How to prepare the 5 mother sauces of French cuisine

French cuisine has become synonymous with fine dining in our modern imagination. Revered for its techniques, flavours and, of course, its cultural significance. Meticulous love for food, precision and appreciation for high-quality ingredients shape culinary traditions around the world and can be traced back to it. In this way, understanding French cuisine tradition is understanding where haute cuisine came from. Central to that legacy, there is one man: Auguste Escoffier. Today, I want to explain why you should care about him and what you can learn from him to do French cuisine from the comfort of your home… one sauce at a time!

Georges Auguste Escoffier is often seen as the father of modern French haute cuisine and is largely responsible for its codification. He promoted discipline and precision in a kitchen dominated by chaos before him. Pretty much every Michelin-qualified chef in the last century can trace their training back to Escoffier and his writings. No wonder he was called the “king of chefs and the chef of kings“. His philosophy is most apparent in his masterwork “A Guide to Modern Cookery“ (“Le Guide Culinaire“ in the original French). To Escoffier, good flavour begins (and sometimes ends) with the right sauce. As such, he put the most care to describe sauces in his book. Within “Le Guide Culinaire“, Escoffier proclaimed five sauces every chef should know. These would be called the “mother sauces“ and are STILL the five base sauces used in fine dining. So, to make you a great home chef, let me explain what you need to know to prepare the best sauces… according to Escoffier.

First, why is sauce that important? Simply put, sauces are the best vectors for flavour and texture in food. With the proper sauce, a chef can shape the culinary experience precisely and to new heights. The base of all sauces is the “roux“ and the “juice“.

The juice is responsible for most of the flavour and consists generally of a meat stock matching what the sauce will be served with. Escoffier uses two base recipes for juices. Brown stock uses veal stock, carrots, onions, thyme, garlic and laurel. White stock is based on chicken stock, carrots, onions, celery, leeks, thyme, laurel and cloves. Escoffier lists many variations on these two, mainly mixing or changing what base stock is used.

The roux is a thickening agent adding richness and texture to the sauce. It is generally made from equal parts of flour and fat (by weight). The fat can sometimes be oil, but more often butter in French cuisine. Escoffier describes two main types of roux: blond roux (direct translation) and dark roux. Dark roux demands longer simmering time and browning of the flour in oil. For the rest, they have about the same composition of fat and flour.

Now that we know the basics, let‘s see Escoffier‘s “mother sauces“ in the order he listed them. Don‘t get me wrong, the sauces he listed were used before his own time but it was Escoffier‘s classification that solidified them as the pillars they now are. For each, Escoffier recognizes that exact proportions must be adapted to the desired taste. As such, the following proportions are approximate. Escoffier also recommends to simmer each slowly (about 3-4 hours).

Sauce Espagnole

This sauce (whose red-brown colour may explain the association with Spain) is made with Escoffier‘s brown stock (veal stock base) and thickened with brown roux. The proportions are about 80g of brown roux for a litre of brown stock. Escoffier doesn‘t list any additional flavourings to this base sauce.

Sauce Velouté

This clear-white sauce is unsurprisingly made with white stock and blond roux. Proportions are this time about 125g of roux per litre of stock. The stock at the base is most often chicken but fish and veal are also common.

Sauce Hollandaise

Escoffier called it “Sauce Allemande“ (“German sauce“). Based on the velouté, Escoffier made it by adding a mixture of egg yolk to the velouté. For a litre of velouté, you need the yolk of 5 eggs and half a litre of white stock. He also adds mushrooms and citrus juice. Escoffier listed the ever-popular mayonnaise as a variation on this sauce.

Sauce Béchamel

A milk-based sauce that used, you guessed it, blond roux. For a litre of milk, you need about 140g of blond roux. Add salt, veal cubes (about 75g), onions, thyme and muscade as desired.

Sauce Tomate

A classic. Following a formula similar to before but with tomatoes. For a litre of tomato puree, you need 80g of blond roux. Escoffier also adds carrots, onions, laurel, thyme, 3/4 litre of white stock, garlic, salt, sugar and pepper.

That‘s it?

In a word: yes. French cuisine isn‘t about complexity: it‘s about mastery. With these five, the doors to countless flavours are opened to you. For Escoffier, the best chefs are recognized in how they can reproduce these sauces but also in what variations of these they can master. As such, Escoffier lists himself about a hundred variation sauces in 'Le guide culinaire' based on these five. These sauces are still used today, even as inspiration to vegan chefs. According to renowned chefs, how you handle knives and how you make sauces is what makes or breaks most Michelin star accreditation exams. With what you‘ve learned today, you‘ve made the first step to reach such highs!

Anyway, see you next time.

References

Le Guide culinaire - Aide-mémoire de cuisine pratique, Auguste Escofier, 1903.
I recommend the translation by William Heinemann (“A Guide To Modern Cookery“) from 1907 for an authentic experience.