With more than one hundred sauce recipes already posted on this site—either as individual recipes or as part of more comprehensive recipes—is it really necessary to add any more? Sure. Some of the 17 recipes included this time have been floating around in my files but have never been posted. Some, chiefly the recipes from over a hundred years ago, were tested and developed especially for this article. Back when I wrote my original sauce article in 2002, I hadn’t yet purchased some of these older books. Now I have, and there is the opportunity to look at a number of two hundred-year old sauce recipes that are not part of the modern-sauce lexicon.
Although sauces have been a part of French cuisine since the first written recipes, stand-alone sauce recipes were rare until the eighteenth century. Fourteenth century and later cookbooks did contain sauce recipes, but these were mostly integral to a dish described in the recipe. It wasn’t until the first half of the nineteenth century that cookbooks began to contain a significant section devoted strictly to sauces. Once again, now in the twenty-first century, it is rare to fine a section devoted to sauces in a cookbook, unless, of course, that is the subject of the book.
I like sauces, and as much as I like a properly cooked steak or chicken breast served au naturel, I also appreciate these with a matching sauce. For me, the proper sauce can add a new dimension to an old, familiar flavor. Just like one day I can wear a red shirt and the next day a blue one, one day I can eat my steak with sauce béarnaise and the next with sauce au pauvre homme; the meals will taste and “feel” different.
With the 17 new recipes that are added with this article, there are now over 125 sauce recipes on this website. That is probably enough for the next six years, but I’m sure that a few more will sneak in from time to time.

mayonnaise subversive

English Name:

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“subversive” mayonnaise
Comments:
If you make a lot of dishes that call for egg yolks, you find that you have an over abundance of egg whites. What to do? I guess you could make a batch of meringues, but what else? Normally, mayonnaise is prepared from egg yolks, but with sufficient “force,” it can be prepared from whites as well—perfect for those avoiding dietary cholesterol. This mayonnaise can be flavored or used plain, just like ordinary mayonnaise.
Ingredients:
1 extra‑large egg white
1 t Dijon‑style mustard
12 T white wine vinegar
salt
200 ml (78 c) sunflower or grapeseed oil
Instructions:
1.
Place the egg white, mustard, vinegar, and salt in a beaker. Foam a few seconds with a high‑speed stick blender fitted with a foaming tip. Add half the oil and blend until emulsified. Add the remaining oil and emulsify. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and whisk by hand until smooth. Taste for salt.
Yield:
about 250 ml (1 c).
Ref:
adapted from an idea found at http:⁄⁄b‑simon.ifrance.com⁄b‑simon⁄mayo3.htm

sauce à la crème

English Name:

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cream sauce
Comments:
This classic sauce could be used as a symbol of French cooking from the 1950s, even though its origin is much older. Its flavor is so mild that its benefit to the diner is probably more for its mouth feel and any additional moisture it provides rather than its taste.
Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 t all‑purpose flour
leaves from 2 sprigs fresh flat‑leaf parsley, finely minced
1 small green onion, finely minced
fine salt and coarsely ground black pepper
pinch freshly ground nutmeg
125 ml (12 c) heavy cream
whole milk, see note
Instructions:
1.
Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. While whisking continuously, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.
Note:
If the sauce becomes too thick, mix in a little whole milk to thin it.
Yield:
2 servings.
Ref:
Louis Eustache Audot, La Cuisinière de la campagne et de la ville, ou nouvelle cuisine économique, 1818, page 136.

sauce à la sultane

English Name:

