I Know Something About Pain You Don't

When the students got to the Danger Shop today, Hannibal nodded and waved them to the front.

"In traditional Western cuisine, there are five sauces which are referred to as the 'mother sauces'. Each of them can be used as a base for many other sauces, so once you learn them, you're well on your way to being able to make any number of things."

He had five dishes in front of him, and indicated them in turn; there were little spoons so they could each taste them.

"The first is Béchamel. It's the simplest; you don't need to prepare anything ahead of time. It starts with only milk, flour, and butter. The butter and flour you use to make a roux, as we did in an earlier class; then the roux thickens the milk and herbs and spices are added; salt and pepper, often clove, maybe onion. Many creamy or cheesy sauces start with Béchamel."

"Next is Velouté. Also fairly simple; instead of milk, you use some sort of stock - poultry, veal, fish, any meat that makes a light stock - which you would generally make ahead of time. Any spices would already be in the stock. You thicken the stock with the roux. Mushroom sauce and many seafood sauces are made from this. And don't worry," he told Arden, "this one uses veal."

"Espagnole is a brown sauce. It begins the same as the velouté, but with a darker stock, such as beef, and is a bit more complex. Once you have the stock, you add tomato puree and vegetables. Some mushroom and wine-based sauces use this, and it's often cooked together with more stock to make a demi-glace which is used in other sauces."

"The fourth is Hollandaise. It has only two basic ingredients - clarified butter and egg yolks. Herbs and lemon are often added. It is a permanent emulsion; like oil and vinegar, the butter and eggs would not normally mix, but when combined correctly, the sauce will not separate. There are a number of other sauces that use this as a base, but it's not uncommon to see it used on its own, either, particularly on vegetables."

"The last is tomato sauce. Which is not, generally speaking, what you'll find on a pizza," he noted, with a wry smile. "Vegetables are sautéed, traditionally in pork fat, then added to tomatoes, stock, and perhaps some further bones or meat, then it's cooked in the oven. Traditionally it's also thickened with a roux, although the tomatoes are often enough of a thickening agent."

Once they'd had a chance to try them all, he continued. "Today we'll be working through as many of these as you're able. I suggest you attempt them in this order; I'd rather you make a good béchamel than five lumpy sauces. If you should need help, please let me know."