Mother Sauce

A basic sauce that serves as a base sauce to use in making other variations of the original sauce. Initially perfected by the French, all sauces are now universally categorized into one of 5 groups of sauces serving as a base or foundation for others sauces and referred to as the Grand or Mother Sauces. This group of sauces must be able to prepared in large batches for use as a foundation for making smaller versions that are seasoned and flavored separately, but all using one of the 5 Grand Sauces as their base. The Grand Sauces include:

1) Brown (demi-glace) or Espagnole - sauces that are brown stock-based, such as brown sauces. Common sauces in this group include Bordelaise, Chasseur, Chateaubriand, Diable, Diane, Estragon, Lyonnaise, Madère, Madeira, Moscovite, Mushroom, Piquante, Porto, Robert, Romaine, Tarragon, and Zingara.

2) Velouté - sauces that are made with white stock and roux. Common sauces in this group include, Allemande, Ravigote, Suprème, and White Bordelaise.

3) Béchamel - sauces that are made with milk and pale roux. Common sauces in this group include Crème, Mornay and Soubise.

4) Red or Tomato Sauces - tomato based sauces. Common sauces in this category include Spaghetti sauce, Marinara sauce and a wide variety of tomato sauces.

5) Emulsions - sauces that are emulsified such as Hollandaise or Mayonnaise.