Week 12 -- Basic Sauces

A good sauce can make or break a dish. A sauce works like a seasoning/flavoring agent, but also adds richness, texture, moisture, and appearance. A great sauce can help a mediocre entrée as easily as a bad sauce can ruin an otherwise excellent dish. Understanding the relationship between fats, starches and liquids is the key to quality sauce making. The goal of sauce making is sticking to food without being too thick. Sauces are the artist's signature to any dish.

  • Structure of a Sauce
    • A sauce is made of three kinds of ingredients: Liquid, thickening agent, and seasonings/flavorings
    • Liquid: Provides the body of the sauce
      • Five liquids or bases on which sauces are built: Milk, white stock (poultry or fish), brown stock (beef, pork, lamb), tomato, clarifiedbutter. These five liquids build the Five Mother Sauces (leading sauces)
      • The most frequently used sauces are based on stocks/broths of various kinds (chicken, beef, vegetable are most common)
    • Thickening Agents: Sauces must cling to food, need thickening agent
      • Sauces shouldn't leave a puddle on the plate (too thin)
      • Sauces shouldn't be too thick or pasty
      • Starches are the most commonly used thickeners, flour or cornstarch usually
      • Bear well in mind these cooking temps: 150F - Gelatinization of starches; 165F - Coagulation of proteins; 212F - Evaporation of moisture; 320F - Caramelization of sugars
      • Flour, corn starch, tomato paste, and egg yolks are the most common thickening agents
      • Acids (lemon, lime, pineapple, wines, vinegars) added too early, inhibit gelatinization of starches, and hinder sauce thickening
    • Seasoning/flavorings are added at different stages of sauce making

•  Five Mother Sauces:  Basic sauces from which all others are derived

Mother Sauce Liquid Thickening Agent
Bechamel Sauce Milk White roux
Veloute Sauce White stock White or blond roux
Espagnole Sauce Brown stock Brown roux + tomato paste
Tomato Sauce Tomato + stock Pureed tomato (paste/reduction)
Hollandaise Sauce Butter Egg yolks
  • Other Important Sauces Not Usually Considered Mother Sauces, But Maybe Should Be

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      •  Mother Sauces Family Tree:  Sauces derived from Mother Sauces are called “Small Sauces”, use the
          following examples of Small Sauces to create your own inspirations

      Mother Sauce Derivative "Small Sauces"
      Bechamel
      Sauce      		 Cream
      cream, lemon      		 Cheese
      various cheeses,
      aromatics,
      strained      		 Mornay
      gruyere, cream      		 Natua
      cream, paprika,
      diced shellfish      		 Soubise
      diced onion,
      simmered,
      strained
      Veloute
      Sauce      		 Bercy
      fish stock,
      shallots,
      white wine      		 Allemande
      veal stock,
      egg yolk, cream,
      lemon      		 Supreme
      Chicken stock,
      mushrooms, cream      		 Aurora
      Allemande,
      tomato paste      		 Cardinal
      fish stock, cream,
      lobster
      Espagnole
      Sauce      		 Chausseur
      mushrooms,
      shallots,
      white wine,
      tomatoes      		 Chateubriand
      white wine,
      shallots,
      lemon, tarragon      		 Bordelaise
      red wine,
      shallots,
      bay leaf, thyme      		 Robert
      onion, mustard,
      sugar      		 Duxelle
      onion,
      mushrooms,
      white wine,
      tomato
      Tomato
      Sauce      		 Creole
      onion, celery,
      bell peppers,
      garlic, cayenne      		 Spanish
      creole sauce,
      mushrooms,
      olives      		 Milanaise
      mushrooms,
      butter, ham      		 Neapolitan
      garlic, onions,
      anchovy, capers      		 Bolognese
      ground meat,
      mire poix,
      red wine
      Hollandaise
      Sauce      		 Bernaise
      shallots,
      tarragon,
      vinegar      		 Mousseline
      whipped cream      		 Maltaise
      orange juice,
      orange zest      		 Grimrod
      saffron      		 Choron
      Bernaise,
      tomato paste,
      cream

