Cooking 101

In the 19th century, the chef Antonin Carême classified sauces into four families, each of which was based on a mother sauce. Carême's four mother sauces were:

• Allemande is based on stock with egg yolk and lemon juice
• Béchamel is based on flour and milk
• Espagnole is based on brown stock, beef, etc.
• Velouté is based on a light broth, fish, chicken or veal.

In the early 20th century, the chef Auguste Escoffier updated the classification, replacing sauce Allemande with egg-based emulsions (Hollandaise and mayonnaise), and adding tomato. Escoffier's schema is still taught to chefs today:

• Béchamel
• Espagnole
• Hollandaise
• Tomato sauce
• Velouté

Those sauces are called "mother sauces" because most other sauces can be derived from them. For example, Mornay sauce is a cheese sauce based on bechamel.