Understanding Sauces and How To Make Sauces

The Functions of Sauces

A sauce is defined as a flavorful liquid, usually thickened, which is used to season, flavor, and enhance the food that it is added to. Here we will define what is in a sauce, and how to make sauces.

To see a classic white sauce recipe now, known as Bechamel sauce, click on the link below. Or look to see some of my other Sauce Recipes.

White Sauce Recipe

Rum Sauce Recipe

White Wine Sauce Recipe

A sauce adds the following qualities to foods:

• Moistness
• Flavor
• Richness
• Appearance (color and shine)
• Interest and appetite appeal

The structure of Sauces

The major sauces are made of three kinds of ingredients:

• A liquid, the body of the sauce
• A thickening agent
• Additional seasoning and flavoring ingredients

Liquid

In a Professional kitchen, there are five liquid bases on which most sauces are built. Out of these bases, almost any sauce can be made. They are called Leading Sauces or Mother Sauces.

• White stock (chicken, veal, or fish) - for Veloute Sauces
• Brown stock - for Brown Sauce or espagnole (pronounced ess-pahn-yohl)
• Milk - for Bechamel
• Tomatoe plus stock - for tomato Sauce
• Clarified butter - for Hollandaise

Mother Sauces

Also in a Professional kitchen, of these five Mother Sauces, they are built (made) by combining Liquid + Thickening Agent = Mother Sauce. They are:

• Milk + White roux = Bechamel Sauce (white sauce).
• White stock (veal, chicken, fish) + White or blond roux = Veloute (veal veloute, chicken veloute, fish veloute).
• Brown stock + Brown roux = Brown Sauce or Espagnole.
• Tomato plus stock + (optional roux) = Tomato Sauce.
• Butter + Egg yolks = Hollandaise.

In a professional kitchen, The most frequently used sauces are based on stock. The quality of these sauces depends on the the stock that is used, as well as the procedure that is used to make these stocks.

In a homemakers kitchen, you do not need to make stock to insure a great sauce for your family. I want you to know , however, the difference between your sauce versus a sauce from a restaurant.
I
n the next section I will explain the main ingredients and how to blend them to make a Roux, the base for all Cajun sauces, as well as many other very popular sauces.

Thickening Agents

A sauce must be thick enough to cling lightly to the food. If it puddles in the plate, like soup, then it is not thick enough. Starches are the most common thickening agents.

Other Flavoring Ingredients

The liquid that makes up the bulk of the sauce already provides the basic flavor. There are certain other ingredients you can add to make slight variations to the flavor that will add character to the finished sauce.

Roux

Starches as Thickeners

Starches are the most common and most useful thickeners to use for sauce making. Flour is the principal starch that is used. Since cake flour (all-purpose flour) has more thickening power than bread flour, I highly recommend you use All Purpose Flour instead of bread flour. Other starches that can be used are:

• cornstarch
• arrowroot
• waxy maize
• bread crumbs
• other vegetable and grain products like potato chip crumbs

Roux Ingredients

Roux, which is one of the most important ingredients to Cajun food, is just a cooked mixture of equal parts, by weight, of fat and flour. Several different fats can be substituted, by your preference, in making a roux. Listed below are some choices:

• Clarified butter is preferred for the finest sauces because of its flavor. (Clarified butter is real butter that is melted in a sauce pan over medium heat. Skim the froth from the surface. Pour off the clear melted butter into another container, leaving the milky liquid at the bottom of the sauce pan.)


• Margarine is widely used in place of real butter mainly because of the lower cost. Its flavor is not as good as real butter and it does not make as fine a sauce, and also because margarines differ a lot from brand to brand. (However, I use margarine because it does not add saturated fat to my sauce, which is not healthy)Animal fats such as chicken fat, beef drippings, and lard, are used when their flavor is appropriate to the sauce. For example, chicken fat can be used for chicken veloute, and beef drippings can be used for beef gravy. When properly used, animal fats can enhance the flavor of a sauce.
• Vegetable oil and shortening can be used for roux. It will not add any flavor, though. Solid shortening is not recommended because of its high melting point. (It is also higher in saturated fats)

As I have said earlier, (1)Flour is the most common ingredient to use as a thickening agent, and (2)it is the most important thickening ingredient to use today.

