Sauces are to cuisine as color is to painting. Sauces bring variety to mundane, moisture to dry, fla- vor to bland, another interest layer to flat, color in contrast, and variety to the menu. One of my all time favorite restaurants was Jacks on Sacramento Street in San Francisco. As it turns out, it was also a favorite of my father’s in the 1940’s. Had my grand father been from the region, it could have been a favorite of his, as Jack’s was founded before the turn of the century. Absolutely the greatest free form menu I had ever seen. They are no longer around as the original restaurant much to my regret but the Ala Carte menu was incredible. A patron could assemble a menu right down to the sauces. The following is a list of some of my favorite sauces on their ample daily menu:
Roberts Sauce
Madeira sauce
Mornay Sauce
Marrow Sauce
Béarnaise sauce
Piquant Sauce
Mousseline Sauce
Bordelaise Sauce (Marrow Wine Sauce) Marchand de vin (Mushroom Wine Sauce) Lemon or Mustard Beurre Blanc
I grouped the first four of these together as “mother sauces” that are launching sauces of many other variations not mentioned here.
Is gravy a sauce?
I would have to say it is. To make an argument to the contrary, one would have to find an easy way to differentiate gravy making from sauce making which could be a daunting task. In mak- ing gravy, the desired color and consistency are important factors in determining the approach to how it is made.
Lighter gravies may be a clarified stock that in simply reduced to concentrate it flavor. Reduc- tion is a key to concentrating the flavors rendered into a liquid be it water, milk, wine, or a stock. To accelerate the process, use a frying pan or a wide Dutch oven where steam can readily be expunged.
Brown gravies are often improved by browned or caramelized ingredients. This is where meats and vegetable are pre-browned by broiling, roasting and frying to deepen both their fla- vors and color. This is an extra step, and, if you don’t have the time for this step, there are sev- eral things that can be done:
• Start with a stock or broth instead of water
• Add flavored brandies, wines, sherries, ports
• Use a coloring agent like caramel color, dark soy, or Kitchen Bouquet
• Include flavorful ingredient like dried porcini or other mushrooms
• Add fish sauce or even mashed anchovies
• Some combination of these things
Kitchen Bouquet, a brand name product, for browning and seasoning sauce for meats, gravies, and stews who’s ingredients include caramel coloring, mixed vegetable stock, salt and parsley. Mushroom soy also is very dark and adds pungent soy flavor.
Demi Glace
When a stock is reduced to the mere essence of itself, what is left over is a few tablespoons of intensely flavored and rich stock. Today’s purveyor of fine foods now routinely sell a whole vari- ety of these for the serious chef including classic reduced veal and beef stock, venison stock, roasted lamb stock, roasted chicken demi-glace, classic roasted duck and chicken stock, rendered duck fat, and roasted vegetable demi-glace to name but some of the most popular offerings. These are fabulous time savers and allow the busy chef easy access to incredible flavor enhancing meth- ods. In practical use, a tablespoon or two is generally all that is required for a stew, sauce, reduc- tion, risotto, or gravy. For more information see http://www.morethangourmet.com/
If making demi-glace at home, do not salt your stock. Patience is the order of the day. The process must be low and slow. Demi-glace may NOT be made from fish stock alone. You must add gelatin to a fish stock. If a quart is to reduce to four tablespoons, then 1 packet of gelatin is plenty. A demi-glace made from fish stock should be used within a few days as it is best fresh.
White Sauce (Bechamel)
The easily prepared sauce is purportedly named after the bon vivant 17th century Louis de Bechameil then the economic advisor and honorary chief steward to King Louis 14th most likely as a form of flattery by Louis’ court chef Francois Pierre de la Varenne. As you might well imagine, the Italians, who “invented fine cuisine” and taught the French the meaning of cooking, claim that the sauce originated in the kitchens of Catherine de Medici and became imported to the French court when she married the French Duke of Orleans, in an arranged marriage, who later ruled as King Henri II.
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
pinch of white pepper 1⁄2 chopped onion,
5 dried bay leaves
Simmer for ten minutes. Strain and reserve liquid. Over medium heat melt three tablespoons of unsalted butter to which is added 3 tablespoons of flour, stir constantly with a wooden spoon , and optionally a little Kitchen Bouquet, a brand name product, for browning and seasoning sauce for meats, gravies, and stews who’s ingredients include caramel coloring, mixed vegetable stock, salt and parsley. Mushroom soy also is very dark and adds pungent soy flavor.