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stock and egg yolk sauce
Comments:
I have not seen a modern recipe for this sauce, and the original gave no indication as to what foods should be served with it. I decided to test it with a mild-flavored fish, but it would be fine for any light-flavored meat, as well.
Ingredients:
250 ml (1 c) chicken stock
125 ml (12 c) white wine
2 slices lemon, peel removed
2 cloves
12 fresh bay leaf
4 sprigs fresh flat‑leaf parsley
1 green onion
12 unpeeled, yellow onion
fine salt and coarsely ground black pepper
1 hard‑cooked egg yolk, sieved
1 t flat‑leaf parsley, finely minced
Instructions:
1.
Place the stock, wine, lemon slices, cloves, bay leaf, parsley sprigs, and onions in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until reduced and more sauce‑like, about 90 minutes.
2.
Strain the sauce and discard the solids. Return the liquid to a clean saucepan and reheat. Season with salt and add some pepper. Add the egg yolk, minced parsley, and serve.
Yield:
2 servings.
Ref:
(Menon), La Cuisinière bourgeoise, suivie de l’office a l’ufage de tous ceux qui se mêlent de dépenses de Maisons, 1775, page 408.

sauce au beurre noir

English Name:

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black butter sauce
Comments:
In the original version of this recipe, the butter was first poured over the item being sauced, and then the vinegar was heated, seasoned, and poured over the same item. I decided to combine the two actions so the finished sauce would be better blended. But be forewarned, the butter will splatter rather violently when the vinegar is added—so have a lid ready.
Ingredients:
30 g (2 T) unsalted butter
12 T white wine vinegar
fine salt, to taste
Instructions:
1.
Place the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Melt the butter and continue cooking it until it turns brown and gives off a nut‑like smell. Do not let it burn.
2.
Off the heat, add the vinegar. Return the sauce pan to the heat and bring the vinegar to a boil. Season with salt.
3.
Pour the sauce directly over the ingredient to which it is being served.
Note:
it is easier to judge the color of the butter if a light‑colored sauce pan is used, in other words, stainless is better than Teflon.
Yield:
1 serving.
Ref:
P. Cardelli, Manuel du cuisinier et de la cuisinière à l’usage de la ville et da campagne; contenant toutes les Recettes les plus simples pour faire bonne chère avec économie ainsi que les meilleurs Procédés pour la Pâtisserie et l’Office; précédé d’un traité sur dissection des viandes; suivi de la manière de conserver les substances alimentaires et d’un Traité sur les Vins, 1822, page 67.

sauce au jus d’orange

English Name:

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orange juice sauce
Comments:
The original instructions called for using beurre manié, but I use a standard roux instead. A beurre manié is made by kneading equal amounts of butter and flour together. It is usually added to liquids to thicken them after they have cooked for some time, such as for thickening the liquid from a braise or stew. By mixing the flour with the butter, it is possible to add the flour to a liquid without it forming lumps. In this recipe, because the flour is being added early in the cooking process, I elected to make a roux instead.
Ingredients:
2 T butter
1 T all‑purpose flour
120 ml (12 c) chicken stock
1 t finely grated orange zest
fine salt and coarsely ground black pepper
120 ml (12 c) fresh‑squeezed orange juice
Instructions:
1.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in the flour. Slowly whisk in the stock. When the mixture comes to a boil, lower the heat, add the orange zest, salt, and pepper.
2.
Just before serving, mix in the orange juice.
Yield:
4 servings.
Ref:
(Menon), La Cuisinière bourgeoise, suivie de l’office a l’ufage de tous ceux qui se mêlent de dépenses de Maisons, 1775, page 414.

sauce au pauvre homme

English Name:

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“poor-man’s” sauce
Comments:
I don’t recall ever seeing this “poor-man’s” sauce in a modern cookbook. In La Cuisiniere it was suggested that the sauce be used for a reheated, leftover roast or boiled beef, but I thought it would work equally well over a freshly sauteed steak. Of course then it may have to be relabeled a “rich man’s” sauce. The optional butter added at the end to improve the mouth feel of the sauce was not part of the original recipe.
Ingredients:
2 T minced shallots
120 ml (12 c) chicken stock or water
1 T white wine vinegar
fine salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 T butter (optional)
Instructions:
1.
Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the shallots until they are tender.
2.
Optional, off the heat, mix in the butter just before serving.
Yield:
2 servings.
Ref:
Louis Eustache Audot, La Cuisinière de la campagne et de la ville, ou nouvelle cuisine économique, 1818, page 142.

