Looking at the five mother sauces in food

Hello everyone, I’m Dave Frank and I will be writing a column about fun food facts to help beat the kitchen rut we sometimes find ourselves in.

Some quick facts about me: I’ve been in the food industry since I was 15, and I’ve worked my way up from my first job as a dishwasher to the title of Chef De Cuisine. Over the years, I have worked in some amazing restaurants all over the states, from small Tex-Mex joints to country clubs. I have catered a movie and tossed pizzas. I have taught cooking classes both in person and online. I still love to cook, and I donate multi-course wine pairing dinners to local charities. I always love to point out that your tongue has one of the highest concentrations of nerve endings in your body, most of them connected to the pleasure centers of your brain. So — I think we are genetically designed to enjoy good food.

A cornerstone of a good cooks repertoire is, of course, sauces. How many of you have eaten a meal that the best part of it was the gravy? Who doesn’t love a big dish of pasta with a rich marinara? Let’s not forget the delicious creamy richness of a buttery hollandaise generously ladled over eggs benedict. Heavenly! And of course, that wonderful staple of a hearty breakfast — biscuits and sausage gravy. A classic stick-to-your-ribs breakfast that is one of my favorites.

So let’s have a look at the bases of all sauces — what we call the Five Mother Sauces. These five sauces make the base for nearly every sauce you will hear of (although sometimes I see one that surprises me). In the 19th Century, Chef Marie-Antoine Careme defined the mother sauces in his work L’art de la Cuisine Francaise au Dix- Neuvueme Siecle as Bechamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Tomato, and Egg sauce. Whew, that’s quite a mouthful, pun intended.

To put in a little easier language:

Bechamel: Roux and dairy (traditionally milk or cream)

Velouté: Roux and white stock (chicken, vegetable, or fish stock)

Espagnole: Roux and brown stock (traditionally beef or veal)

Tomato: Roux and tomatoes (or in Italian cooking, skip the roux and cook the tomatoes until they thicken)

Egg or Hollandaise: Egg yolks, clarified butter and acid (like lemon juice or white wine-or a combination of both)

Now I can hear the question, “What the heck is this roux you keep talking about?”

Since Roux is such an important part of nearly every sauce, let’s learn about that. Roux is a mix of hot oil and flour mixed together to form a paste. Usually this is butter, but you can make roux with nearly any fat. One of my favorite memories is of my grandma standing at the stove whisking flour into the fat from browned sausage to make the gravy for biscuits. Mmm, I can smell it now!

To make roux, start with a half stick of butter in a medium sauté pan. Cook over medium heat until the butter is just melted, and then whisk in flour until it is well mixed and has a peanut butter consistency. Then you can whisk this slowly into a hot liquid base, and it will thicken the sauce to the consistency that you want. Be careful though, because if you add it too quickly, you will end up with lumps, and if you add too much, you end up with something you can use to patch your driveway.

Take your time and let the roux incorporate into your sauce, whisking gently until it thickens.

You know, all this talk of biscuits and gravy makes me think we need to learn how to make some.

Sausage Gravy

Ingredients:

1 pound ground sausage (whatever variety you like the most)

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

2 cups whole milk

Three-quarter cups Flour

Instructions:

Brown the sausage over medium heat, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until well browned and in small pieces. Using a stiff whisk or a large fork, whisk in the flour until a paste is formed (you may need less or more flour depending on how much fat renders out of the sausage) as soon as the roux is formed, slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. The first addition of milk will thicken up quickly, don’t worry, just keep adding milk until you reach your desired consistency. Add pepper to taste. You want the gravy a little thin when you finish, because it will continue to thicken as it cooks.

Now ladle the gravy over your favorite biscuits, either store-bought or homemade and enjoy.

I hope you had fun with this, until next time, enjoy a good meal.

Bon Appetit.