Small Talk...

Mother sauces...Everyone, well, Almost everyone loves French cuisine and French cuisine is known for it's Sauces.  The Chef Saucier (sauce making chef) is one of the most respected positions in the Kitchen Brigade.  Making Gravy is easy, it takes a whole lot more to make sauces.  Mother sauces are the foundation of all things Yummy.

What are the mother sauces?  There are 5 Mother sauces and one Honorary.  1. Espagnole (brown sauce made from brown stock)  2. Velouté (White sauce made from Chicken, Veal, or Fish stock) 3.  Bechamel (white sauce made with milk) 4.  Tomato sauce (using white stock to thin) 5.  Hollandaise (Butter base)  and our honorary cold mother sauce Mayonaise.  For the veg heads you can make a stock with veggies and go from there.

So from these mother sauce we can make All of the Small sauces.  For instance, from Espagnole you can make Bordelaise, Robert, Mushroom, Madeira etc.  From Béchamel you get Cheddar, Cream, Mustard etc.  From Veal Velouté make Allemonde and from that you get Curry, Hungarian etc.  Chicken Velouté make Suprême then Mushroom, Albufera, and the list goes On and On... You can also make Soups from your mother sauces such as Bechamel base makes your Creme soups and Chowders.

And you know how when you watch all those cooking shows and the Chef says "and I made a beautiful aioli sauce to go with the blah blah blah..."  Well, let me burst your bubble... That "special" sauce is Mayo made from scratch then you fine chop and toss Garlic into it and Voila you have Aioli.  Best Foods mayo with chopped Garlic in it is Aioli lol...

Learning how to make Mayo and Hollandaise sauce is a beautiful thing.  If you want to impress your friends, learn now to make them because, even in my class at school there are people who still have problems with getting emulsification down and not having the sauce break on them.  Emulsion is bringing 2 immiscible liquids together such as oil and vinegar.  See my vids for making mayo or hollandaise.

So in class we made Remoulade from Mayo which is a really yummy tartar sauce.  In the mayo you chop up parsley, chervil, terragon, gherkins (small sweet pickle), capers, dijon mustard and add Anchovy essence.  Eeeeeeew Anchovies?  Yes, Anchovy.. and essence is the oil that the anchovy is packed in.  Why?  It's the UMAMI factor.  Do you really want to leave it out and sacrifice flavor?  Well that's your choice but let me tell you...YUUUUUMMMM.

We made Spanish sauce from Tomato sauce and that took fine chopped Anchovies along with chopped garlic, diced onions and bell peppers and red pepper flakes.  It was simply divine.

Learn your Mother sauces and from there the world is yours for the taking.  Don't be afraid to add something that you think you don't like into the mix because that is what separates the Cooks from the Chefs.

I made my sauces and went up to get them graded.  Taste, taste, taste, badabing badaboom he says, "It's all good"  I say "Thank you Chef" and... It's all good and I walk away with a good grade and a smile. 

It's a very fullfilling feeling to be able to walk away knowing that I am doing well in what I set out to do.  I want to thank Everyone who has supported me in my decision to go back to school.  I love you.

That is my blip for my BFFs today.