sauce au raifort

English Name:

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horseradish sauce
Comments:
This “sauce” can either be served as plain prepared horseradish or creamed with some sauce blanche (white sauce). Either style will complement roast beef cuts.
Ingredients:
very finely ground, fresh horseradish
white wine vinegar, to taste
fine salt to taste
sauce blanche:
1 T butter
1 T all‑purpose flour
125 ml (12 c) water
12 T white wine vinegar
12 T lemon juice
fine salt, to taste
Instructions:
1.
If using the sauce blanche, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to dissolve. Cook the flour for a while to “cook out” its taste, but do not let the mixture brown. Whisk in the water, increase the heat, and continue whisking until the sauce thickens. Add the vinegar and lemon juice, and mix to incorporate. Season with salt. Set aside to cool.
2.
Combine the ground horseradish with some vinegar and salt. If desired, add some of the cooled sauce blanche.
Yield:
depends on amount of ingredients used
Ref:
P. Cardelli, Manuel du cuisinier et de la cuisinière à l’usage de la ville et da campagne; contenant toutes les Recettes les plus simples pour faire bonne chère avec économie ainsi que les meilleurs Procédés pour la Pâtisserie et l’Office; précédé d’un traité sur dissection des viandes; suivi de la manière de conserver les substances alimentaires et d’un Traité sur les Vins, 1822, page 67 and 72.

sauce aux pommes

English Name:

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apple sauce
Comments:
The French name for this recipe translates literally as apple sauce, which is what it is, although not quite. Think of American apple sauce without added sugar and flavored with veal stock, cream, and thyme—all of which help this sauce move from being a dessert to a true savory sauce.
Ingredients:
1 large apple, peeled, halved, and cored
2 T butter
2 T calvados
100 ml (716 c) heavy cream
1 t instant veal stock powder
12 t minced thyme
Instructions:
1.
Cut one of the apple halves into 6 wedges and reserve in acidified water.
2.
Dice one of the apple halves. Add to a small sauce pan, cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until soft. Drain. Press apple pieces through a fine sieve and set aside.
3.
Melt butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Fry the reserved apple wedges until tender and slightly brown.
4.
Meanwhile, put the apple puree plus the calvados, cream, veal stock, and thyme in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened.
5.
Serve the apple wedges along with the pureed apple.
Yield:
2 servings.
Ref:
Cuisine Actuelle, January 2000, page 47.

sauce bachique

English Name:

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herb and wine sauce
Comments:
The term bachique indicates a “reference to Bacchus,” the Greek god of wine and its powers, both beneficial and not. In this sauce, where wine is the principal ingredient, the reference seems logical. I have not seen this recipe in any modern cookbooks.
Ingredients:
1 t olive oil
120 ml (12 c) chicken stock
240 ml (1 c) white wine
50 g (123 oz) a finely shredded combination of some of the following: shallots, watercress, tarragon, chervil, parsley, chives, or leeks
fine salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 T chicken demi‑glace (optional)
Instructions:
1.
Place the oil, stock, and wine in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer the liquid until it is reduced by half.
2.
Add the shredded vegetables, salt, pepper, and demi‑glace, if being used. Bring to a boil once and serve.
Yield:
2 servings.
Ref:
—, French Domestic Cookery, Combining Economy with Elegance, and Adapted to the Use of Families of Moderate Fortune, by an English Physician, Many Years Resident on the Continent, 1825, page 25.

sauce bâtarde

English Name:

