| Most of us don't make sauces at home because | | | | pan sauces. |
| we're...well, we're intimidated. It seems so complicated | | | | Sauces from roux - Roux is a mixture of flour and |
| and time consuming to mix all that stuff and season | | | | fat that is combined over low heat. Gravy is made |
| it and boil it and get it just right. And we don't know | | | | from roux. |
| how. We go to a fancy restaurant, and the sauces | | | | Sauces from emulsions - Emulsions are mixtures of |
| are so delicate and beautiful, and they are in French, | | | | liquids that don't mix. Mayonnaise is an example of an |
| and we know we could never make something like | | | | emulsion. |
| that. Oh, yes, it's fear and our lack of knowledge | | | | Combinations - Combination sauces are often made |
| that keeps us from enjoying sauces on our | | | | from roux and stock, as well as other ingredients. |
| home-cooked food. | | | | Mother Sauces |
| It really isn't as difficult as you think to make sauces, | | | | In the 19th century, Chef Marie-Antoine Careme |
| though. Once you know about the different kinds of | | | | developed a system for cooking that relied on |
| sauces and master a few basic techniques, you can | | | | "mother sauces" or "grand sauces". Careme is |
| easily make sauces at home. You can even begin to | | | | considered the father of classic French cooking. His |
| invent your own sauces, based on your personal | | | | system was also used by Auguste Escoffier, another |
| preferences and the things your family likes best. | | | | famous French chef. The five mother sauces provide |
| Sauces make your food look, taste and smell better. | | | | the basis for other sauces that are used in classic |
| They make food more appetizing. The difference | | | | French cooking. |
| between a Ham & Egg McMuffin and Eggs Benedict | | | | Espagole is a reduced brown sauce made from |
| is the hollandaise sauce. And it is a big difference, isn't | | | | cooking meat. |
| it? In the same way, sauces can turn your plain and | | | | Veloute is white stock thickened with roux. |
| simple cooking into something special. | | | | Bechamel is milk thickened with roux. |
| Sauces add flavor to bland foods, like rice and pasta. | | | | Hollaindaise or Mayonnaise is an emulsion made with |
| Think Alfredo Sauce, Marinara Sauce, Soy Sauce. | | | | butter or oil, egg yolks and lemon juice. |
| Sauces also make dry foods moister and easier to | | | | Tomato Sauce is tomato sauce. |
| eat. | | | | This all sounds very complex, but it is not. Once you |
| Before refrigeration, sauces were used to mask the | | | | know how to make a nice roux, and how to make |
| flavor of tainted food. Although it's not | | | | stock, you can make hundreds of different sauces. |
| recommended that you serve tainted food, a good | | | | Once you can make the five mother sauces, your |
| sauce can still mask the flavor of undesirable food. | | | | sauce repertoire is practically unlimited. |
| Kids are more likely to eat broccoli with cheese sauce | | | | Here are some examples: |
| than without, right? For those of us who are | | | | ·Cheese sauce is béchamel sauce with |
| somewhat...indifferent cooks, a good sauce can | | | | grated cheese added. |
| sometimes mask a cooking mistake, too. Like, | | | | ·Gravy is a roux made from pan drippings and |
| perhaps, rice that is just a tiny bit scorched. Served | | | | espagole or milk. |
| by candlelight and with a nice hollandaise sauce, no | | | | ·Cream sauce for vegetables is veloute with a |
| one will ever know. | | | | few herbs tossed in. |
| Categories of Sauces | | | | But you don't have to tell your family and guests |
| There are all kinds of sauces. Ketchup is a sauce. | | | | that it's cheese sauce or whatever. Instead, you can |
| Salsa is a sauce. Vinaigrette dressing is a sauce. For | | | | serve them "steamed broccoli with a light cheese |
| our cooking purposes, though, there are four main | | | | béchamel" or "steamed vegetables in veloute |
| categories of sauces. | | | | sauce." |
| Sauces made from stock - Stock is the liquid that | | | | And the list can go on and on. Using sauces to make |
| remains after you cook things in water. The water | | | | your home cooked meals look better and taste |
| retains the flavor of whatever was cooked in it, and | | | | better does not have to be intimidating. You just |
| is used to flavor other dishes. Stock can be | | | | need to know a few basic techniques, and you will |
| thickened or reduced, or various ingredients can be | | | | soon be a master sauce-maker. |
| added to it to make brown sauces, white sauces and | | | | |