What are the basic MOTHER sauces?
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ironchef
Executive Chef
The classical versions are as follows:
Veloute - Stock thickened with roux
Bechamel - Milk thickened with roux
Tomato - Self explanatory
Espagnole - Brown sauce, made with roux, veal stock, roasted veal bones and mire poix
Hollandaise - Heated egg yolk and clarified butter
For more info, click on the link below. It says that mayonnaise was added to make 6 mother sauces but that's news to me. I've never heard about that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauce#Sauces_in_French_cuisine
A more contemporary definition of mother sauces would be something like this:
Vinaigrette
Demi Glace
Beurre Blanc
Aioli/Mayonnaise
Sauce a la Creme (Basic heavy cream reduction)
Veloute - Stock thickened with roux
Bechamel - Milk thickened with roux
Tomato - Self explanatory
Espagnole - Brown sauce, made with roux, veal stock, roasted veal bones and mire poix
Hollandaise - Heated egg yolk and clarified butter
For more info, click on the link below. It says that mayonnaise was added to make 6 mother sauces but that's news to me. I've never heard about that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauce#Sauces_in_French_cuisine
A more contemporary definition of mother sauces would be something like this:
Vinaigrette
Demi Glace
Beurre Blanc
Aioli/Mayonnaise
Sauce a la Creme (Basic heavy cream reduction)
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
This a little something I picked up from researching the internet many, many moons ago. It is from a well respected site and pretty much explains the five mother sauces.
The Mother Sauces
Defining The Five Mother Sauces:
1. 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.
2. Velouté is a stock-based white sauce. It can be made from chicken, veal or fish stock. Enrichments such as egg yolks or cream are sometimes also added.
3. Espagnole, or brown sauce, is traditionally made of a rich meat stock, a mirepoix of browned vegetables (most often a mixture of diced onion, carrots and celery), a nicely browned roux, herbs and sometimes tomato paste.
4. Hollandaise and Mayonnaise are two sauces that are made with an emulsion of egg yolks and fat. Hollandaise is made with butter, egg yolks and lemon juice, usually in a double boiler to prevent overheating, and served warm. It is generally used to embellish vegetables, fish and egg dishes, such as the classic Eggs Benedict. Mayonnaise is a thick, creamy dressing that's an emulsion of vegetable oil, egg yolks, lemon juice or vinegar and seasonings. It is widely used as a spread, a dressing and as a sauce. It's also used as the base for such mixtures as Tartar Sauce, Thousand Island Dressing, Aïoli, and Remoulade.
5. Vinagrette is a sauce made of a simple blend of oil, vinegar, salt and pepper (usually 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar). More elaborate variations can include any combination of spices, herbs, shallots, onions, mustard, etc. It is generally used to dress salad greens and other cold vegetable, meat or fish dishes.
Tips for Sauce Success:
* Constantly stir roux-thickened sauces while cooking to prevent lumps. If you must leave the sauce for a few seconds, set the pan off the heat during that time.
* If a roux-thickened sauce develops a few lumps, beat them out with a rotary beater or wire whisk. As a last resort, strain sauce with sieve to remove lumps.
* Cook egg-thickened sauces over low heat, or cook these sauces in the top of a double boiler over hot, not boiling, water. Always temper (warm) the egg yolks before adding them to the sauce by first stirring in a little of the hot sauce mixture into them. Then add to the remainder of the sauce mixture. Never let a sauce boil after the egg yolks are added as the sauce may curdle.
Don't let water boil in the bottom of the double boiler if you use it to make egg-thickened sauces. Also, be sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the pan holding the sauce.
The only thing I would add is that in place of the vinagerette, there are those that claim tomato sauce is the fifth Mother Sauce. I just figure that there are six of them in reality. Why quibble over semantics?
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
The Mother Sauces
Defining The Five Mother Sauces:
1. 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.
2. Velouté is a stock-based white sauce. It can be made from chicken, veal or fish stock. Enrichments such as egg yolks or cream are sometimes also added.
3. Espagnole, or brown sauce, is traditionally made of a rich meat stock, a mirepoix of browned vegetables (most often a mixture of diced onion, carrots and celery), a nicely browned roux, herbs and sometimes tomato paste.
