Sauce | Mother Sauce | Types | Importance

Sauce | Mother Sauce | Types | Importance | Making of Mother sauce

Sauce may be defined as flavourful liquid usually thickened that is used to season, flavour and enhance other food . Sauce is mainly used for moistness, richness, appearance and flavour. " The sauce is to culinary art what grammar is to language" . A perfect sauce has colourful appearance,glowing in its Rich smoothness, definite taste and natural flavour.

The structure of sauce is :-

I) A liquid, body of sauce

II) Thickening agent

III) Additional seasonings.

IMPORTANCES OF SAUCES IN FOOD PREPARATION

I) Enhance flavours

II) Sauces helps in digestion e.g Mint sauce

III) It give moistness to the food

IV) It add colour to the food

V. Enhances Nutritional value of the food

VI. Makes food more palatable

VII. Served as an accompaniment

GOOD QUALITIES OF SAUCE :-

1. The texture should be soft and smooth

2. Sauce should have good shine

3. There should not be uncooked starch

4. They should not be thick like paste

5. They should not be highly flavoured

6. Also sauce should be colourful and nutritious

Mother sauce :

'Mother Sauce ' refers to anyone of the five basic sauces which are starting point for making various secondary sauces .

They are called Mother sauces because each one like the head of its own unique family of sauces.

Each mother sauce is made with different liquid and different thickening agents although three of the mother sauces are thickened with Roux. In each case, Roux is cooked for a different amount of time to produce lighter or darker colour. Roux is a mixture of flour and butter in equal quantity cooked together. For white sauce ( bechamel ) we need white roux , for veloute we need blonde roux and for brown sauce we need brown roux. Roux can be pronounced as ' Ru ' more specifically (Ru)

Bechamel sauce :

Bechamel sauce is named after Louis de bechamel . It is prepared with white roux and mildly flavoured with onion . It does not require stick and made with Milk, flour and butter .

Recipe for bechamel sauce :

Ingredients. 5 litre. 1 litre

Flour. 450 gram. 90 gram

Butter. 450 gram. 90 gram

Milk. 5 litres. 1 litre

Studded onion. 125 gram. 25 gram

With clove and bay leaf

Preparation :

Bring milk to boil with studded onion and set aside

Melt butter,add flour , stir and cook roux over gentle heat without colouring till it gets sandy texture

Pour the milk into the roux stirring continuously with a wooden spoon to avoid lump

Simmer gently for half an hour . Remove studded onion and pass through a fine strainer.

II) VELOUTE SAUCE :

it is a basic blond sauce . It is prepared from blond roux and a stock. it gets its name from the type of stock used .

Recipe for veloute :

Ingredients. 5 litre. 1 litre

Butter. 400 gram. 90 gram

Flour. 400 gram. 90 gram

Stock. 5 litre. 1 litre

Preparation :

Prepare blond roux

Add cold stock to the roux, stir vigorously to avoid lumps.

Simmer gently for one hour , stirring frequently with wooden spoon.

Pass through a fine strainer.

Note :- fish veloute should be cooked for 20 minutes only and wine should be added at a later stage

3. BROWN OR ESPAGNOLE SAUCE :-

It is made by thickening brown stock with roux . It is made with tomato puree and roasted Mirepoix for deeper colour . Demi-glaze is derrivative of brown stock and widely used for other brown sauce derrivative.

Recipe for Brown sauce :-

Ingredients. 5 litre. 1 litre

Butter 300 gram. 60 gram

Flour. 350 gram. 70 gram

Tomato puree. 150 gram. 30 gram

Brown stock. 8 litre. 1 1/4 litre

Butter. 75 gram. 15 gram

Carrots. 350 gram. 70 gram

Onions 350 gram. 70 gram

Parsley,celery,bayleaf. 10 gram. 3 gram

Method of preparation :-

Prepare brown roux in a heavy bottomed pan and cool.

Add tomato puree constantly stirring to prevent lumps

Gradually mix in hot stock ,stirring to blend well and cook on gentle fire.

Saute the Mirepoix in fat and add sauteed vegetables to the sauce .

Simmer for 4-6 hour and remove scum when it comes to top.

Note :- over browning should be avoided as this tends to make sauce bitter

4. HOLLANDAISE SAUCE :-

it is warm yellow and rich sauce with high percentage of fat and egg yolk . It is emulsion of butter , lemon juice and egg yolk. It is accompaniment to cauliflower , asparagus , brocolli and served over grilled or baked fish , vegetables .

Recipe of Hollandaise sauce :-

Ingredients. 500 gram. 200 gram

Butter. 500 gram. 200 gram

Egg yolk. 5 nos. 2 nos

Lemon juice. 10 ml. 5 ml

Crushed peppercorns. 8 5

Method of preparation :-

Melt butter in a pan and keep aside.

Place crushed peppercorns and vinegar in a pan and reduced completly.

Add one tablespoon of water and let it cool.

Add egg yolk and whisk.

Place the pan in a double boiler and whisk the egg yolks till a sabayon is formed . Then gradually add the melted butter till it gets blended and form smooth Sauce. Add lemon juice

Strain through a fine strainer.

NOTE :- IF HOLLANDAISE TURNS OR CURDLES OR IS TOO THICK ,BEAT A LITTLE HOT WATER ,A LITTLE AT A TIME. IF TOO THIN, ADD A TEASPOON OF LEMON JUICE TO TABLE SPOON OF SAUCE IN WARM BOWL AMD WHISK UNTILL IT IS THICK. THEN ADD REMAINING MIXTURE A LITTLE AT A TIME WHISKING.

5. Tomato sauce