Mother Sauces - Tomato and Hollandaise

Taking a step back from business talk to discuss food and cooking technique again. Today we talk about two more mother sauces. Tomato sauce, a flavorful and very versatile sauce. And hollandaise, a butter and egg emulsion which is just luxurious. Tomato sauce is made by cooking mirepoix, adding tomato puree, then blending the sauce to achieve the desired smoothness. There is no addition of roux to the sauce to thicken it. Rather, the sauce is thickened through reduction. Moisture is cooked out of the sauce as it simmers. Additional seasonings and sometimes a meat product like a shank or sausage can be added for additional flavor. Tomato sauce freezes great and can be thinned with milk or cream for the best tomato soup you’ve ever had. I often make a large batch at a time and simply freeze it for an easy, go to dinner for the kiddos (think pasta of grilled cheese with tomato soup). Hollandaise is made by emulsifying butter fat and egg yolks. Traditionally that fat source is clarified butter, which is butter melted down and strained of milk solids. It’s a very rich flavored sauce that has to be cut with some acid. It can be a bit intimidating for first time chefs to try, but practice makes perfect. There are five mother sauces in french cooking. All of them require skill and technique, some more than others. We are going to learn about all of them in this blog. Like any good sauce a good business is built by creating balance. Not taste and texture, but employees skills and company goals. Think of your business like a sauce. Aquire the best ingredients you can. Add skill and technique, a little bit of patience and practice and the result is a balanced, success. Do all that you can to bring the components together, resulting in the best possible product. Got a question about how to make a tomato sauce or hollandaise emulsion? Leave a comment for us below.