Demi Glace
When a stock is reduced to the mere essence of itself, what is left over is a few tablespoons of intensely flavored and rich stock. Today’s purveyor of fine foods now routinely sell a whole vari- ety of these for the serious chef including classic reduced veal and beef stock, venison stock, roasted lamb stock, roasted chicken demi-glace, classic roasted duck and chicken stock, rendered duck fat, and roasted vegetable demi-glace to name but some of the most popular offerings. These are fabulous time savers and allow the busy chef easy access to incredible flavor enhancing meth- ods. In practical use, a tablespoon or two is generally all that is required for a stew, sauce, reduc- tion, risotto, or gravy. For more information see http://www.morethangourmet.com/
If making demi-glace at home, do not salt your stock. Patience is the order of the day. The process must be low and slow. Demi-glace may NOT be made from fish stock alone. You must add gelatin to a fish stock. If a quart is to reduce to four tablespoons, then 1 packet of gelatin is plenty. A demi-glace made from fish stock should be used within a few days as it is best fresh.
White Sauce (Bechamel)
The easily prepared sauce is purportedly named after the bon vivant 17th century Louis de Becha-
meil then the economic advisor and honorary chief steward to King Louis 14th most likely as a form of flattery by Louis’ court chef Francois Pierre de la Varenne. As you might well imagine, the Italians, who “invented fine cuisine” and taught the French the meaning of cooking, claim that the sauce originated in the kitchens of Catherine de Medici and became imported to the French court when she married the French Duke of Orleans, in an arranged marriage, who later ruled as King Henri II.
In a stock pot, add: 1 cup of milk
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
5 cloves
pinch of white pepper 1⁄2 chopped onion,
5 dried bay leaves
Simmer for ten minutes. Strain and reserve liquid. Over medium heat melt three tablespoons of unsalted butter to which is added 3 tablespoons of flour, stir constantly with a wooden spoon or whisk. When the mixture just begins to color a pale brown, remove from heat, briefly allow to cool a minute, add the warm flavored milk, and heat with out boiling until the sauce thickens. Correct for salt. Add more white pepper if necessary and optionally flavor the sauce with one or more of any the following depending on what the sauce is being served with:
Finely chopped chives Finely chopped Tarragon Finely chopped Marjoram Finely chopped Chervil Finely chopped Sage Finely chopped parsley Nutmeg or Mace
Ground Cloves Ground Coriander Ground Ginger Ground dried onions Tomato Paste Lemon juice Mustard
Sherry
Port
Marasala wine
Dry white wine
Meat or fish stock demi glace
Your brother’s old socks (hey you are paying attention)
White Sauce is the basis for many cheese sauces. A veloute sauce starts just like the white sauce except, instead of all milk or cream, it uses a clear stock from veal, fish, chicken or veg- etables which may or may not also include wine, sherry, Madeira, or champagne. A veloute sauce may or may not also include cream. To deepen the flavor of the veloute, I often use a chicken or veal demi-glace and that will take that sauce down the corner and around the block. The ratio of butter/flour to liquid determines the sauce’s thickness. The following ratios are good starting points:
Thick Sauce consists of 3-butter/flour per unit of liquid Medium Sauce consists of 2-butter/flour per unit of liquid Thin Sauce consists of 1-butter/flour per unit of liquid
The addition of cheese to a white sauce will thicken it so start with a medium sauce if making a cheese sauce. If it is still too thick, add more liquid. Most starch-thickened-sauces reach their thickest after they begin to boil. After the heat has been removed, the residual heat may continue to thicken the sauce. A sauce that sits on a stove top may form a thin “crust”. You may “float” some milk or other liquid on top of the sauce to help prevent a crust. A sure method for achieving consistent results in a white sauce is to strain it with a wire basket just before its use. If the sauce is thick, use the back of a spoon to help press it through the strainer.
White sauce and veloute find their way into many uses including pastas, casseroles, fish, fowl, shell fish, and vegetable dishes. Harmonization of a veloute sauce often calls from the juice run off of the cooking process or the broth the vegetables cooked in.
Thickeners
Forms of starch are particularly suited as thickening agents. Popular choices are flour, flour-butter mixtures, corn or potato starch, arrowroot, bread. Some non-starch thickeners include filè, egg yolks, cream, butter, ground nuts, and puree of vegetables
Filé powder, also called gumbo filé, is a spicy herb made from the dried and ground leaves of the North American sassafras tree and is used throughout the South part of the USA.
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