The thickening power of flour depends on its starch content. Bread flour has less starch and more protein than cake flour. For example, eight ounces of cake flour has the same thickening power as ten ounces of bread flour.

Flour can be browned dry in an oven first for use in a brown roux. A heavily browned flour has only about one-third the thickening power of unbrowned flour.

If wheat flour is used for a roux, remember wheat flour also contains more proteins and other components that when it is simmered, these components rise to the top as scum. This scum must be skimmed off.

Sauces are generally simmered for a time after all the ingredients have blended well. This will cook all the 'impurities' out of it. This also improves the texture, gloss and clarity of the sauce.

Roux Preparation

A roux must be cooked so that the finished sauce does not have the raw, starchy taste of the flour. There are three kinds of roux for Cajun sauces, they are:

• White roux is only cooked for a few minutes, just long enough to cook out the raw flour taste. Cooking is stopped as soon as the roux has a frothy, chalky, slightly gritty appearance, before it has begun to color. White roux is used for white sauces based on milk.
• Blond roux, is cooked a little longer than white roux, just until the roux begins to change to a slightly darker color. Cooking must then be stopped. Blond roux is used for sauces based on white rouxs but having a pale ivory color.
• Brown roux is cooked until it takes on a light brown color and a nutty aroma. Cooking must be done over low heat so that the roux browns evenly without scorching.
  For a deeper brown roux, cook just a little longer, stirring constantly to keep from scorching. A dark brown roux has less thickening power than a white roux, however, it will have more flavor.

Basic Procedure for Making A Roux

• 1. Melt fat, whether it is butter, vegetable oil (which I prefer) or lard.2. Add correct amount of flour and stir until fat and flour are thoroughly mixed. (no lumps)
• 3. Cook to required degree for white, blond, or brown roux, stirring constantly.

Now that you know the basics on making a roux, let us now discuss two methods of adding roux and liquid together for the amount of roux you will need for your food dish.

Method 1: Adding liquid to roux

This method is the most common method that I use since I am making my sauce for one pot of food. The second method I will mention is mainly used by professional kitchens since they are making a quantity of roux to last all week, for several different kinds of sauces, gravies and soups.

• 1. Use a heavy sauce pot to prevent scorching either the roux or the sauce.
• 2. When the roux is made, remove the pan from the stove for a few minutes to cool slightly.
• 3. Slowly pour in the liquid, all the time beating vigorously with a wire whisk to prevent lumps from forming.
  If the liquid is hot (such as simmering milk for Bechamel sauce), you will have to beat especially well, because the starch will gelatinize quickly.
  If the liquid is cool, you can add a quantity of it, beat to dissolve the roux, then add the remainder of the liquid, hot or cold.
• 4. Bring the liquid to a boil, continuing to beat well. The roux does not reach its full thickening power until near the boiling point.
• 5. Simmer the sauce, stirring from time to time, until all the starchy taste of the flour has been cooked out.
  This will take at least ten minutes, but the flavor and consistency of the sauce will improve if it is cooked slightly longer. Many chefs consider twenty minutes of simmering the bare minimum.
• 6. When the sauce is finished, it may be kept hot or cooled for later use. Either way, it should be covered so that a thin film of skin does not form on top.

Method 2.: Adding the roux to a liquid

As I said earlier, method 2 is mainly used by the professional kitchen because they make up large batches of roux to last all day or up to a week sometimes.

• 1. Bring the liquid to a simmer in a heavy pot.
• 2. Add a small quantity of roux and beat vigorously with a wire whisk to break up the lumps.
• 3. Continue to beat small quantities into the simmering liquid until the desired consistency is reached. Remember roux must simmer for a time to thicken completely, so do not add roux too quickly or you will risk overthickening the sauce.4. Continue to simmer until the roux is cooked out and no starchy taste remains.
• 5. If the sauce is to simmer a long time, under-thicken it, because it will thicken as it reduces (water simmering out).

The table below is an example of quantities needed of roux to thicken one gallon of liquid to thin, medium, and thick consistencies.

Roux - How To Make It

Make Sauces (top of page)

Classic White Sauce Recipe (Bechamel sauce)