How to Understand the Mother Sauces

All sauces in cooking are derived from five basic sauces, called the mother sauces. Established by French chef Antonine Carême in the early 19th century, the mother sauces were traditionally prepared in huge quantities, and then separated into smaller portions with additional ingredients added to create a multitude of variations. Still today, all sauces can be categorized under one of the five mother sauces, including béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise and tomato sauces.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Make a béchamel, or basic white sauce, from a roux of boiled milk, flour and butter. Add grated cheese to a basic béchamel to transform it into a decadent Mornay sauce.

2. Add fish, chicken or veal stock to a basic white roux to make a velouté sauce. One derivative of this mother sauce is allemande sauce, thickened with egg yolks.

3. Mix an espagnole, or brown sauce, with rich meat stock and brown roux. Add browned vegetables, herbs and sometimes tomato paste. Include mushrooms, shallots and white wine to form chasseur sauce for meat.

4. Combine butter, egg yolks and lemon juice to form a creamy hollandaise sauce. Blend this basic mother sauce with orange juice and grated orange rind to make a Maltaise sauce, which pairs well with cooked vegetables.

5. Enjoy a basic tomato sauce made from seasoned, thin tomato puree. Marinara sauce is a common Italian variation of this mother sauce, made by adding onions, garlic and oregano.

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