SAUCES

Sauce is a fluid dressing for meat, poultry, fish, desserts and other culinary preparations. Sauces enhance the flavor and appearance of the food they accompany. They may also add nutritional value.

A sauce may present contrast in flavor, color and consistency. It should not however, prevail over the food with which it is associated. It should be so prepared that it forms a part of the food it accompanies.

A sauce must not mask or cover the flavor of dish. Poor meat or poultry can not be disguised by a sauce.

It is essential that the seasoning be correct so that the food product will not be flavorless or excessively flavoured.Seasoning is an art learned only through experience and extra care must be exercised in the use of spices and herbs until this knowledge is mastered.

  

Categories of Sauces

There are thousands of sauces varying in name and content. They fall into two basic categories.

v Warm Sauces

v Cold Sauces

The warm sauces comprise the largest group and are served with all types of food. The cold sauces are served with both hot and cold food and include various butter preparations that are often associated with shellfish. The warm sauces are derived from a few leading sauces that are used as a basis for nearly all others. The leading sauces are sometimes reffered to a mother sauces. Sauces that are derived from them are termed small sauces.

Sauces Could be Grouped as Follows;

1.     Warm Basis Sauces

2.     Cold Basis Sauces

3.     A Class of Their Own

4.     Butter Sauces

Basic Sauces

There are five basic sauces listed below;

A) Béchamel or White Sauce

B) Espagnole or Brown Sauce

c) Veloute or Blond Sauce

D) Hollandaise Sauce

E) Tomato or Red Kitchen Sauce

Cold basic sauce is only one i.e. mayonnaise

Espagnole or Brown Sauce

Is made from brown stock and brown roux and used extensively in the preparation of all types of meat and poultry dishes.

Béchamel or White Sauce

While originally prepared from veal stock, is a term now used interchangeably with cream sauce. It is derived from milk and or cream with the addition of white roux. This sauce is used with all types of vegetables and creamed dishes, including Soups, fish, poultry, dairy and pasta products. While white sauce is made of roux and milk, the term cream sauce is often used interchangeably.

Tomato or Red Kitchen Sauce

It Is prepared from tomato products, white stock, seasoning and roux. It is used with various meat, poultry, fish, vegetables and pasta dishes. It is also used for producing other products with a tomato character.

Veloute or Blond Sauce

Veloute is Prepared from chicken, veal or fish. Although chicken is the usual ingredient. A veloute is derived from the stock with the addition of light roux and is associated with the product from which it is derived.

Fish veloute is specifically derived from a fumet (an essence or rich fish stock or court bouillon in which fish has been cooked).The term fumet is also used for reduced stocks derived from game.

Hollandaise Sauce

Although hollandaise is not a basic sauce as such, it is include here because many of the drawn butter sauces are prepared in the same manner. Other sauces are derived from hollandaise, and it used in combination with various culinary preparations to obtain a variety of sauces popular in fine eating establishments.

Hollandaise and its derivations must be handed with extreme caution because of their high butter and egg content. These sauces must never be exposed to high heat because they will curdle.

Demi-Glace Sauce

It obtains by reducing a combination of equal quantity of espagnole and brown stock to half. It used with small brown sauces.

Importance of Sauces

Ø Enhance flavor.

Ø Some sauces help in digestion e.g. mint sauce, apple sauce.

Ø It gives moistness to the food e.g. white sauce adds creaminess to firm and dry food.

Ø Adds color to the food e.g. hollandaise served on vegetable tomato sauce with fish a, la Orly.

Ø Served as accompaniments, sometimes give contrast taste to another food e.g. cranberry sauce with roast turkey.

Ø Sometimes give name to the dish e.g.Madaira when added to the brown sauce it is called sauce Madaira.

Ø Enhance nutritional value of the dish.

Ø Dresses and compliments food that need some additional quantity and makes the food more palatable.

Ø Give contrasts the bland food.

A Brief History of the Mother Sauces

The French mother sauces were originally four base sauces set forth by Antonin Careme in the 19th century. Careme’s four original mother sauces were Sauce Tomat, Béchamel, Veloute and Espagnole. Then in the 20th century, Chef Auguste Escoffier added the fifth and final mother sauce, hollandaise, with its derivatives covering almost all forms of classical emulsion sauces including mayonnaise.

One Last Thing…

Some of the classical versions of these sauces use different thickening agents to bring the sauce to its proper consistency. If you’re unfamiliar with thickening agents such as roux, liaisons, or emulsions, you can follow the corresponding links for more information.

Sauce Béchamel

• Base: Milk (Usually Whole Milk)
• Thickening Agent: White Roux
• Classical Flavorings: White Onion, Clove, Bay Leaf, Salt, White Pepper, Nutmeg
• Common Secondary Sauces: Cream Sauce, Mornay, Cheddar Cheese Sauce, Mustard Sauce, Nantua
• Classically Served With: Eggs, Fish, Steamed Poultry, Steamed Vegetables, Pastas, Veal

Sauce Veloute

• Base: White Stock (Classically Veal, but Chicken and Fish Stock can also be used)
• Thickening Agent: Classically a Roux, but sometimes also a Liaison is used.
  
• Classical Flavorings: None, used specifically as a base
• Common Secondary Sauces: Sauce Vin Blanc (White Wine Sauce), Sauce Supreme, Sauce Allemande, Sauce Poulette, Sauce Bercy, Sauce Normandy
• Classically Served With: Eggs, Fish, Steamed Poultry, Steamed Vegetables, Pastas, Veal

Sauce Tomat (AKA Tomato Sauce)

• Base: Tomatoes (Raw, Tomato Paste, Tomato Puree, Stewed Tomatoes)
• Thickening Agent: Classically a Roux, modern versions commonly use a reduction or purees
• Classical Flavorings:  Mirepoix, Garlic, White Veal Stock, Salt & Pepper, Sugar (Just enough to balance acidity, not enough to make the sweetness perceptible).
• Common Secondary Sauces: Modern variations concentrate more on seasonings giving rise to sauces such as Creole, Portuguese and Spanish Sauce Tomat.
• Classically Served With: Pasta, Fish, Vegetables (Especially Grilled), Polenta, Veal, Poultry (Especially Chicken), Breads and Dumplings such as Gnocchi

Sauce Espagnole (AKA Sauce Brune or Brown Sauce)

• Base: Roasted Veal Stock (Roasted Chicken Stock Is Sometimes Used In Modern Variations).
• Thickening Agent: Brown Roux
• Classical Flavorings: Mirepoix, Sachet (Bay Leaf, Fresh Thyme, Parsley), Tomato Puree
• Common Secondary Sauces: Demi-Glace, Bordelaise, Sauce Robert, Layonnaise, Sauce Madeira, Sauce Bercy, Sauce Chasseur
• Classically Served With: Roasted meats, especially beef, duck, veal, lamb

Hollandaise Sauce

• Base: Egg Yolks and Butter (Classically Clarified Butter)
• Thickening Agent: Emulsification
• Classical Flavorings: Peppercorns (Black), White Wine Vinegar, Salt, Lemon Juice, Cayenne Pepper
• Common Secondary Sauces: Béarnaise, Maltaise, Mousse line, Foyot, Choron…Also check out this post on How to Make Mayonnaise and Its Derivatives, which is based on the hollandaise technique.
• Classically Served With: Eggs (Eggs Benedict), Vegetables (especially Asparagus), light poultry dishes, fish, Beef (Béarnaise Sauce)