Mother Sauces - Also called Grand Sauces. These are the five basic sauces that every cook should master. In the early 1800’s, Antonin Careme, founding father of French "grande cuisine," came up with the system by which hundreds of sauces would be categorized as one of the five Mother Sauces. There are unlimited variations, since the sauces are all based on a few basic formulas. Sauces are one of the fundamentals of cooking. Know the basics and you'll be able to prepare many recipes like a professional.
Five Mother Sauces:
1) Bechamel Sauce (white)
2) Tomato Sauce (red)
3) Veloute Sauce (blond)
4) Brown (demi-glace) or Espagnole Sauce
5) Hollandaise Sauce (butter)
Purpose of Sauces:
Sauces are defined as liquids that are usually thickened and do the following:
1) add moistness to sometimes dry food (e.g. meatloaf, roasted or grilled meats)
2) flavor and finish seasoning the food
3) add richness to a dish (i.e. salmon hollandaise)
4) enhance the presentation to add to the dining experience
Normal Sauce Structure:
1) a liquid (milk, broth or stock, tomato)
2) a thickener
3) flavorings & seasonings
Liquids used in the five Mother sauces are:
Milk for Béchamel
White stock (chicken, veal, fish) for Velouté
Brown stock for Espagnole
Tomato for Tomato sauce
Clarified butter for Hollandaise sauce
Author: Chef Ethel Pangborn
Source: http://www.michigancancer.org/bcccp/wisewomanprogram/PDFs/Recipes/CookingTechniques/Sauces-Apr2012.pdf
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