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By Anne Willan
Published 1989
It is the French who have written the grammar of sauces, defining a structure of “mother” sauces that have been absorbed into the international language of cooking. Conveniently, these can be divided into families according to their basic ingredients. Each family is governed by a basic mother sauce, or mère as it is known in France, for which there is a standard method. Variations are created by adding such ingredients as wine, shallots, mushrooms, cream, cheese, herbs or garlic. At the core of the system are the white and brown sauces made from a flour and butter roux or, as in basic brown sauce, another thickener such as arrowroot or potato starch. More complex, although just as fundamental, are the emulsified butter sauces, such as hollandaise and béarnaise, and that backbone of cold emulsified sauces, mayonnaise.
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