4. Hollandaise and Mayonnaise are two sauces that are made with an emulsion of egg yolks and fat. Hollandaise is made with butter, egg yolks and lemon juice, usually in a double boiler to prevent overheating, and served warm. It is generally used to embellish vegetables, fish and egg dishes, such as the classic Eggs Benedict. Mayonnaise is a thick, creamy dressing that's an emulsion of vegetable oil, egg yolks, lemon juice or vinegar and seasonings. It is widely used as a spread, a dressing and as a sauce. It's also used as the base for such mixtures as Tartar Sauce, Thousand Island Dressing, Aïoli, and Remoulade.
5. Vinagrette is a sauce made of a simple blend of oil, vinegar, salt and pepper (usually 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar). More elaborate variations can include any combination of spices, herbs, shallots, onions, mustard, etc. It is generally used to dress salad greens and other cold vegetable, meat or fish dishes.
Tips for Sauce Success:
* Constantly stir roux-thickened sauces while cooking to prevent lumps. If you must leave the sauce for a few seconds, set the pan off the heat during that time.
* If a roux-thickened sauce develops a few lumps, beat them out with a rotary beater or wire whisk. As a last resort, strain sauce with sieve to remove lumps.
* Cook egg-thickened sauces over low heat, or cook these sauces in the top of a double boiler over hot, not boiling, water. Always temper (warm) the egg yolks before adding them to the sauce by first stirring in a little of the hot sauce mixture into them. Then add to the remainder of the sauce mixture. Never let a sauce boil after the egg yolks are added as the sauce may curdle.
Don't let water boil in the bottom of the double boiler if you use it to make egg-thickened sauces. Also, be sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the pan holding the sauce.
The only thing I would add is that in place of the vinagerette, there are those that claim tomato sauce is the fifth Mother Sauce. I just figure that there are six of them in reality. Why quibble over semantics?
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
ironchef
Executive Chef
The five mother sauces as designated by Escoffier were bechamel, veloute, hollandaise, espagnole, and tomato. Generally, every culinary school and textbook follows this guideline. A previous French chef named Careme had designated four mother sauces which were veloute, bechamel, espagnol, and allemande. However, since sauce allemande is a derivitave of another mother sauce, it was removed.
Mayonnaise and vinaigrette were put on some lists at a later time, but is not recognized as part of the original quintet as designated by Escoffier. I myself use mayonnaise and vinaigrette's more than any of the original five mother sauces, but they are both considered contemporary mother sauces, and not really classical. Out of Escoffier's original 5, the only one that I use with any sort of frequency is hollandaise. I make tomato sauces, but they follow the Italian style of preperation and not the classic French style. It's not really a matter of semantics, it's more of a matter of authenticity.
Mayonnaise and vinaigrette were put on some lists at a later time, but is not recognized as part of the original quintet as designated by Escoffier. I myself use mayonnaise and vinaigrette's more than any of the original five mother sauces, but they are both considered contemporary mother sauces, and not really classical. Out of Escoffier's original 5, the only one that I use with any sort of frequency is hollandaise. I make tomato sauces, but they follow the Italian style of preperation and not the classic French style. It's not really a matter of semantics, it's more of a matter of authenticity.
hmmm, I was going to make a joke about chocolate sauce ... but as I don't have a sweet tooth, I'll leave that to someone else.
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
ironchef said:
I agree. I'm not trying to say that you're wrong, and hope that that wasn't what was percieved. I had just read something different from what you had stated.
My knowledge wasn't obtained by profesional training, but by personal research obtained by diverse sources. And as you know, different authors will give different information. As you have been profesionaly trained, I will bow to your greater training.
For practicality's sake, I will include oil & vinigar in my list of mother-like sauces, as it is used to create a host of small sauces. But then, there are numerous sauces that aren't included in the original Escoffier listing, such as various barbecue sauces, marinades, and oriental preperations that Europeans had never heard of back in the day. There are also fruit and vegetable sauce basics that other sauces and gravies are made from, such as sweet & sour, plumb sauce, ginger paste, etc.
I could never calim to be an expert. There is just too much information out there for any one person to grasp. And there are valid recipes made by many that I have never heard of. When I look at differing world cuisines, I see dramatically different flavors in Morroco, India, Indonesia, and South America, that bear no resemblance to the classic French sauces.
The world is a big place. And there is so much to learn.
That's what makes the cullinary arts so interesting.Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
Guess everybody's got to start somewhere though.
ironchef
Executive Chef
GW, it was never perceived that way. Like I said, I very rarely, if ever, use any of the Escoffier's original 5. But, for prosperities sake, his five should be recognized as the original five bases since he is generally credited as being the father of modern cooking.