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cream sauce
Comments:
What makes this sauce illegitimate? I have heard the name comes from the fact that the sauce does not derive from a “mother” sauce, and thus it is illegitimate. Maybe, maybe not…
Ingredients:
50 g (313 T) butter, dice
1 T all‑purpose flour
175 ml (34 c) boiling, salted water
1 large egg yolk
175 ml (34 c) heavy cream
1 T lemon juice
fine salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions:
1.
Melt 15 grams (1 tablespoon) butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to incorporate. Cook the flour for a while, but do not let it brown.
2.
Whisk in the hot water and bring to a boil. Then remove the saucepan from the heat and continue whisking until the sauce is smooth. Add the egg yolk, cream, and lemon juice and mix well while gently reheating.
3.
Pass the mixture through a fine strainer. Season the sauce with salt and grind in a little pepper. Beat in the remaining butter.
Yield:
4 servings.
Ref:
Maurice Edmond Sailland (Curnonsky), Cuisine et Vins de France, 1953, page 65.

sauce béarnaise

English Name:

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bearnaise sauce
Comments:
I thought I knew all there was to know about béarnaise sauce until I spent a few weeks in a couple of kitchens in France and Switzerland that used it in quantity. I remember mincing a case of shallots in the kitchen in Marlenheim for the base for this sauce. The base was prepared in quantity and then packed in canning jars. These were refrigerated until needed for making the sauce for the day. The base is sufficiently acidic so that it will last a long time in a refrigerator. I just remove a spoonful or so from the jar whenever I need some.
Ingredients:
1 egg yolk
112 T water
50 g (313 T) chilled, unsalted butter, diced
fine salt and freshly ground white pepper
fresh minced tarragon
base:
butter
finely minced shallots
fine salt
dry white vermouth
white wine vinegar
fresh chopped tarragon
freshly white ground pepper
Instructions:
1.
To prepare the sauce base, heat some butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots, sprinkle lightly with salt, and sweat until soft.
2.
Add enough vermouth to cover the shallots and an equal amount of vinegar. Increase heat to high, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and reduce the liquid almost totally. Add the tarragon and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to use immediately or can and refrigerate for later use.
3.
Whisk the yolk and water together in a small saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously until airy and thick.
4.
Whisk in the butter until incorporated and the sauce is thick and foamy. Season the sauce with salt and white pepper, add the tarragon, and a couple of spoonfuls of the base. If not serving immediately, keep barely warm.
Yield:
4 servings.
Ref:
Frédéric Médigue, Gruyères, Switzerland, and Michel Huser, Marlenheim, France, October, 2005.

sauce de pommes et poires aux amandes

English Name:

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apple, pear, and almond sauce
Comments:
This is a nifty sauce for roast meats, especially pork. The only sweetness comes naturally from the fruits. It is both naturally thick and creamy.
Ingredients:
1 T butter
zest from 12 lemon, grated
100 g (312 oz) pear, peeled, cored, 5‑mm dice
100 g (312 oz) apple, peeled, cored, 5‑mm dice
3 T chicken stock
4 T heavy cream
12 T lemon juice
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground cinnamon
15 g (12 oz) ground almonds
Instructions:
1.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over high heat. Add the lemon zest, pear, and apple. Cook until the fruit is tender and starting to caramelize.
2.
Transfer the cooked fruit to a small food processor. Add the stock, cream, and lemon juice to the processor. Process the mixture until smooth.
3.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
4.
Just before serving, whisk in the nutmeg, cinnamon, and almonds.
Yield:
3 to 4 servings.
Ref:
Cuisine Actuelle, October‑November 2001 Supplement, page 26.

sauce fenouil et moutarde

English Name:

