Sauces

In cooking, a sauce is liquid or sometimes semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. more...

Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted. Sauces need a liquid component, but some sauces (for example, salsa or chutney) may contain more solid elements than liquid.

Sauces may be prepared sauces, such as soy sauce, which are usually bought, not made, by the cook; or cooked sauces, such as Béchamel sauce, which are generally made just before serving. Sauces for salads are called salad dressing. Sauces made by deglazing a pan are called pan sauces.

A person who specializes in making sauces is often referred to as a "saucier", a French term borrowed for its situational usefulness. Sauces are an essential element in cuisines all over the world. Some famous sauciers include Julia Child, Benjamin Christie, Bobby Flay, Yutake Ishinabe, and François Pierre La Varenne.

Sauces in French Cuisine

Sauces in French cuisine date back to Medieval times. There were hundreds of sauces in the culinary repertoire. In 'classical' French cooking (19th and 20th century until nouvelle cuisine), sauces were a major defining characteristic of French cuisine.

In the 19th century, the chef Antonin Carême classified sauces into four families, each of which was based on a mother sauce (Also called grand sauces). Carême's four mother sauces were:

• Allemande, based on white stock, thickened with egg yolk.
• Béchamel, based on milk, thickened with roux.
• Espagnole, based on brown stock (usually veal), thickened with roux.
• Velouté, based on a white stock, thickened with roux.

In the early 20th century, the chef Auguste Escoffier updated the classification, adding new sauces such as Tomato Sauce, butter sauces and emulsified sauces such as Mayonnaise and Hollandaise.

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