Espagnole

For a fine espagnole sauce, the roux must be gently but thoroughly cooked so that it browns without scorching. The stock must have a full flavor with plenty of gelatin. The sauce must be skimmed while it simmers so that it clarifies, at the same time reducing to half its original volume. At first, the flavor of espagnole is harsh, but the sauce mellows and darkens during cooking “gradually taking on that brilliant glaze which delights the eye”, as the great nineteenth-century chef, Antonin Carême, remarked.