Mother Sauces
The mother sauces are five foundational sauces of classical French cooking: béchamel, velouté, espagnole, sauce tomate and hollandaise. Learn these five and you can make hundreds of "daughter" sauces by adding flavourings, cheeses, herbs or reductions.
The five mother sauces
| Sauce | Base liquid | Thickener | Classic daughter sauces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Béchamel | Milk | White roux | Mornay (cheese), soubise (onion), crème |
| Velouté | Light stock (chicken, veal, fish) | Blond roux | Suprême, allemande, Bercy |
| Espagnole | Brown stock | Brown roux, tomato, mirepoix | Demi-glace, bordelaise, chasseur |
| Sauce tomate | Tomatoes and stock | Reduction (classically roux) | Creole, Provençale, Portuguese |
| Hollandaise | Clarified butter | Egg yolk emulsion | Béarnaise, maltaise, mousseline |
The science behind each
Starch-thickened (béchamel, velouté, espagnole). Flour cooked in butter is whisked into liquid and simmered. Its starch granules swell and burst between about 60 and 95 °C / 140 and 203 °F, a process called starch gelatinization, thickening the sauce. A medium sauce uses about 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp flour per 250 ml (1 cup) liquid.
Reduction-thickened (tomato). Simmering evaporates water, concentrating tomato pectin and solids. Escoffier's version used roux and pork, but most modern cooks thicken by reduction alone.
Emulsion-thickened (hollandaise). Egg yolks are whisked over gentle heat until thick, then warm butter is whisked in slowly. Lecithin and proteins in the yolk hold butterfat droplets in suspension. Hold hollandaise around 60–65 °C / 140–150 °F; hotter and it scrambles, cooler and it thickens and can break.
Why they're called "mother" sauces
Carême, the 19th-century chef, organized French sauces into families. Escoffier refined the system in Le Guide Culinaire (1903), and culinary schools still teach it as the framework for understanding sauces: master the base, then vary it.
Modern additions
Many cooks would add a few more "mothers" today:
- Mayonnaise: cold emulsion; parent of aioli, tartar sauce and rémoulade.
- Vinaigrette: temporary emulsion; parent of countless dressings.
- Beurre blanc: warm butter emulsion; see beurre blanc.
- Pan sauces and jus: reduction-based sauces built from fond.
Tips for mastering them
- Make béchamel first; it teaches roux and lump-free whisking.
- Use good homemade stock for velouté and espagnole; it supplies body from gelatin.
- Season at the end, after reduction.
- Strain starch-based sauces through a fine sieve for a silky texture.
Questions
Who created the five mother sauces?
Chef Marie-Antoine Carême grouped French sauces into four families in the early 1800s. Auguste Escoffier revised the list in the early 1900s into the five taught today.
Is mayonnaise a mother sauce?
Not in Escoffier's list of five, though many chefs treat it as a mother sauce for cold sauces, since it spawns aioli, rémoulade, tartar sauce and more.
Which mother sauce is easiest to make?
Béchamel. It needs only butter, flour and milk, takes about 15 minutes, and teaches the roux technique used for velouté and espagnole.
What is a daughter sauce?
A sauce built from a mother sauce by adding ingredients. Mornay, for example, is béchamel with cheese, and béarnaise is hollandaise with tarragon and shallot reduction.