one of the fundamentals of cooking. Know the basics and you'll be able to prepare a multitude of recipes like a professional. Learn how to make the basic five sauces and their most common derivatives. The five Mother Sauces are: Bechamel (white); Velouté (blond); Espagnole (brown/demi-glace); Hollandaise (butter-based); Tomato (red).
Bechamel is used in many Italian recipes like lasagna. It is used as the base for other sauces (such as Mornay sauce, which is Béchamel with cheese). It is traditionally made by whisking scalded milk gradually into a white flour-butter roux (equal parts clarified butter and flour by weight). Another method, considered less traditional, is to whisk kneaded flour-butter (beurre manié) into scalded milk. The thickness of the final sauce depends on the proportions of milk and flour.
Velouté Sauce (veh-loo-TAY) - Also called sauce blanche grasse or fat white sauce, rich white sauce. It is a stock-based white sauce that can be made from chicken, veal, or fish stock thickened with white roux.
Espagnole is reduced brown stock containing roux and fresh tomatoes or tomato puree; it has a strong taste and is rarely used directly on food. The basic method of making espagnole is to prepare 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. The classical recipe calls for additional veal stock to be added as the liquid gradually reduces but today water is generally used instead. Tomato paste or pureed tomatoes are added towards the end of the process, and the sauce is further reduced. Demi-glace (credited to Auguste Escoffier) is espagnole reduced to a lightly syrupy consistency.
Hollandaise - Hollandaise means Holland-style or from Holland. Uses butter and egg yolks as binding. It is served hot with vegetables, fish, and eggs (like egg benedict). It will be a pale lemon color, opaque, but with a luster not appearing oily. The basic sauce and its variations should have a buttery-smooth texture, almost frothy, and an aroma of good butter. Making this emulsified sauce requires a good deal of practice — it is not for the faint of heart. To make Basic Hollandaise, in a stainless steel bowl set over barely simmering water, combine 2 egg yolks, 1 tablespoon jarred mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons water, and1 tablespoon lemon juice, and whisk until the mixture fluffs up and stiffens slight (don’t let it get too hot or it will curdle); whisk in 2 sticks of melted or clarified unsalted butter in a steady stream, until the desired consistency is achieved. Derivatives of Hollandaise: Béarnaise – replace the lemon juice with vinegar and add minced shallots and fresh tarragon (most often served with steak). Maltaise – (perfect for asparagus) use orange juice instead of lemon juice and add a little grated orange zest. Tomato – add cooked-down strained tomatoes for a delicate tomato sauce that’s delicious on fish.
Aioli (eye-YO-lee) - (French) The French word for garlic is "ail." Sometimes called the "butter of Provence." aioli is garlic-flavored mayonnaise made from pounded cloves of garlic, egg yolks, oil, and seasoning. Just before it is served, lemon juice and a little cold water are added. It is served as a sauce for a variety of garnishes and main courses.
Coulis (a natural demi-glace without roux or any other thickener) – In the early days, coulis was prepared by poaching meat in stock and then using the resulting broth to re-moisten more meat. The process was repeated until a natural, lightly syrupy liquid was obtained. This method required about 4 batches of meat—the resulting coulis was the basis for brown sauces into the 17th and 18 centuries, but has been replaced with the more economical roux-thickened demi-glace.
Demi-Glace is broth that’s been boiled down to a tenth its original volume and then thickened with flour. Meat glaze, called glace de viande, is broth boiled down to, at most, a fifteenth its original volume.
Newburg Sauce is an American sauce that was created at the famous Delmonico Restaurant in New York City by their French chef, M. Pascal. This elegant sauce is composed of butter, cream, egg yolks, sherry, and seasonings. It is usually served over buttered toast points. The sauce is also used with other foods, in which case the dish is usually given the name "Newburg."
Broken Sauces - sometimes a finicky sauce, such as beurre blanc, can separate and break if it gets too hot. All is not lost. Simply remove the pan from the heat and whisk an ice cube into the sauce until it comes back together.
Deglazing is often the first step when making a pan sauce: you add liquid to the pan you’ve used to sauté meat or fish; to properly deglaze, pour any cooked oil or butter out of the pan and add a liquid such as wine or water to dissolve the juices that have caramelized and adhered to the bottom of the pan (called “fond”).
Quick Butter Sauce – if you’ve braised a fish or sautéed chicken, and you’ve deglazed the pan (see entry on deglazing in this section), simmer down the liquid to about 1 1/2 tablespoons per serving and whisk in about 1/2 tablespoon butter per serving to make an emulsified butter sauce.