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      • Roux Basics
        • Roux is fat plus starch, almost any fat (butter, bacon fat, chicken fat, olive oil, etc) and almost any starch, the most common fat for roux is butter for good flavor
        • Starch must be separated to prevent clumping/globules, fat liason achieves that for smooth (when starch comes into contact with liquid without fat liaison, the outermost layer of the starch gelatinizes, rendering the center starch granules unreachable, thus clumping), while fat does not gelatinize the starch, it does effectively separate all the starch granules so that they can be gelatinized individually when liquid is added
        • Flour is the principal starch in sauce making, cornstarch is also used (made with a cold liquid slurry as liaison, not fat, often soy sauce, chicken broth, beef broth, fish broth)
        • Starches thicken by gelatinization, absorbing water and swelling to many times its size
        • Acid inhibits gelatinization--don't add acids (lemon, lime, pineapple juices, wine, vinegars, etc) until sauce is fully gelatinized
        • Roux starch granules must be separated before adding liquid. Separate granules by:
          • Melting butter, then stir in starch is good/best practice, but again you can use almost any fat
          • Mixing with fat as in roux without cooking the roux, beurre manie (uncooked roux, butter and flour mixed together with a fork), this is an emergency step for added thickening when needed
          • For smooth, creamy sauces, either the roux must be hot and the liquid cold, or the liquid hot and the roux cold to prevent lumps
          • Or mixing with cold liquid as in cornstarch slurry
        • Lumps occur because the outside of the starch clumps quickly gelatinizing into a coating that prevents the liquid from reaching the starch inside

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      •  Proportions of Roux to Liquid for Sauce Consistency

      Consistency Butter/Fat Flour Liquid
      Thin 1 tbs butter/fat 1 tbs flour 1.33 cup liquid
      Medium 1 tbs butter/fat 1 tbs flour 1 cup liquid
      Thick 1 tbs butter/fat 1 tbs flour 0.66 cup liquid
      Thin 6 oz butter/fat 6 oz flour 1 gal liquid
      Medium 9 oz butter/fat 9 oz flour 1 gal liquid
      Thick 12 oz butter/fat 12 oz flour 1 gal liquid

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      • Mixing Roux with Liquid
        • Liquid may be added to roux, or roux may be added to liquid
        • Always add hot roux to cold liquid, or cold roux to hot liquid, otherwise risk of lumps
        • Adding Liquid to Roux
          • Add fat to sauce pan, heat through, add starch to fat stir to make paste
          • Cook until white and bubbly with a nutty smell
          • Add cold liquid to roux in several stages, whisking to prevent lumps at each stage
          • Bring liquid to boil (ensures max gelatinization/thickening), reduce to simmer, keep whisking
          • Soft simmer, stir often, to desired thickness
          • Cover and keep warm, or cool for future use
        • Adding Roux to Liquid
          • Bring liquid to simmer in pot
          • Add a small amount of previously made cold roux, stir in
          • Continue to add small amounts of roux, stirring frequently, until desired consistency
          • Bring liquid to boil (ensures max gelatinization/thickening), reduce to simmer, keep whisking
          • Continue to simmer until roux is cooked down
          • Sauce will thicken as it reduces

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      • Sauces Made with Roux
        • Begin by melting butter (or other fat of choice) in the pan, keeping it yellow
        • Add an equal amount of flour, consistency of wall paper paste, cook the roux to cook out the proteins from the flour, the roux will turn whiter and give a nutty smell when ready, keep whisking, let it get bubbly, good roux without raw, starchy, pasty taste
          • White Roux: Cooked just long enough to get rid of protein flavors
          • Blonde Roux: Cooked a couple minutes longer to develop light golden color
          • Brown Roux: Cooked longer, develop brown color for brown sauces, eg. used for espagnole sauce
          • Brick Roux: Cooked longer yet, develop dark red-brown color, think New Orleans style, Cajun sauce making
          • Remember that the longer you cook the roux the less thickening power it will have, so you will need more of it to achieve the same thickening power
        • Bechamel Sauce Basics
          • Add milk, sauce thickens to cottage cheese consistency, keep whisking
          • Continue to add milk and whisk until you achieve the desired consistency
          • Use this to
            • make cream soups (mushroom, shrimp, celery, onion, meatballs, broccoli, etc)
            • poach sauteed beef cube steaks or pork chops in it with mushrooms, eg., low and slow in oven
            • add cheese, eg, cheddar and swiss for macaroni and cheese sauce, or for serving over broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, etc
        • Veloute Sauce Basics
          • Same method as bechamel, except use a white stock instead of milk
          • Shrimp broth, chicken broth, if adding wine or other acid wait for the sauce to thicken fully first, because acid inhibits thickening (gelatinization of starches)
          • Saute garlic in a pan, make roux, add broth (chicken, shrimp, beef)
          • After sauce has thickened, add white wine or a little lemon juice as desired
          • Let the sauce thicken a bit, optionally add 1 tbs parmesan cheese, stir continuously, or other cheeses
          • Serve over sauteed salmon, chicken, pork, beef, vegetables, etc

