Classic Sauce Making Flashcards

Which classic sauce pairs a velouté base with mushroom trimmings and finishes with cream, historically served with poached chicken?

Answer: Suprême

Sauce suprême is chicken velouté enriched with cream and mushroom essence.

A cook wants a gluten-free alternative to roux for thickening a velouté-style sauce. Which option works best?

Answer: A slurry of arrowroot or cornstarch

Arrowroot and cornstarch are gluten-free starches that thicken via slurry.

What causes a cream reduction sauce to curdle when wine is added?

Answer: Acid and heat destabilize the milk proteins; the wine should be reduced before adding cream

Reducing acidic wine first prevents it from curdling the dairy proteins.

Which step is essential when preparing espagnole to develop its deep color and flavor?

Answer: Caramelizing mirepoix and tomato paste with a brown roux and brown stock

Espagnole depends on browned roux, caramelized vegetables, tomato, and brown stock for depth.

How should a finished hollandaise be held during a brunch service?

Answer: Warm, around 120-140°F, and discarded after about two hours

Hollandaise must stay warm but below coagulation temperature and has a short safe holding window.

What is the purpose of straining a finished sauce through a chinois?

Answer: To remove solids and aromatics for a perfectly smooth texture

A fine chinois strains out aromatics and lumps, leaving a silky sauce.

Sauce Aurore gets its blush color and name from which addition to béchamel or velouté?

Answer: Tomato purée

Aurore is tinted pink with tomato purée, evoking the colors of dawn.