Plus, I wanted to discuss it per your post in the cream soup thread. I think what most people have the hardest time with is that the sauces and designations are all French in origin. Like you said, it doesn't take into account the other base sauces from other cuisines.
Plus, I wanted to discuss it per your post in the cream soup thread. I think what most people have the hardest time with is that the sauces and designations are all French in origin. Like you said, it doesn't take into account the other base sauces from other cuisines.
Last edited:
auntdot
Head Chef
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2004
- Messages
- 2,418
Good golly.
My favorite cookbook is my little old Escoffier Cook Book that I purchased for $10.95 some twenty years ago or so.
I go back to it all the time.
It, along with James Beard and Julia taught me how to cook, at home. Am a humble home cook, but enjoy doing it.
Escoffier taught me method, not recipe.
The five mother sauces always confused me because I could not think of any reason why all of these were mother sauces.
To me a mother sauce should be able to have babies, to be the basis from which other sauces are derived.
That is certainly true with espagnole. You start with that and can go with it in many ways, even up to my favorite, Perigueux sauce. To me espagnole is a mother sauce.
And one can mess with bechamel and Hollandaise a bit, but the options are limited.
And heck if I know why Escoffier tossed in tomato sauce, a favorite sauce of mine, as a mother sauce.
To discuss what is a mother sauce or not, to me, serves no purpose.
Give Careme and Escoffier their due, let the five sauces stand.
And let us just enjoy cooking.
And thanks for all you great folks on DC.
My favorite cookbook is my little old Escoffier Cook Book that I purchased for $10.95 some twenty years ago or so.
I go back to it all the time.
It, along with James Beard and Julia taught me how to cook, at home. Am a humble home cook, but enjoy doing it.
Escoffier taught me method, not recipe.
The five mother sauces always confused me because I could not think of any reason why all of these were mother sauces.
To me a mother sauce should be able to have babies, to be the basis from which other sauces are derived.
That is certainly true with espagnole. You start with that and can go with it in many ways, even up to my favorite, Perigueux sauce. To me espagnole is a mother sauce.
And one can mess with bechamel and Hollandaise a bit, but the options are limited.
And heck if I know why Escoffier tossed in tomato sauce, a favorite sauce of mine, as a mother sauce.
To discuss what is a mother sauce or not, to me, serves no purpose.
Give Careme and Escoffier their due, let the five sauces stand.
And let us just enjoy cooking.
And thanks for all you great folks on DC.
Hopz
Senior Cook
What about the "Chef's Secret Sauce"?
In the restaurant I once worked in, if a customer was being too demanding, he got the "secret sauce"... Probably it was the 7th Mother Sauce... served world-wide, but not taught at the CIA or Le Cordon Bleu.
In the restaurant I once worked in, if a customer was being too demanding, he got the "secret sauce"... Probably it was the 7th Mother Sauce... served world-wide, but not taught at the CIA or Le Cordon Bleu.
jpmcgrew
Executive Chef
I have an old Escoffier's Basic Elements of Fine Cookery. 1966It's got more sauces than you can shake a stick at.
thechef1955
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2007
- Messages
- 4
Both “ironchef” and “Godweed of the North” are right on their opinion as far as mother sauces is concerned. It slightly differs between mother sauces, contemporary sauces, and other varieties of sauce that are mostly derived from the mother sauces except for vinaigrette. Ironchef had simplified the definition and Godweed of the North stretch it a little further.
My advice for anyone who wanted to remember all the mother sauces particularly those who are not practicing it on a daily basis just try to add my little idea to ironchef’s definition.
I called it the BETH V or:
B for Béchamel
E for Espagnole or Brown Sauce
T for Tomato Sauce
H for Hollandaise and
V for Veloute
To memorize it, is not an option since it is easy to forget, the best way is to put it in practice. Culinary is an Art and Craftsmanship. The only way to understand the mother sauces and learned how it behaves is to put it into action; Practice, practice, practice, practice, and a thousand of practice.
Along the way mistake will occur like burning the roux for example, but we learned always from mistakes. Until such time that we can make it at the same time doing several other things in the stove on fire. This time you have the control of everything around your working space. In the school if you were assigned to do Béchamel a student focus is only at the making of roux and adding the milk slowly into the sauce pan; against in the industry that you might have six burning stove that needs your attention. Balancing act is part of the craftsmanship in culinary field, having six stove on fire is just like walking in the wire at the circus, we don need to master it.
thechef1955
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2007
- Messages
- 4
To discuss what is a mother sauce or not, to me, serves no purpose.
