5 Mother Sauces

 5 Mother Sauces 

Béchamel sauce or White sauce, is usually made by whisking scalded milk  gradually into a white flour-butter roux (equal part clarified butter and flour).  The thickness of the final sauce depends on the proportions of milk and flour.   Béchamel sauce is a key ingredient in many lasagna recipes

Espagnole or Brown Sauce is a very dark brown roux, to which veal stock or  water is added, along with browned bones, pieces of beef, vegetables, and various seasonings. This blend is allowed to slowly reduce while being frequently skimmed.  Tomato paste or pureed tomatoes are added towards the end of the process,  and the sauce is further reduced.  Espagnole has a strong taste and is rarely used  directly on food. As a mother sauce, however, it serves as the starting point for  many derivative sauces including Demi-glace

Velouté sauce is a light stock (one in which the bones used have not been  previously roasted), such as chicken, veal or fish stock, that is thickened with  a blond roux. Thus the ingredients of a velouté are equal parts by mass butter  and flour to form the roux, a light chicken, veal, or fish stock, and salt and  pepper for seasoning. Commonly the sauce produced will be referred to  by the type of stock used e.g. chicken velouté.  Sauce velouté is often  served on poultry or seafood dishes.

Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of butter and lemon juice or vinegar  using egg yolks as the emulsifying agent (to bind the sauce), usually seasoned  with salt and a little black pepper or cayenne pepper. Hollandaise sauce is  well known as a key ingredient in Eggs Benedict. A normal ratio of ingredients  is 1 egg yolk:1 teaspoon lemon juice:4-6 Tbs. butter. A common derivative of  Hollandaise Sauce is Sauce Béarnaise which is produced by replacing the  lemon reduction in hollandaise with a strained reduction of vinegar, shallots,  fresh chervil, fresh tarragon and crushed peppercorns.

Tomato sauce is any of a very large number of sauces made primarily out  of tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish (rather than as a condiment)  Tomatoes have a rich flavor, low liquid content, very soft flesh which breaks down  easily, and the right composition to thicken up into a sauce when they are cooked  (without the need of thickeners like roux). All of these qualities make them ideal  for simple and appealing sauces.  Marinara Sauce is an American-Italian term  for a simple tomato sauce with herbs—mostly parsley and basil—but, contrary  to its name (which is Italian for coastal, seafaring) without anchovies, fish or  seafood. In other countries marinara refers to a seafood and tomato sauce.