
Allemande: chicken or veal velouté with lemon juice, egg yolk, and creamĪlthough it’s not traditional, you can also make vegetarian velouté using vegetable stock. Venetian: chicken or fish velouté with tarragon, shallots, and parsley. Normande: fish velouté with cream, butter, and egg yolks. Hungarian: chicken or veal velouté with onion, paprika, and white wine. Supreme: chicken velouté with heavy cream and mushrooms. Some popular sauces derived from velouté include: Next, slowly stir in warm stock and let it simmer until a creamy, light sauce forms.Ī basic velouté can be used by itself on meats and vegetables, or fashioned into numerous secondary sauces.
To make velouté, start by making a white roux with butter and flour. Chicken stock is the most common choice, but you can also use other white stocks, such as those made from veal or fish.Ī 2-ounce (60-mL) serving of chicken velouté contains approximately ( 1, 2, 4): Velouté is similar to béchamel because it’s a white sauce thickened with roux, but it features stock for the base instead of milk. Stock is a savory, flavorful cooking liquid created by simmering bones, herbs, and aromatic vegetables for several hours. It’s often used to create classic cream-based sauces.Ī velouté is a simple sauce made from butter, flour, and stock. summaryīéchamel is a rich, white sauce made from flour, butter, and milk. Cheddar sauce: béchamel with whole milk and cheddar cheeseīéchamel and its derivative sauces can be used in countless dishes, including casseroles, creamy soups, and pastas.
Nantua: béchamel with shrimp, butter, and heavy cream. Soubise: béchamel with butter and caramelized onions. Mornay: béchamel with onion, cloves, Gruyère cheese, and Parmesan. Popular sauces made from béchamel include: With the addition of a few extra seasonings like salt, pepper, and cloves, béchamel is complete - though it may be used as a base for many other sauces. When the roux is ready, slowly whisk in warm milk and simmer it until it forms a smooth, creamy sauce. It’s only cooked for about 2–3 minutes - long enough to remove the starchy texture of the flour but not so long that the butter begins to brown. There are many styles of roux, but the one used for béchamel is called white roux. The roux is responsible for thickening the sauce. To make béchamel, start by cooking butter and flour in a saucepan until it forms a thick, paste-like substance called a roux. This article highlights the 5 French mother sauces, explaining how they’re made, their basic nutrient information, and some secondary sauces you can make from them.īéchamel, or white sauce, is a simple milk-based sauce made from butter, flour, and whole milk.Ī 2-ounce (60-mL) serving provides approximately ( 1, 2, 3): When his book was translated to English, mayonnaise was left out and Hollandaise was listed as a mother sauce. Each mother sauce is primarily categorized according to its unique base and thickener.Įscoffier originally designated 4 primary mother sauces, along with mayonnaise as a cold mother sauce and Hollandaise as a “daughter” sauce.
There are countless varieties of French sauces, the majority of which are derived from one of five mother sauces.Ĭreated in the 1800s by chef Auguste Escoffier, mother sauces are basic concoctions that serve as a foundation for any number of secondary sauce variations. After all, a well-crafted sauce adds moisture, richness, complexity, and color to almost any dish.
Classical French cuisine has been extraordinarily influential in the culinary world.Įven if you don’t fancy yourself a chef, you’ve probably incorporated elements of classical French cooking into your home kitchen on more than one occasion.įrench cuisine is renowned for its liberal use of flavorful sauces.