Pasta Sauces - When making pasta dishes, be sure to choose a pasta shape and sauce that complement each other. Thin, delicate pastas like angel hair or thin spaghetti, should be served with light, thin sauces. Thicker pasta shapes, like fettuccine, work well with heavier sauces. Pasta shapes with holes or ridges like mostaccioli or radiatore, are perfect for chunkier sauces.
Alfredo sauce is traditionally made with butter, cream, Parmesan cheese, garlic and freshly ground pepper; some cooks also add a pinch of nutmeg.
Bolognese sauce is also called Ragu and it comes from the Bologna region of Italy. Like the traditional tomato pasta sauces, it also starts with onions sautéed in olive oil, but, unlike them, the Bolognese version has meat, milk, carrots and celery added. Both pork and beef are often used in a Bolognese pasta sauce. Nutmeg is usually used for seasoning along with thyme and basil.
Marinara is a tomato-based sauce; the word means "sailor" in Italian (sailor style of tomato sauce).
Pomodoro sauce is made from tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and fresh basil. Pomodoro sauce is somewhat thicker than the traditional marinara sauce, because it is simmered longer. Also, the tomatoes are less chunky in pomodoro sauce, and for a creamier sauce even crushed or pureed tomatoes can be substituted in whole or in part for the chopped tomatoes.
Pesto sauce is traditionally made from fresh basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan cheese and salt and freshly ground pepper. Pesto means “pounded” in Italian; in ancient Rome, the fresh basil leaves were pounded with a mortar and pestle, but today cooks use a food processor to make the sauce. Never substitute dried basil for fresh basil leaves when making pesto
Pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato, and this pasta sauce is a simple, light (rather than heavy) tomato sauce made traditionally with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and fresh basil.
Puttanesca - The sauce alone is called sugo alla puttanesca in Italian. Recipes may differ according to preferences. In most cases, however, the sugo is a little salty (from the anchovies), spicy (from the peppers) and quite fragrant (from the garlic). Traditionally, the sauce is served with spaghetti, although it also goes well with penne, bucatini, linguine and vermicelli.
Ragù is a sauce with chopped or shredded meat in it; most ragù-style sauces are made by cooking ground meat together with aromatic vegetables (onions, carrots, celery, and sometimes turnips, celeriac and fennel), adding tomatoes and/or wine, and simmering. A different way, which produces a far more flavorful sauce and can be used with virtually any meat (duck, game, rabbit, hare, veal, or beef) is to make a stew of the meat, reduce the stewing liquid if necessary to make it lightly syrupy, and then shred the meat and put it back in the braising liquid. For a tomato-based ragù, use chopped, peeled, and seeded ripe tomatoes as part of the liquid for the stew.
Tomato sauce – onions and garlic are sautéed in olive oil before the tomatoes and/or tomato paste, pepper, salt, basil and oregano are added. This basic tomato sauce should simmer at least 30 minutes before serving over pasta, but it is often much more flavorful when cooled, refrigerated, and then reheated gently to serve the following day.
Asian Sauces
Fish Sauce is fundamental to most Southeast Asian cooking, as soy sauce is to the cuisine of China and Japan; it is made by fermenting anchovies, other small fish, and occasionally squid, in barrels for months at a time, and the liquid released becomes fish sauce. Fish sauce sold in the U.S. comes from the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam; I prefer the Three Crabs brand, but also recommended by Chef James Peterson is Golden Boy brand and Flying Lion brand.
Hoisin Sauce, a popular Chinese sauce with a jam-like consistency, is based on fermented soy beans. It is best known, combined with sesame oil, as a condiment for Peking duck. Used alone, Hoisin can be overly thick and sweet, but it can be used in combination with other Chinese sauce ingredients (rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, etc.) to provide a note of sweetness or a glaze for grilled meats. Small amounts of this sauce are also welcome additions to simple stir-fries. Recommended brands: Koon Chun Sauce Factory and Ma Ling brand.
Oyster Sauce is often used as a condiment and flavoring to give a sea-like note to Chinese sauces and stir-fried, although it has none of the delicacy of fresh oysters. Two recommended brands (by Chef James Peterson) are Sa Cheng Oyster-Flavored Sauce and Hop Sing Lung Oyster Sauce.
Soy Sauce is made by fermenting roasted soy beans with wheat for at least four months and up to two years. Japanese soy sauce comes in both dark and light (light in color, not “light” as in light-tasting or low-calorie), with the light one containing more salt. Light soy sauce is mostly used in sauces where the deep color of dark soy sauce would discolor the dish in an unpleasant way. Japanese soy sauces are less salty than Chinese versions.
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