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fennel-mustard sauce
Comments:
This modern sauce has a subtle flavor that’s ideal for serving with seafood or even hard-cooked eggs. The sauce will break easily so when serving over hot foods, serve it separately so the diners can add it just before they eat.
Ingredients:
100 g (312 oz) fennel, diced
10 g (2 t) Dijon‑style mustard
12 extra large egg yolk
12 t lemon juice
50 ml (313 T) olive oil
fine salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions:
1.
Cook the fennel in boiling, salted water for 10 minutes. Drain well. Puree the fennel with a stick blender fitted with a chopping blade or in a small food processor. Force the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any chunks of fennel remaining.
2.
Put the pureed fennel in a small saucepan over medium heat. Dry the puree while stirring to prevent the fennel from burning. When mostly dry, chill thoroughly.
3.
Place the chilled fennel puree in a bowl along with the mustard, egg yolk, and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Note:
This sauce must be used immediately. It does not refrigerate well.
Yield:
2 servings.
Ref:
Guy Martin, Toute la Cuisine, 2003, page 86.

sauce moutarde

English Name:

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mustard-cream sauce
Comments:
This is a simple pan sauce that can be quickly prepared while the meat for which it is intended is resting after cooking.
Ingredients:
1 T dry vermouth
100 ml (716 c) heavy cream
2 t strong Dijon‑style mustard
fine salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
1 t finely minced fresh thyme
Instructions:
1.
Remove cooked meat from the frying pan and discard any grease. Deglaze the pan with the vermouth. Reduce slightly.
2.
Add the cream, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the cream is thick and reduced by about half. Mix in the mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the thyme.
Yield:
2 servings.
Ref:
Guide Cuisine, June 1997, page 37.

sauce niçoise

English Name:

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red pepper-flavored mayonnaise
Comments:
Other recipes for sauce niçoise that I have seen could be described almost as a cooked salade niçoise. This recipe is quite different from that.
Ingredients:
1 roasted, sweet red bell pepper, skin removed, forced through a fine sieve
1 T tomato paste
1 few leaves fresh tarragon, finely minced
250 ml (1 c) fresh mayonnaise
fine salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
Instructions:
1.
Combine all of the ingredients and chill until required.
Yield:
4 servings.
Ref:
Maurice Edmond Sailland (Curnonsky), Cuisine et Vins de France, 1953, page 77.

sauce parisienne aux champignons

English Name:

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mushroom, Madeira, and tomato sauce
Comments:
This is an “instant” sauce that can readily be prepared from items commonly found in a French kitchen, and maybe your kitchen, too!
Ingredients:
1 t dehydrated veal stock dissolved in 100 ml (716 c) water
12 t cornstarch
75 g (212 oz) very small common mushrooms, or larger mushrooms cut into quarters, blanched 2 minutes in salted water
12 T tomato paste
1 T Madeira wine
leaves from 1 sprig fresh thyme, minced
fine salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 T minced fresh flat‑leaf parsley
Instructions:
1.
Combine the veal stock and cornstarch, and place the mixture in a small saucepan along with the mushrooms, tomato paste, wine, thyme, salt, and pepper. Slowly bring to a boil. Simmer for 3 minutes.
2.
Before serving, taste for salt. Mix in the parsley.
Yield:
2 servings.
Ref:
Cuisine Actuelle, April 2000, page 66.

sauce Roquefort

English Name:

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Roquefort-cheese sauce
Comments:
Don’t be tempted to add too much cheese to this sauce. A strong Roquefort can easily overpower the flavors of the ingredient being sauced. The goal is for the cheese flavor to be subtle, not overbearing.
Ingredients:
60 ml (4 T) dry red wine
60 ml (4 T) veal or chicken demi‑glace
60 ml (4 T) heavy cream
50 g (123 oz) crumbled Roquefort cheese
fine salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 T minced flat‑leaf parsley
Instructions:
1.
If preparing the sauce in a pan that was just previously used for cooking meat, drain of any fat. Deglaze the pan with the wine over high heat. Add the demi‑glace and cream. Reduce slightly.
2.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the parsley.
Yield:
3 to 4 servings.
Ref:
Michael Roberts, Parisian Home Cooking, 1999, page 248.
©2002, 2014 Peter Hertzmann. All rights reserved.