5 Basic Sauce Names: Preparation, Tips and Recipes Used

by Abbas Jahangir · December 10, 2021

What is sauce? Sauce, which is a culinary term and adds an additional flavor to the dishes, is a mixture in liquid or semi-solid form used in the preparation of dishes or during the serving of food.
The biggest feature of sauces is not alone; It is used to add aroma, flavor or visuality to the main dish. In addition to these, sauces come to the fore with their swallowing effect.
Dating back to the Roman Empire, sauce varieties are thought to have been invented by Apicius, a famous culinary expert who lived at that time. Even though France is the first country that comes to mind when it comes to sauce today, it is argued that Italy is the homeland of sauce, due to Apicius’s book De Condituris, written only on sauces.
It is said that the sauce culture spread in France with an Italian princess who married one of the kings of France. For this reason, the names of sauce varieties are often of French origin.
In our country, sauce is generally used while cooking. In a sense, it can be thought of as the juices and sauces of the dishes.

5 Basic Sauces: Ingredients, Preparation, Tips and Dishes

There are 5 basic sauces used in the gastronomy world. All other sauce types can be considered as derivatives of these 5 main sauces:

Four of these sauces are famous chef Marie-Antoine Careme, known as the founder of classical French cuisine.
One of them was found by another famous chef, Auguste Escoffier.
Béchamel, tomato, espagnolette and velute sauce, by Marie-Antoine Careme,
Hollandes sauce is the invention of Auguste Escoffier.

1) Béchamel Sauce

Materials

1 tablespoon of flour
Half a tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
Béchamel sauce prepared with 2 glasses of milk is cream in color.

Preparation of

Butter is put in the pan and melted over low heat without burning it.
Add flour and roast it until the color of the flour changes slightly and it starts to smell.
After the roasting process, the flour and butter mixture is whisked on the one hand and milk is added little by little on the other hand.
Then, nutmeg grated, salt and pepper are added and mixed.
Cook over low heat, stirring, until the sauce thickens slightly.

Tips

In order for the bechamel sauce to have the desired consistency, it must be stirred constantly. It is important that the milk added to the sauce is heated and poured little by little into the pan. In addition, the roasting time of the flour is also important. It should be roasted until the smell of flour is gone, because more or less roasting can affect the consistency and flavor of the sauce.

Dishes Used

It is used in meat, chicken, fish and vegetable dishes. It is a popular sauce, especially in lasagna, meat and chicken sautés, stewing or baking vegetables.

2) Espanyol Sauce

Materials

3 kilograms of ground beef bone
300 grams of butter
150 grams of onion
150 grams of carrots
1 bunch of parsley
1 clove of garlic
175 grams of flour
200 grams tomato paste
Prepared with 5 liters of water, Espanyol sauce is brown in color.

Preparation of

Shredded beef bones are fried in butter, flour, carrots and onions are added and roasted until they turn pink.
Add tomato paste to the roasted ingredients and mix.
After frying for a few more seconds, water is added into it and then parsley and garlic are added and left to boil for 4-5 hours.
Finally, the strained sauce is ready to use.

Tips

It is the roasted flour that gives Espanyol sauce its distinctive brown color. Roasting the flour until it turns brown is very important for the consistency of the sauce.

Dishes Used

Oven stew can be made with Espanyol sauce, which is especially used with red meats. You can use Espanyol sauce with dishes such as steak in the oven, shank in the oven, and cutlets in the oven.

3) Velute Sauce

Materials

500 milliliters of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of butter
Salt
White parts of leeks
Onion
1 clove of garlic
4-5 black peppercorns
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
Velute sauce using 3-4 sprigs of parsley is white in color.

Preparation of

Butter is melted in a sauce pan and chopped leeks and onions are added to it and roasted until their light color fades.
Flour is added to the roasted leeks and onions and frying is continued until the smell is gone.
Then chicken broth is added and the flour is prevented from clumping by whisking continuously with a whisk.
After stirring until boiling over high heat, parsley stem, bay leaf, thyme, black peppercorns and 1 clove of garlic are added and boiled for a few more minutes over low heat.

Tips

When preparing Velute sauce, the flour should be stirred constantly so that it does not clump together. Fish or broth can be used instead of chicken stock in Velute sauce.

Dishes Used

Velute sauce, which is a light sauce, is often used in chicken and vegetable dishes. It is added to the chicken breast that comes out of the oven dry as it has a low fat content. Velute sauce prepared by adding fish broth is used in grilled or baked fish dishes, velute sauce prepared by preparing broth is used in grilled and baked meats.

4) Tomato Sauce

Materials

1 onion
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
6 tomatoes
2 tablespoons of oil
1 tablespoon of butter
Salt
Black pepper
The tomato sauce prepared using 1 pinch of sugar is red in color.

Preparation of

Finely chop the onion and celery stalk.
Carrots are grated and these ingredients are fried in oil.
Then, peeled and chopped tomatoes are added to them.
Add salt, sugar and black pepper and cook for about 2 hours on low heat with the lid closed.

Tips

When making tomato sauce, which is the most popular of the food sauce names, its juice must be completely removed.

Dishes Used

Tomato sauce is used in meat, chicken, fish and vegetable dishes. It flavors dishes like pasta and pizza.

5) Hollandez Sauce

Materials

3 egg yolks
125 grams of butter
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of cold water
1 teaspoon of salt
The hollandaise sauce prepared using half a teaspoon of black pepper is yellow in color.

Preparation of

Whisk egg yolks, cold water and lemon juice in a glass bowl.
Care should be taken to whisk in the same direction.
A glass bowl is placed on the slightly boiled hot water in a bain-marie and whisking is continued.
When the egg yolks have the consistency of cream, the bowl is placed on the counter and, after waiting for a while, the melted but warm butter is slowly poured into the bowl.
When the mixture reaches the consistency of cream, it is served.

Tips

Using the clarified butter used for hollandaise sauce increases the consistency and flavor of the sauce. The butter is put in a small sauce pan and melted over low heat without burning it and without foaming too much. The white milk foam on it is taken with the help of a spoon and the melted butter is filtered and added to the eggs.

Dishes Used

The hollandaise sauce, which is poured on the eggs especially at breakfast, is also frequently used in fish and vegetable dishes. Dishes such as lobster with hollandaise sauce, salmon with hollandaise sauce, asparagus with hollandaise sauce are popular dishes with hollandaise sauce.