Sauce

1. an appetizing liquid served with a food to enhance or complement its flavor, which can vary in density and thickness. In L'Art de la cuisine française, published in 1833, 19th-century chef Antonin Carême created the methodology of classifying sauces at the beginning of French cooking's modern history. He set out four "mother sauces", out of which innumerable combinations could be made. Espagnole, or brown roux and brown (roasted) beef or veal stock, is used to make demi-glace, a strong reduction of Espagnole, which becomes bordelaise with red wine, and marrow sauce (sauce à la moelle) or Moelle with white wine and shallots. Velouté, blond (colorless) roux and white (unroasted) chicken stock, is used to make Suprême sauce, a reduction of velouté finished with cream. Béchamel, white roux and milk, becomes Mornay with grated Gruyère and Parmesan, and Cardinal sauce with fish stock, truffle essence, lobster butter and cayenne pepper. Mayonnaise and hollandaise share the category of emulsified sauces. Mayonnaise is the base for aïoli (garlic) and rouille (red pepper). Hollandaise is the base for béarnaise (tarragon), paloise (mint), Choron (tomato) and Foyot (demi-glace). Vinaigrette is an unofficial fifth category, well known to most home cooks, based on a three to one ratio of oil to vinegar. In 1933, the great French chef Auguste Escoffier published Le Guide Culinaire, which modernized, codified and simplified Carême's work, and added tomato to the pantheon of mother sauces. 2. a slang term for booze.

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