Aunt Dot, there is a purpose of talking about mother sauces. In the industry this is one of the basic knowledge for the cooks or chefs.
In culinary school this is the first subjects that are introduced aside from knife skills mastering the cutting of fine julienne, regular julienne or “allumette”, “batonnet”, fine brunoise, brunoise, small dice, medium dice, large dice, square or “paysanne,” diamond shape or “lozenge”, “tournet”, bias, and choffinade. Spices, and herbs familiarization by looking at it, smelling, and tasting. Different types of vinegars and oils as well.
If you have a chance to ask a culinary graduate about mother sauces and they cannot explain it to you; it gives you a signal that this student had passed the course by just attending the class with out the benefit of learning.
In private home cooking maybe this is not a big deal but in the industry it is. Every culinary student spent and enormous amount of money to study this course and if learning of mother sauce is taken for granted, this student will regret once they entered into the industry. Because they will end up doing “prep” short for vegetable preparation slicing and slicing forever. Career growth is dim and not possible. Every Executive Chef probable questions is, “What are the five mother sauces?”
There are a big difference in home cooking and industry cooking. Just for example the terms alone such as; melon baller or cutter at home, in the industry it is called “parissianne” and baking pan or baking sheet at home, it is called in the industry as “sheet pan”.
Universally known chefs like George Auguste Escoffier (1874-1935), Marie-Antoine Carệme (1784-1833) are the first known chefs that remake the history of culinary arts. Their ideas are still adopted up to the modern generation but so many contributions are attributed to the next generations of chefs.
It is an open field that is continuously changing, mother sauces, mirepoix (vegetable and herbs use in making stocks), concasee or roguh chop, hacher or fine chop, macedoine medium dice for fruit, emincer fine slices example onions, cisler/chiffonade fine slices for greens, and tournet or football shape cut with seven sides are old technique that haven’t change. Even the word "fushion” that is a new craze in this country; it has been in the industry for a long time even at our own home we are doing it while preparing our tea, this is one good example of the fusion technique.
I had been a private chef for quite a long time and still I went to culinary school since I realized that buying or relying with recipes that are found in the books is not just enough. Formal training is a must for anybody aspiring to become a professional chef. The only exception is Rachel Ray but still she does not accept that she is a chef.
Hopefully, I had contributed something to this topic.
Aunt Dot, there is a purpose of talking about mother sauces. In the industry this is one of the basic knowledge for the cooks or chefs.
In culinary school this is the first subjects that are introduced aside from knife skills mastering the cutting of fine julienne, regular julienne or “allumette”, “batonnet”, fine brunoise, brunoise, small dice, medium dice, large dice, square or “paysanne,” diamond shape or “lozenge”, “tournet”, bias, and choffinade. Spices, and herbs familiarization by looking at it, smelling, and tasting. Different types of vinegars and oils as well.
If you have a chance to ask a culinary graduate about mother sauces and they cannot explain it to you; it gives you a signal that this student had passed the course by just attending the class with out the benefit of learning.
In private home cooking maybe this is not a big deal but in the industry it is. Every culinary student spent and enormous amount of money to study this course and if learning of mother sauce is taken for granted, this student will regret once they entered into the industry. Because they will end up doing “prep” short for vegetable preparation slicing and slicing forever. Career growth is dim and not possible. Every Executive Chef probable questions is, “What are the five mother sauces?”
There are a big difference in home cooking and industry cooking. Just for example the terms alone such as; melon baller or cutter at home, in the industry it is called “parissianne” and baking pan or baking sheet at home, it is called in the industry as “sheet pan”.
Universally known chefs like George Auguste Escoffier (1874-1935), Marie-Antoine Carệme (1784-1833) are the first known chefs that remake the history of culinary arts. Their ideas are still adopted up to the modern generation but so many contributions are attributed to the next generations of chefs.
It is an open field that is continuously changing, mother sauces, mirepoix (vegetable and herbs use in making stocks), concasee or roguh chop, hacher or fine chop, macedoine medium dice for fruit, emincer fine slices example onions, cisler/chiffonade fine slices for greens, and tournet or football shape cut with seven sides are old technique that haven’t change. Even the word "fushion” that is a new craze in this country; it has been in the industry for a long time even at our own home we are doing it while preparing our tea, this is one good example of the fusion technique.