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      • Beurre Manie -- Sauce or soup thickener
        • Dough consisting of equal parts soft butter and flour used to thicken sauces and soups
        • Similar to roux and used like roux, but not cooked -- sometimes referred to as "emergency" thickening, because cooked roux produces a nutty aroma and flavor, eliminating the somewhat pasty flavor and aroma of undercooked roux
        • Still, beurre manie at room temperature may be whisked into a warm sauce for thickening without forming clumps, and is ideal for thickening at the end for bechamel or veloute sauces

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      • Dark Roux -- Dark sauce or soup thickener
        • Making and storing a dark brown roux to be used anytime a dark thickening agent is desired, to produce dark sauces and gravies
        • Good for any dark gravy or sauce but ideal for beef, or pork, or lamb
        • Ingredients
          • 1 stick of butter
          • 8 oz to 10 oz of flour (roux is usually 50-50 fat and flour, but dark roux has only 1/2 the thickening power of blond roux, so this dark roux needs to absorb the max amount of flour, not liquidy, but plop-able [doesn't pour but plops off the whisk])
        • Procedure
          • Cook this roux as usual, but go beyond the blond stage to brown to dark brown in color
          • Melt 8 oz butter in sauce pan
          • Add 8 oz to 10 oz of flour (roux is usually 50-50 fat and flour, but dark roux has only 1/2 the thickening power of blond roux, so this dark roux needs to absorb the max amount of flour/starch to maximize its thickening power, not liquidy, but plop-able [doesn't pour but plops off the whisk])
          • To store this dark roux for future use, get a loaf pan lined with parchment paper, then pour/scrape the dark roux into the loaf pan
          • First refrigerate to harden, then cut the hardened roux into 1" cubes, then freeze in freezer bag for whenever desired

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      • Basic Cornstarch Slurry Sauce -- Asian Vegetable Stir-Fry Example
        • Saute vegetables, beginning with the hardest that need to cook longest, in this case carrots slices, then diced onions, celery, garlic, broccoli florets, save mushrooms which need the least cooking for later
        • After the above vegetables have heated through, add some chicken broth to poach the vegetables and add flavor
        • After poaching a bit, make a cornstarch slurry with a heaping tbs of cornstarch and 2 tbs soy sauce (using water or any desired broth instead of soy sauce is ok, just add some soy sauce separately)
        • Add the cornstarch slurry to the pan, and bring sauce back to simmer to maximize thickening
        • Nappe: the thickness of the sauce, put spoon in sauce, and test the nappe by running finger along the back of the spoon to see the thickness
        • Sauce will thicken and cling to vegetables and back of spoon
        • Add a tsp of sesame oil for flavor, optionally add a tbs of dark brown sugar
        • Add mushrooms, continue to cook for a couple of minutes
        • Now we have stir-fried vegetables, serve over rice or noodles as is
        • Or, starting completely over, saute chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, scallops, salmon, then cook the vegetables and make sauce in that saute pan along with the fond from the protein product for max flavor
        • Add brown sugar, honey, ginger, coconut milk, lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, pineapple, other fruits, cilantro, basil, curry, red chili pepper, etc, as desired
        • Cornstarch slurry is great for Asian dishes, but can be used in other ways, eg., tomato sauce for an Italian dish, or with beef stock for salisbury steak, experiment, use any time you want a more transparent sauce

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      • How to Tell If Your Sauce Is Thick Enough, Nappe
        • Check for Nappe
        • Insert spoon in your sauce, then drag finger across the back of the spoon
        • How long does the sauce on the back of the spoon stay separated?
        • When the sauce just stays separated, it's thick enough, but adjust for your own desired consistency

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