Velouté sauce, also known as blond sauce, is actually a Bechamel sauce that is prepared by using stock. It is also one of the main five classic French cuisine sauces that are also known as “mother sauces”. Mother sauces are those sauces that can be further used to make a wide number of other sauces. So, basically this mother sauce can be used to prepare various other popular French cuisine sauces. The term Velouté is derived from a French adjective “velour” that implies “velvet.”
Origin of Veloute Sauce
Velouté sauce was identified for the first time in the 19th century by Antonin Careme in his popular cookery book named “The Art of French Cooking.” The sauce was termed as the first mother sauce of French cuisine. Later, a French chef named Auguste Escoffier categorized other sauces such as tomato, hollandaise and mayonnaise as other main mother sauces.
Velouté Sauce Recipe- Ingredients
Veloute sauce is typically prepared by using some basic ingredients that are easily obtainable at any nearest supermarket. These essential ingredients are chicken, flour, butter, salt and pepper. There are times when chicken is often replaced with other ingredients such as fish or veal stock.
Veloute Sauce Recipe- Preparation
Velouté sauce is traditionally made by simmering all the ingredients for about half an hour. While making this mother sauce, any type of light stock that does not include proper roasted bones just like chicken, veal or fish stock is used. This light stock is thickened using a blond roux. Therefore, all the ingredients used for making this sauce are typically used in equal quantities in order to create the roux, a light veal, chicken, or perhaps fish stock. The whole set of ingredients is usually seasoned with salt and pepper. Generally, the sauce is called by the name of stack used for making it like chicken velouté or fish veloute.
Veloute Sauce Variations
Velouté sauce is a mother sauce of French cuisine and thus can be used to create different sauce varieties. Some of the popular sauces that can be made by using the mother sauce are mentioned below: