In classical French cuisine, few things are as foundational, or as revered, as the five mother sauces. Defined and codified by Auguste Escoffier, and rooted in earlier traditions from Carême and manuals such as L’Art du Bien Manger, these sauces form the foundation for hundreds of variations. Mastering them is akin to learning the grammar of French gastronomy.
Each sauce begins with a distinct technique—roux, emulsion, or reduction—and invites embellishment, leading to an array of petites sauces served across centuries of noble and bourgeois tables.
Sauce Béchamel
A white sauce made from milk, butter, and white roux.
Originally named for Louis de Béchameil, a steward to Louis XIV, this sauce became a hallmark of refinement in aristocratic kitchens and was once a display of wealth due to the high cost of flour and milk.
Key Secondary sauces:
- Mornay – with Gruyère or Emmental cheese
- Crème – enriched with cream
- Soubise – with puréed onion or rice
- Nantua – with crayfish butter and cream
- Sauce Crème d’anchois – Bechamel (or Velouté and cream), anchovy paste
Sauce Velouté
A light stock-based sauce (veal, chicken, or fish) thickened with blond roux.
Its name means “velvety,” and it was prized in the 19th century for being the most neutral and adaptable of the mother sauces, used from noble tables to railway buffets.
Key Secondary sauces:
- Suprême – with cream and butter
- Normande – with cream, mushroom liquor, egg yolk
- Allemande – with egg yolks, cream, and lemon
- Poulette – with mushrooms and lemon
- Sauce Génoise pour le poisson – wine-infused fish sauce, herbs, and butter
Sauce Espagnole
A dark brown sauce made with brown stock, browned mirepoix, tomato, and brown roux.
Despite the name “Espagnole,” this sauce is not Spanish; the name likely honors Spanish cooks at the court of Louis XIII, who first introduced tomatoes into French cuisine.
Key Secondary sauces:
- Demi-Glace – reduced Espagnole, stock; derivative of Demi-Glaze – the Colbert.
- Bordelaise – with red wine, shallots, and marrow
- Chasseur – with mushrooms, shallots, white wine
- Financière – with truffles, Madeira, mushrooms, and ham
- Bigarade – with orange juice and zest
- Robert – one of the oldest documented brown sauces
Sauce Hollandaise
A warm emulsion of egg yolk and clarified butter, flavored with lemon.
Though named after Holland, Hollandaise became a fixture in French springtime cuisine, particularly with asparagus, and was seen as the most “sensitive” of the sauces – a test of a chef’s touch.
Key Secondary sauces:
- Béarnaise – with tarragon, shallot, and vinegar reduction
- Mousseline – lightened with whipped cream
- Maltaise – with blood orange juice and zest
- Foyot – with meat glaze (glace de viande)
Sauce Tomate
A robust tomato sauce thickened with roux and simmered with stock and pork.
Initially a novelty in French kitchens, tomatoes were once suspected of being poisonous—until Provençal cooks proved otherwise. This sauce later became one of the great bridge points between French and Mediterranean cuisines.
Key Secondary sauces:
- Provençale – with garlic, olives, and herbs
- Portugaise – with onion, tomato, and parsley
- Créole – with bell pepper, garlic, and chili
- Bolognese (French style) – with minced veal or pork
To know the mother sauces is to understand the DNA of French gastronomy. With just five foundations, each efficient and endlessly elegant, you unlock a world of garnishes, glazes, and refined accompaniments that have graced tables from Versailles to Lyon and beyond.
Whether you are stirring a hollandaise over asparagus or layering tomato sauce in a Provençal tian, you are engaging with centuries of technique, taste, and tradition.
