Five French Mother Sauces

French cuisine is known for its extensive use of sauces. Though there are many different French sauces, the majority are derived from one of the five mother sauces. They were developed in the nineteenth century by French chef Auguste Escoffier. The five mother sauces are bechamel, veloute, espagnole, hollandaise and tomato.

Bechamel is also known as white sauce. It is a simple sauce made from flour, butter and milk. Seasonings are also added.

Veloute consists of flour, butter and stock. It is similar to bechamel because it has flour and butter, but it has stock instead of milk. The stock is usually chicken, but it can also be veal and fish.

Espagnole is also known as brown sauce. It is made from flour, butter, stock, pureed tomatoes and mirepoix, a combination of carrots, onions and celery. The butter and flour are cooked long enough to brown the butter.

Hollandaise is made from butter, lemon juice and egg yolks. It is essential to add the butter to the egg yolks slowly so that the ingredients remain stable and do not separate. Hollandaise is often served over eggs, vegetables, fish and chicken.

Tomato sauce is thickened with flour and butter and seasoned with pork, herbs and vegetables. The vegetables are a combination of carrots, onions and celery. Though tomato sauce is traditionally thickened with flour and butter, many modern tomato sauces are made without them.

Many sauces are used in French cuisine. However, most of them can be derived from the five mother sauces. The simplest mother sauce and the one that most chefs learn to make first is bechamel.