Mother Sauces Essay

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What Are The 5 Basic Mother Sauces? Mother Sauces And How You Can Adapt Them By Celeste Stewart Published June 02, 2008 http://www.lifescript.com/Body/Food/Cook/What_Are_The_5_Basic_Mother_Sauces.aspx When watching the Food Network or thumbing through cooking magazines, you may run into the term “mother sauces.” No, Emeril hasn’t just invented the “mother of all sauces.” This term dates back to the early 1800s, when French chef Antonin Careme broke down sauces into five categories known as the five mother sauces. These sauces provide the foundation for hundreds of different sauces that have mystified many amateur cooks. By learning the basics of each mother-sauce category, you will be well on your way toward making your own fantastic derivatives. The Five Mother Sauces Mother sauces date back to the 18th century, when lack of refrigeration caused foods to spoil much faster. Sauces were often used to cover up the flavor of less-than-perfect meats, poultry and seafood. The five mother sauces include béchamel sauce, veloute sauce, brown or Espagnole sauce, Hollandaise sauce and tomato sauce. These sauces are also collectively referred to in French as “sayces meres” or “grandes sauces.” Each sauce has a distinct characteristic: Béchamel sauce is white, veloute sauce is blond, Espagnole sauce is brown, Hollandaise sauce is buttery and tomato sauce is red. One look at a sauce and you should quickly be able to ascertain the mother sauce from which it is derived. The reason mother sauces have stood the test of time is that they are incredibly versatile and provide the basic foundation on which you can build dozens of other sauces. For example, if you add diced shallots, white wine or vinegar, tarragon and peppercorns to Hollandaise sauce, you have a derivative known as béarnaise sauce. What Exactly is a Sauce? Before you can fully appreciate the mother sauces, you should

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