I had been a private chef for quite a long time and still I went to culinary school since I realized that buying or relying with recipes that are found in the books is not just enough. Formal training is a must for anybody aspiring to become a professional chef. The only exception is Rachel Ray but still she does not accept that she is a chef.
Hopefully, I had contributed something to this topic.
cjs
Sous Chef
I can't think of a topic that gets the juices going faster in a cook/chef than to ask this question!! I'm surprised at the uniformity in the answers here - good for all of us!
In school, right off the bat, I just memorized them as the 'Virgin BETH' - made my life easier!
In school, right off the bat, I just memorized them as the 'Virgin BETH' - made my life easier!
thechef1955
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2007
- Messages
- 4
cjs said:
"Virgin BETH" is easier to remember than my way, I agree with you Sir! See I learned something. Thanks by the way…
As far as learning is concerned it never stop, even the Master Chef’s they continues searching and learning more and more. Culinary is addiction just like any other addictive substance; but this is the only addiction that is challenging and of course does not need a rehabilitation.
college_cook
Head Chef
thechef1955 said:
I don't know that that's very true. Maybe in the past, but not anymore. Just look at Thomas Keller. And I'm sure there are other great chefs besides him running great restaurants that never had formal training.
This has actually been a topic revisited by my mind many times recently, as I'm about to finish getting my BS. Should I go to culinary school or not? It costs a lot of money, and from what I understood it simply teaches fundamemtals. Knife skills. How to braise. How to roast. How to saute. What is mirepoux, or the Mother Sauces? What is the proper method for making stock? Certainly these are all fundamental things to a successful kitchen and you would expect your chef and his staff to know such things, but it was only 2 days ago that I was talking with my co-workers, most of whom have been to culinary school, when I asked for clarification. What EXACTLY did they teach you to do at school? And the answer I recieved was overwhelmingly "We learned in 2 years at school, what you learned in your first three months working in this kitchen." And it made sense. There isn't a task in the kitchen that isn't built from some fundamental that must first be learned before being able to complete that task.
So while it seems you can learn the fundamentals of classical cooking without formal training, I do believe that distinctions should be made. For the modern at-home cook, the mother sauces are probably more along the lines of mayo, vinaigrette, and basic cream sauces and reductions. For the industry cook/chef it is important to know the classical method and be able to execute it properly. It is necesary to make stocks and be know how to do so properly. It is important to know Espagnole, Veloute, Hollandaise, Tomato, and Bechamel. Is it so for the home-cook? Maybe not. Many classical methods are very time consuming and are really very impractical for the home cook.
cjs
Sous Chef
I guess I'm in the group thinking that culinary school is not for everyone...but, having said that, I'm also of the group that thinks you need to know the rules to break the rules. By going to school, you receive a solid background of knowledge that will then lead you to know how to 'play' with food.
ACF (American Culinary Federation) has an Apprenticeship program they sponsor that is geared towards the cooks who must work as they go to school - it's a long committment, three years, but the $$$$ are right and you receive a well-rounded education, plus develop networking with other chefs that is invaluable.
chef1955, change that Sir to Ma'am and we're buddies again...
ACF (American Culinary Federation) has an Apprenticeship program they sponsor that is geared towards the cooks who must work as they go to school - it's a long committment, three years, but the $$$$ are right and you receive a well-rounded education, plus develop networking with other chefs that is invaluable.
chef1955, change that Sir to Ma'am and we're buddies again...
thechef1955
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2007
- Messages
- 4
cjs said:I guess I'm in the group thinking that culinary school is not for everyone...but, having said that, I'm also of the group that thinks you need to know the rules to break the rules. By going to school, you receive a solid background of knowledge that will then lead you to know how to 'play' with food.
ACF (American Culinary Federation) has an Apprenticeship program they sponsor that is geared towards the cooks who must work as they go to school - it's a long committment, three years, but the $$$$ are right and you receive a well-rounded education, plus develop networking with other chefs that is invaluable.
chef1955, change that Sir to Ma'am and we're buddies again...
I apologize for that error Ma'am CJS; I presume earlier that I was communicating with a Sous Chef, and those positions were mostly held by males, Sorry again for that shortcoming. We always learned from mistakes.
ACF is true and I encourage the young generations to utilize this advice, I will leave it to them. At my part, I am close to the retirement stage so time is so short for me. Ten years down the road and I will be there, might done some culinary volunteer chores when times come to share what I’ve got at this field to the next generation and future chefs.
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