5 Mother Sauce Pairings Mastered

This roux-thickened sauce is the basis of most cream sauces, cheese sauces, and gravies, and used widely in Italian and Greek cuisine as well.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (optional)
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of nutmeg

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. If using, add shallot and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture bubbles and looks like wet sand, being careful not to brown the flour (reduce heat, if necessary). Slowly whisk in milk in ½-cup batches. Bring to a gentle boil, whisking constantly. When sauce thickens, reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking occasionally and scraping bottom and sides of pan, for about 10 minutes, or until sauce is desired consistency. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and a pinch of nutmeg. If sauce is lumpy, pass through fine strainer.

Try with: Rich and creamy, béchamel is delicious as is, or with additional cheese like parmesan. Amp up homemade mac and cheese or lasagna with it, or branch out with other cheesy recipes like pastitsio, a baked, layered pasta dish from Greece.

Wine Pairing

“With béchamel sauces, I tend to pick wines from Europe, mostly whites which have had some time in oak barrels,” says Raj Vaidya, head sommelier of New York City’s award-winning contemporary French restaurant DANIEL. “Try white Burgundies and white Bordeaux.”

Primarily a base sauce—white wine sauce and sauce Allemande are two common derivatives—velouté is essentially béchamel with stock instead of milk.

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (optional)
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups stock (chicken, fish, or vegetable)
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. If using, add shallot and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture bubbles and looks like wet sand, being careful not to brown the flour (reduce heat, if necessary). Slowly whisk in stock in ½-cup batches. Bring to a gentle boil, whisking constantly. When sauce thickens, reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking occasionally and scraping bottom and sides of pan, for about 10 minutes, or until sauce is desired consistency. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and a pinch of nutmeg. If sauce is lumpy, pass through fine strainer.

Try with: Velouté is generally considered as a starting point for developing flavorful dishes. Use it as the base for chicken pot pie, rich gravies and comforting bisques.

Wine Pairing

“I usually pick a Champagne or Cava to match rich, velvety veloutés,” says Vaidya. “Sparkling wine adds a textural component that the sauce takes to nicely. For a lighter, vegetable-based dish, I would choose a very dry wine, and a richer wine if the velouté is more intensely flavored.”

Rich meat stock thickened with a nutty brown roux and tomato, sauce Espagnole is the basis for a classic demi-glace, and is perfect with any roasted meat.

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
1 onion, diced
½ carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups veal or beef stock
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon dried thyme

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery. Sauté until browned, about 8–10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add flour. Stirring often, cook until dark brown and nutty-smelling, about 10 minutes, reducing heat if flour starts to burn. Add tomato paste, stock and herbs. Raise heat to high, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Pass sauce through a fine strainer, pressing on the solids. Discard solids and serve as desired.

Try with: Espagnole is the ideal accompaniment to rich meat dishes like roasted lamb or steak and mushrooms. It’s the base for Bordelaise, a delicious red wine sauce made for tender filets.

Wine Pairing

“This strongly flavored sauce can create a really great contrast to wines,” says Vaidya. “I usually pick dry Rieslings from Alsace or even fruity Gewürtztraminers.”

Changing up the seasonings can give you Spanish, Portuguese, Creole or Provençal sauces, but a well-made sauce Tomate is great on its own with baked fish, grilled veggies, veal chops and many Italian dishes.

2 tablespoons salt pork (or fatty bacon), finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 small onion, finely diced
2½ pounds ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups veal or chicken stock

Put salt pork in large saucepan over medium-high heat. When fat begins to render, add carrot and onion, and brown well. Add tomatoes and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 30 minutes. Add garlic and sugar. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Whisk together flour and stock until smooth. Add to sauce, incorporating completely. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Press sauce though food mill, or purée in blender and pass through strainer.

Try with: You’re already very familiar with tomato sauce. Think outside of the box by creating a rich tomato bath for baked eggs, or relive your childhood with a messy bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.

Wine Pairing

“Here you want a wine with good richness to balance the acid of the sauce,” says Vaidya. “I love Southern Rhône reds like Châteauneuf-du-Pape, or a Piedmontese Nebbiolo.”

Béarnaise, Maltaise and mayonnaise derive from this simple egg yolk-butter emulsion

3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, at room temperature
Pinch of salt and cayenne

Whisk yolks, water and juice together in stainless steel bowl until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Place bowl over saucepan of simmering water, not letting bowl touch water. Whisk until mixture thickens slightly, leaving “tracks” in bowl. Slowly drizzle in melted butter. Whisk until sauce thickens and doubles in volume. Remove from heat. Whisk in salt and cayenne to taste. If not serving immediately and sauce becomes too thick, whisk in a few drops of very hot water.

Try with: A classic served atop asparagus or eggs Benedict, try it on fish or poached chicken.

Wine Pairing

“This classic sauce is very versatile with wines, but my favorite dishes with Hollandaise pair beautifully with both white and red Burgundies,” Vaidya says.