| We've all been served great sauces in our | | | | brand. |
| favorite restaurants and would love to | | | | |
| recreate them in our own kitchens but we are | | | | As for tools, all you need is a heavy |
| not sauciers. (French term for sauce chef) | | | | bottomed saucepan and a whisk. Professional |
| | | | chefs will typically strain their veloute and |
| Professional chefs go to culinary school for | | | | sauces through a fine strainer called a |
| years to learn the secrets of making classic | | | | chinois but it'snot absolutely necessary. A |
| French sauces and the more modern sauces | | | | common household strainer with small holes |
| derived from them. So what are we supposed to | | | | will work too. |
| do? | | | | |
| | | | When we start talking about brown sauces, |
| Yes, there are some sauces that require | | | | here's when many new cooks start to get |
| strong cooking skills. Making a Hollandaise | | | | nervous. Just thinking about making "the |
| sauce with butter and egg yolks is difficult | | | | gravy" at Thanksgiving gives some cooks the |
| because so many things can go wrong but with | | | | yips so how are they suppose to make a |
| a little practice and a lot of focus, anyone | | | | classic brown sauce like bordelaise or |
| can make a decent Hollandaise. | | | | chasseur? |
| | | | |
| Mayonnaise is another emulsion sauce that | | | | These sauces are all derived from the same |
| many cooks imagine is too hard or two much | | | | base called demi-glace or some form of meat |
| work to prepare but nothing could be further | | | | stock reduction. If you can get your hands on |
| from the truth. Mayonnaise is oil, egg, | | | | some demi-glace by either making it yourself |
| vinegar, condiments and spices. Again, all it | | | | (very time consuming) or purchasing a good |
| takes is some skill with a whisk, the right | | | | quality product on the market, making any of |
| ingredients and some patience. | | | | these classic sauces is not difficult at all. |
| | | | |
| Then there are the butter sauces that scare a | | | | For example, the classic bordelaise sauce is |
| lot of new cooks. When we hear "beurre blanc" | | | | basically shallots, wine, fresh thyme, |
| sauce we automatically think, "This is going | | | | butter, parsley and demi-glace. Chasseur |
| to be hard" but truth is they are easy if you | | | | sauce, also called hunters sauce because it |
| start with well chilled butter, keep the heat | | | | goes well with wild game, is a combination |
| low, add butter a little at a time, stay | | | | shallots, mushrooms, butter, white wine, |
| focused and serve immediately. | | | | sometimes tomatoes and demi-glace. |
| | | | |
| White sauces including Allemande (German | | | | If you go any high-end restaurant's kitchen, |
| sauce), Supreme, and Normande are a little | | | | you will most likely find some form of |
| tricky because they all start with a chicken | | | | demi-glace or other meat stock reduction |
| or fish base called veloute and then other | | | | cooking on the stove. Culinary students are |
| ingredients are added to give the sauce its | | | | taught first thing about making stocks and |
| flavor. Veloute is simple a white stock that | | | | their reductions. They spend hours making |
| has been thicken with a white roux. | | | | them day after day because they are the basis |
| | | | for all classic French sauces. |
| Let's back up for a second. A stock is a | | | | |
| flavored broth that has been extracted from | | | | This doesn't mean you can't prepare these |
| meats, fish, or vegetables by cooking them in | | | | same sauces at home to serve with your |
| water slowly for a period of time. A white | | | | chicken, veal, beef or fish. All it means is |
| stock is made with meats, chicken, fish or | | | | you have to find a quality commercial |
| vegetables that have not been browned and are | | | | product, know someone in the restaurant |
| pale in color. | | | | business or spend the time to make a batch |
| | | | yourself. |
| For example, simmering the carcass of a | | | | |
| chicken along with some aromatic vegetables | | | | A weekend spent preparing a good demi-glace |
| can make a white chicken stock but to make a | | | | will give you enough to last quite a while. |
| brown chicken stock, you first roast or brown | | | | Because these sauce bases freeze so well, you |
| the carcass. | | | | can have rich sauces year round or you can |
| | | | find a classic recipe at to try at home. |
| A roux is a mixture of flour and fat that is | | | | |
| cooked together and used to thicken soups and | | | | If you not excited about making it from |
| sauces. Depending on how long you cook the | | | | scratch, there are sources listed at the same |
| roux will determine if it called a white roux | | | | site for manufacturers who are making |
| (the lightest), a blond roux or a brown roux. | | | | restaurant quality demi-glace for both home |
| | | | users andcommercial establishments. |
| So the veloute, a combination of the white | | | | |
| stock, butter and flour, is the base or start | | | | Either way, making restaurant quality sauces |
| to most of the classic white sauces. For | | | | at home is not as difficult as you might have |
| sauce allemande you add egg yolks and | | | | thought. The myth that only professional |
| mushroom cooking liquid. For sauce supreme, | | | | chefs with years of experience can prepare |
| heavy cream, mushroom cooking liquid and some | | | | classic sauces is not true. With a little |
| more butter. | | | | practice and the right ingredients, you can |
| | | | be wowing your family and friends at your |
| Are they difficult to make at home? | | | | next dinner party. |
| Absolutely not! They just take time, patience | | | | |
| and focus. The ingredients are readily | | | | Copyright © 2006 Bill Long, |
| available whether you make your own homemade | | | | GatewayGourmet. |
| stock or purchase a good quality commercial | | | | |