixture of flour and fat (usually butter) is an important contribution to the sauce-making art. In addition, these classic sauces have been joined by a plethora of modern-day sauces such as sweet dessert sauces, tomato, pesto and barbecue sauces, as well as a wide variety of gravies.

Always remember that when a sauce is used on a food, it is the first thing to touch the tongue. A sauce is only as good as the ingredients you put into it and the care you take while preparing it. On the other hand, a good sauce does little to make inferior food taste better. Always put a good sauce on good food. Thankfully, we no longer use sauce to mask "off-tasting food" as was once the practice in times before modern refrigeration!

Defining the Five Mother Sauces:

Béchamel, the classic white sauce, was named after its inventor, Louis XIV's steward Louis de Béchamel. The king of all sauces, it is often referred to as a cream sauce because of its appearance and is probably used most frequently in all types of dishes. Made by stirring milk into a butter-flour roux, the thickness of the sauce depends on the proportion of flour and butter to milk. The proportions for a thin sauce would be 1 tablespoon each of butter and flour per 1 cup of milk; a medium sauce would use 2 tablespoons each of butter and flour; a thick sauce, 3 tablespoons each.

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