The Five Mother Sauces (Part 1 of 6)
June 16th, 2006
We see so many sauces with dishes served today — tomato sauce, mushroom sauce, Béarnaise sauce, marsala sauce, and vin blanc sauce to name just a few. Some may even seem quite similar to one another. For example, both Alfredo sauce and Mornay sauce are made by mixing a roux with warm cream or milk. Do these sauces all link up somewhere along the line? Of course they do, and we call them the Mother Sauces.
Marie-Antoine Caréme, a chef and author in the 19th century, was the first to classify sauces. He once worked for a French diplomat who encouraged him to use simplified sauces with fewer ingredients. After the fall of Napoléon and the dispersion of the Congress of Vienna, Caréme published his classification of the four mother sauces: Allemande — stock with egg yolk & lemon juice; Béchamel — flour and milk; Espagnole — brown stock; and Velouté — white stock.
In the early 19th century, the “Emperor of Chefs”, Georges Auguste Escoffier, updated the list of mother sauces. Escoffier took a great deal from Caréme, however, made effort to simplify Caréme’s sauce classification even further. He replaced the Allemande with Hollandaise & Mayonnaise — today’s emulsion sauces. He also added Tomate to encompass tomato based sauces.
Escoffier’s classification of the Five Mother Sauces is still taught to chef’s today. Most sauces are based on one of these five sauces. You start with a mother sauce and incorporate other ingredients to create a more complex sauce.
Over the next week or two, I will be highlighting one mother sauce per posting. With each article, there will be a bit of history, some background information, variations of the featured mother sauce, and some recipes. Stay tuned. Next up: Hollandaise.
13 Comments Add your own
1. catherine phipps | August 23rd, 2006 at 6:13 pm
I have been trying to find out what is considered Classic or Classical Cuisine and what is continental cuisine. Can you help me.
Thanks
2. pradeep sharma | January 28th, 2009 at 12:37 am
i read al.its realy a good stuff for new genration.or chef’s
3. Haresh Chugh | June 3rd, 2009 at 6:12 am
i read all its really knowledge able please let me know more about
6 mother sauces
4. pratap biswas | August 24th, 2009 at 12:47 am
is it real to know about sauce n its texture/or value ;but let me want to know about basis of the sauce
5. Kaushal | July 9th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Want to know continental mother sauce and their recipe.
6. bunty bisht | October 5th, 2010 at 12:40 am
I want about continental mother sauce and their recipe.
7. D mahesh | October 12th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
it’s good knowladge for new chefs. thanks.
8. D mahesh | October 12th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
i want more knowlage about mother sauces and that’s racipe. thanks.
9. russill | February 3rd, 2011 at 9:01 pm
i want to learn more about five mother sauces
10. muruga raj.A | April 8th, 2011 at 6:17 am
continental recipes
11. muruga raj.A | April 8th, 2011 at 6:21 am
i want 6 mother sauces
12. dan | May 11th, 2011 at 6:23 am
i want to know more about continental 5 mother sauce or 6 mother sauces.can you please help me about it.
13. Bhim singh | November 11th, 2011 at 12:06 am
i want more knowlage about mother sauces and vegtables items from continental cousin and that’s racipe. thanks.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed