What's Your Favorite Mother Sauce, Besides Bechamel?

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Here in the great land of DC, we occasionally dabble in sauces. But it seems we ignore the mother sauces, except Bechemel and Tomato. I never see a recipe for a Veloute, or Veloute derivitive, or an Espagnole, or Mayonnaise. Once in a while, we see an oil and vinegar based dressing.

So, do we often make others in the categorie, or even the small sauces? I occasionally will make a fume', which I believe is a type of Veloute'. I don't think I've made Espagnole or Demi-Glace. I occasionally also make my own mayo.

Which, if any, of these great Mother Sauces do you make, and what is your favorite, other than Bechemel?

My favorite is Veloute'.

I start with a blonde roux, made with salted butter and AP flour. To that, I add chicken, veal, pork, or fish broth to make a silky smooth sauce. This sauce is then used either as a gravy, or base for chowders, or bisques.

I don't know many small sauces for Veloute, but would love to learn some of them.

Maybe we need a topic just for Mother Sauces and the small sauces made from them. I suspect that most of us are lacking in knowledge of this flavor-rich group, and so don't have the option of dressing our foods to enhance them properly.

Also, there must be faster ways to make some of those that traditionally took many hours to prepare. Like for Espagnole, could the same flavor be achieved by cooking the bones for an hour or two in a pressure cooker, rather than ten to twelve hours in a kettle?

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[no mayonnaise]

I've seen veloute sauces posted when people post roux-thickened gravies

 

[jabbur]

I don't have a culinary education so I have no idea the names of things. I'll have to google all these names to find out what they are! Then maybe I can tell you if I make them or not. (most likely not if I don't know what they are)

 

[GotGarlic]

Hi, Chief. Referring back to my culinary school book, fumet is a concentrated fish stock - it can be used to make a sauce, but is not itself a sauce. If you have 1 gallon of fish stock and reduce it to 1/2 gallon, you have 1/2 gallon of fish fumet.

I've only made espagnole and demi-glace while I was in cooking school. I made the beef stock and espagnole at home, and then demi-glace from those, so I could understand the entire process better. And it took two days I doubt I'll do it again. I can purchase a demi-glace sauce base for less than it cost to buy the beef bones.

Cooks' Illustrated recently published a recipe for steak sauces that used a lot of umami-rich ingredients to simulate a demi-glace in a couple of hours. I don't have it in front of me, but I believe it included mushrooms and tomato paste.

I do want to make a Sauce Raifort - bechamel simmered with white wine, freshly grated horseradish, heavy cream and cayenne - for a steak sauce. I just bought the fresh horseradish last week; I'll try to make it Tuesday.

I remember enjoying the Sauce Forestiere Blanc - a veloute derivative with minced white mushrooms (brown gills removed), mushroom essence and lemon juice.

Good topic, Chief

 

[buckytom]

i'm on the boring side, but my go to sauce is tomato. not the french version with various veggies, a roux, and bones, but the more simple italian one.

i'm not sure if that still qualifies it as a mother sauce.

in any case, you can put so many different things in tomato sauce and it makes them taste better. even my childhood dog would eat anything if it had tomato sauce on it. broccoli, carrots, cabbage, and so on. poor dog would fart like crazy after the latter, lol.

 

[GotGarlic]

BT - poor dog, or poor family?

Thumbing through my culinary school notebook, I found a handy handout - Sauce-Building Techniques Study Guide. I reorganized, rewrote and reformatted the handout - it sucked. But here it is. It's a teeny description (not recipes) of the mother sauces and popular derivatives. Hope it's helpful.

 

[forty_caliber]

I make hollandaise on occasion. Mrs 40 C really likes eggs benedict, her favorite birthday breakfast.

.40

 

[kadesma]

I basically make Italian tomato gravey. But I would love to learn the basic sauces and graveys mentioned here. I love cooking it seems to bring me peace so if anyone wants to begin my education I'd love to learn. Just tell me where to start.
kades

 

[Silversage]

My go-to freezer staples are Espagnole, demi-glace, and glace du viande. I make them up every few months and freeze them in smaller quantities. I start with a huge pot of beef/veal stock. Turn about 2/3 of it into Espagnole, then a bout half of that into demi. It really is a weekend-long project. I reduce the balance of the base stock to a glace, and it takes up much less freezer space. The possibilities are limitless when you have mother sauces in the freezer.

