French Classic Sauces
French Sauces are prevalent in French cooking. They are used not only as
toppings for simple cooked
foods, like grilled
meat or steamed
vegetables, but also as
ingredients within other recipes.
To make French sauces can be intimidating, but practice makes perfect and once made, the next will already be easy and simple
Types of French Sauces:
Classic French sauces can be categorized by how they are made. There are several sauces which are all based on one
sauce, called the Mother sauce (Sauce Mère). Learning how to make the Mother sauce will make it so easy to make varieties of sauces. After learning how to make Mayonnaise, Bechamel Sauce and
Hollandaise Sauce, dozens of different sauces can be made and so does hudnred of delicious dishes using Sauces.
A.
Roux Sauces
Roux is made by melting butter, stirring in
flour and letting it brown some. It is the start of making many French sauces.
(1) White Sauce (Sauce
Blanche) - It is a Roux combined with
water or stock.
(2)
Bechamel Sauce (Sauce Béchamel) - It is Roux combined with
milk. Used in many recipes including lasagne.
(3)
Cheese Sauce (Sauce Mornay) - It is a Béchamel sauce made with cheese. Usually served with steamed vegetables and fish.
(4)
Onion Sauce (Sauce
Soubise ) - It is a
Béchamel sauce made with onions. This sauce is best served with grilled meats.
(5) Green Sauce (Sauce Verte) refers to a White sauce with lots of fresh herbs added.
(6) Cardinal Sauce (Sauce Cardinal) - It is a red sauce flavored with
lobster butter and sometimes a pinch of Cayenne. It is served on fish.
B. Cold Emulsified Sauces
Cold Emulsified Sauces are based on the Mayonnaise which is made by emulsifying oil with eggs. Emulsifying consists of gradually adding oil to another liquid so that the oil evenly disperses in tiny droplets throughout the resulting mixture.
(1) Aioli - It is a Mayonnaise made with
garlic. Use as using Mayonnaise.
Aioli is great with chilled
shrimp or
hard boiled eggs.
(2) Rémoulade Sauce - It is Mayonnaise with mustard, chopped capers,
anchovies, pickles and herbs. In
France, raw
celery root is mostly and likely to be served in a
Remoulade sauce.
(3) Tartar Sauce (Sauce
Tartare) - It is Mayonnaise with chopped egg yolks, chives, pickles and capers. Usually served with fried fish or fish
chips.
(4) Green Sauce (Sauce Verte) - It is made from Mayonnaise that is flavored with finely chopped herbs, like
parsley, tarragon, chervil, etc.
C. Stock Sauces
These sauces are based on either chicken or fish (Fond
blanc) or meat stock (Fond brun). The White sauce above is considered a Stock sauce as well as a Roux sauce. Combining a Roux with beef stock results in Brown Sauce. Brown sauce is also known as a
Spanish Sauce. The following are examples of Stock Sauces:
(1) Tomato Cream Sauce (Sauce Aurore) - It is White sauce made with pureed tomatoes. Great on all sorts of things, such as chicken, fish, vegetables.
(2) Wine Sauce (Sauce Bordelaise) - It is Brown sauce made with wine. Served with meats.
(3) Madeira Sauce - It is Brown sauce made with Madeira wine from Portugal. Madeira Sauce goes very well with
poultry and some vegetables, like
Endive
(4) Mushroom Sauce (Sauce aux Champignons) - It is White sauce made with mushrooms (
Champignons).
(5) Financiere Sauce (Sauce Financière) - It is another kind of White sauce with mushrooms, with added
wine, ham, and
truffle bits.
(6) Pepper Sauce (Sauce
Poivrade ) - It is Brown sauce with
bacon,
carrots, onions, shallots and cracked
pepper corns. It is served with red meat and games (rabbit, deer, etc).
(7) Supreme Sauce . It is a White sauce made with chicken stock and cream. Served with chicken, poached eggs, and
asparagus. In
Germany, white asparagus is served with Sauce Hollandaise
D. Hot Emulsified Sauces
Hollandaise sauce and Bernaise sauce are examples of hot emulsions made with egg yolks and butter. Bernaise sauce includes tarragon and also reduced vinegar. Both Hollandaise and Bernaise sauces form the
basis of other French sauces, such as:
(1)
Mousseline - It is Hollandiase sauce made with
beaten cream.
(2) Mustard Sauce (Sauce à la Moutarde) - It is Hollandaise made with
mustard. It is often served with fish or
chicken.
(3) Maltese Sauce (
Orange Sauce) - Hollandaise sauce flavored with blood oranges. It is served with poached fish and steamed vegetables, but also served with asparagus. I have not tried this while in Germany as the traditional sauce for asparagus id Hollandaise sauce. Maybe I can try this during White asparagus
season.
(4) Choron Sauce (Sauce
Choron) - It is Bernaise sauce made with tomato
puree. It is served with beef.
(5)
Foyot Sauce (Sauce Foyot) - It is Bernaise sauce made with reduced meat stock. It is served with
beef and
steamed vegetables.
E. Other Sauces
The following are other varieties of French sauces:
(1) Blue Cheese Sauce (Sauce au Roquefort)
(2) Green Peppercorn Sauce (Sauce aux
Poivrons Vert) - It is ade with green peppercorns, which are less spicy and more
fruity than black peppercorns. This sauce goes well with grilled fish.
(3)
White Butter (
Beurre Blanc )- It is a rich sauce made mostly of
butter flavored with shallots and
vinegar. Served with
fish and and vegetables.
(4)
Dill Sauce
Recipe (Sauce à l'aneth)- A creamy sauce with lots of
shallots and fresh dill which perfect with
poached salmon
(5) Homemade
Tomato Sauce refers to a light and tasty coulis made from fully ripened tomatoes. Great with grilled meats and vegetables.
(6) Custard Sauce - a a
dessert sauce.
Crème anglaise is used in a variety ways in French desserts.
There are so many other
French sauces recipes available and hopefully, I can all add them in this list later.
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