Sauces

Mark, this thread should answer your questions:

http://www.cheftalk.com/t/61905/chefs-restaurants-who-still-use-mother-sauces

(BTW, it is Mayonnaise and Vinaigrette)

Which and how many "mothers" depends on whom you ask.  Escoffier posited the five you listed.  Other chefs add or subtract.  Some of it is trend, too.  Espagnole has fallen so far out of fashion as to be non-existent, so "mother sauce" for what?  Similarly, hollandaise variants used to be very popular but you don't see many anymore.  When's the last time you had something "hussarde?"

On the other hand, mayonnaise gets enormous play when you consider the popularity and variety of aioli, which modernly refers to a tweaked mayonnaise; not to mention a ton of other mayo based sauces.  

BDL 

IMO Bechamel, Hollandaise and Veloute is good to know. But these other sauces are in my opinion little bit old school and everybody has their own recipes for bases. 

Espagnole is old school and outdated, but in order to make a 'proper" Demi Glace you NEED to know how to make an Espagnole. 

As a Culinary Student I would recommend you learn the 5 and how to make/use them properly, it would surpise you when you may have to call on the memory vault and dig one out of the gray matter...

In the dictionary of my head, not necessarily anyone else' : Hollandaise, mayonnaise, and vinaigrette fall into the mother sauce category titled emulsification sauces.

I feel that knowledge and understanding of stocks and mother sauces are very important because they provide a foundation from which you can proceed in countless directions. Be sure to grasp the how and why behind stocks and sauces, not just memorize recipes and not just because "that is the way it is always done". There are reasons why and the best foundation is built by knowing them.

Yeah, you can't pull out what is not there. At work yesterday I was making brioche and schlumbergerli popped into my head and so then into the conversation. Haven't made them in a long time, but I still can whereas other people were drawing blanks, but it brought a smile and fond remembrances to a customer whose childhood was spent in Europe.

I really don't know why tomato sauce is considered a mother sauce.

Because there are a lot of tomato daughter sauces.

BDL

Hollandaise is an emulsion mother sauce . Mayo is a cold version of hollandaise( one is clarified butter one is oil) yet is considered a dressing. Vinegrette is a salad dressing. You can't change the basic mothers, thats what they are, always have been and by definition always will be.  Sure there will be modern takeoffs but the question was 5 mother sauces.

Funny how little emulsification sauces are used in the us and how much you see them in europe. try to find a steak without bernaise, or fries without aioli.... depending on where you are the ones you need vary but like said before it is important to learn them all you will be surprised when they pop up 

I've been cooking for a long enough time. I've made all the so-called "mother sauces" numerous times. Right now for this post I couldn't type out what goes in to make each one. So what? BFD?  Therein is why I have a paper in my bag with all this information written on it. Well ... not all of it, but the important stuff still. I get a lot of stupid noise working in kitchens full of 20-yo white guys for all kinds of stupid things like reading off of recipes, cheap old knives, my knives being wrapped in dish-towels, not having things memorized ... on and on. It's a really funny thing though, that at the end on the shift none of my stuff has come back, there were no re-fire calls on anything I've made. It's important to know stuff and perform well. In my opinion, that means getting the job done correctly, the first time. If using notes and pics is what it takes, NBD, knock your socs off. Do the job right. 

The 5 "Mother" Sauces

http://lynnescountrykitchen.net/sauc/mothersauces.html

Those basic sauces are the white sauce Béchamel, the light stock-based Velouté, the brown stock-based Espagnole; the two basic emulsified sauces, Hollandaise and Mayonnaise; and the oil and vinegar-based Vinaigrette. Tomato is considered to be among the 5 mother sauces, however, it actually came about later ... although it certainly has earned the title since it is the base for a large variety of sauces in today's cookery.

Basic Bechamel (White Sauce) with Variations

Basic Velouté Sauce with Variations

Basic Espagnole (Brown Sauce) with Variations

Basic Mayonnaise with Variations

Basic Vinaigrette with Variations

Basic Tomato Sauce     Basic Tomato Sauce 2