A favorite is Sauce Robert - mustard & Espagnole. Add a spoonful of capers for an extra punch.

I also frequently make Hollandaise or variations thereof. I originally learned to do it over direct heat, so it makes up very quickly and without a lot of fuss - which is a good thing, since you can't freeze it.

It's interesting that you started this by saying 'except Bechamel'. That and tomato sauce are the ones that I rarely make!

I make a Sauce Supreme from the Veloute. Enrich your Veloute with cream. It's especially good when using it for chicken.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Hi, Chief. Referring back to my culinary school book, fumet is a concentrated fish stock - it can be used to make a sauce, but is not itself a sauce. If you have 1 gallon of fish stock and reduce it to 1/2 gallon, you have 1/2 gallon of fish fumet.

I've only made espagnole and demi-glace while I was in cooking school. I made the beef stock and espagnole at home, and then demi-glace from those, so I could understand the entire process better. And it took two days I doubt I'll do it again. I can purchase a demi-glace sauce base for less than it cost to buy the beef bones.

Cooks' Illustrated recently published a recipe for steak sauces that used a lot of umami-rich ingredients to simulate a demi-glace in a couple of hours. I don't have it in front of me, but I believe it included mushrooms and tomato paste.

I do want to make a Sauce Raifort - bechamel simmered with white wine, freshly grated horseradish, heavy cream and cayenne - for a steak sauce. I just bought the fresh horseradish last week; I'll try to make it Tuesday.

I remember enjoying the Sauce Forestiere Blanc - a veloute derivative with minced white mushrooms (brown gills removed), mushroom essence and lemon juice.

Good topic, Chief

A meat processor, whose processing establishment is about 20 miles or so from my home, gives away beef bones, if you ask for them. My neighbor used to race sled dogs, and regularly got bones from this processor. He gave me about 20 lbs. worth one day last summer, as he had too much for his dogs. The bones still had meat on them, and were fresh.

If you look around, you will find that many small farmers who raise and slaughter, and sell their own livestock, often just toss the bones, as few people want them anymore, and they don't have a large enough stock of them to sell to the large companies that use them for dog food and such. They often sell the bones for very cheap.

I just read about a lady in New York who has created a company that uses the cast-off bones from organic farmers who sell their product at farmer's markets, and makes sauces from them, including chicken, pork, beef, and lamb. She then cans the sauces and gives some back to the farmers, who sell them at market, and sells the rest herself to people who appreciate real stocks and broths.

I know that I'll be hitting up that meat processor for every kind of bone he will give me, including venison and bison.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind fo the North

 

[CWS4322]

I like Mornay sauce and Bearnaise sauce. I almost always have demi-glace of some sort in the freezer. And, usually have a fish/shellfish stock in the freezer as well.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

GotGarlic, thanks for that handy study guide! I realize that a lot of the cooking I do is based on sauces. Just never knew there was a name for them, I just cooked. I make most of the sauces mentioned except wine sauces.

 

[Dawgluver]

The iPad app didn't show your well prepped guide, GG, but when I went to the regular site, there it was! Thanks!

 

[GotGarlic]

A meat processor, whose processing establishment is about 20 miles or so from my home, gives away beef bones, if you ask for them. My neighbor used to race sled dogs, and regularly got bones from this processor. He gave me about 20 lbs. worth one day last summer, as he had too much for his dogs. The bones still had meat on them, and were fresh.

If you look around, you will find that many small farmers who raise and slaughter, and sell their own livestock, often just toss the bones, as few people want them anymore, and they don't have a large enough stock of them to sell to the large companies that use them for dog food and such. They often sell the bones for very cheap.

I just read about a lady in New York who has created a company that uses the cast-off bones from organic farmers who sell their product at farmer's markets, and makes sauces from them, including chicken, pork, beef, and lamb. She then cans the sauces and gives some back to the farmers, who sell them at market, and sells the rest herself to people who appreciate real stocks and broths.

I know that I'll be hitting up that meat processor for every kind of bone he will give me, including venison and bison.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind fo the North

What a great idea - thanks! As part of the master gardener program, I'll be helping to staff a table at the downtown farmer's market this year, so I'll be able to get to know the meat purveyors

 

[GotGarlic]

PF and DL - great! I'm glad you like it :smiile:

 

[buckytom]

What a great idea - thanks! As part of the master gardener program, I'll be helping to staff a table at the downtown farmer's market this year, so I'll be able to get to know the meat purveyors

wouldn't that be downton farmer's market, gg?

 

[Kylie1969]

We love Hollandaise sauce

 

[Whiskadoodle]

I once wanted to make a chicken pot pie using leftover boneless/ skinless chicken. No gravy. I was brought up making pot pies w/ leftovers. Not enough gravy—add milk or a can cream soup as an extender. But No gravy to begin -- arghh. I made a veloute sauce. Didn’t know it at the time. This is a very useful sauce and quite often, I add milk or cream to make it richer.

A (very ) long time ago we were given a copy of the Joy of Cooking for a wedding present. It has an understandable section on sauces. The first sauce we made from the cookbook was a Hollandaise sauce for eggs benedict. This sauce soon became our fave, since the recipe worked. And you can drown anything in it for a gourmet dinner—asparagus and onward. I regret to confess in recent years I mostly use Knorr packaged Hollandaise. But at least I doctor it up when making by adding orange juice/ zest instead of lemon, or add different herbs. I guess when I do this, it becomes a quasi Bearnaise sauce, My DxW wanted to make homemade Mayo last summer, her first. Her fingers marched right back to the Joy and using a stick blender, I think, made the tastiest homemade mayo ever. I think she only makes homemade now. She says it’s easy,although I always read you need to add oil by drips and drops. Whatever, she has the touch. I haven’t tried to do this ( yet).

Reading and using this cookbook taught me to melt and swirl in a pat of butter to finish a sauce. Handy if you want to make it taste richer or just a little thicker. Also, we made our first homemade BBQ sauce, a very simple one at that, before I decided to get all complex and try to alter flavors with all kinds of spices. Maybe I should read these sections again !!

Of course reading the Joy of Cooking, or any resource, is only good if you continue to use it. I had to look up Sauce Espagnole . Nope, don’t think I have ever done this. Not sure what it is when you brown beef bones in the oven before making stock to make soup. Does this count? Where does Brown gravy, like for roasts or chops fit in the picture?

By far, I make most of my own salad dressings, Oil/ vinegar base with whatever herbs, garlic, a dollop of mustard or grated cheese or crumbled feta or blue cheese etc is wanted. Basic vinaigrette with changes to go with a meal or use what is in season in the garden.

Now, last, are there 5 or are there 6 Mother sauces? According to some references I read today, the sauces are Bechamel, Veloute, Hollandaise ( incl mayo), Espagnole and Vinaigrette. Tomato Sauce is added later. Not trying to introduce a controversy when there isn’t one. Maybe they count differently in French.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

WhiskaDootle, you are right in stating the conundrum. Unfortunately, there are many who will argue between oil & vinegar sauces, and tomato sauce as being the 5th sauce. Me, I believe that there are six mother sauces, no matter what the schools teach.

I know that there are a great many more sauces than the traditional fve French sauces. I mean, what about sweet and sour sauce, or the lightly sweetened sauce that is in so many Asian recipes. What about soy sauce, or Maagi, or Worcestershire Sauce, or Steak Sauce, or, or, or...

I brought up this thread so we can get familiar with the Mother Sauces and their small sauces. Once we're comfortable with these, we can move on to other sauces from other parts of the world.

Here's a favorite sauce for me. It's a vinaigrette derivative.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sunflower, safflower, or other neutral flavored oil
3 tbs. seedless raspberry, or blueberry puree
1/8 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. sweetener ((I use Stevia) optional)

I love fruity vinaigrette on a garden salad.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[forty_caliber]

Thumbing through my culinary school notebook, I found a handy handout - Sauce-Building Techniques Study Guide. I reorganized, rewrote and reformatted the handout - it sucked. But here it is. It's a teeny description (not recipes) of the mother sauces and popular derivatives. Hope it's helpful.

I made a chicken stew for supper tonight using a Veloute`. Blonde roux with chicken stock.

Thanks for the wonderful guide. Simple concise. Will have fun with it every chance I get.