In classical French cuisine, a brown sauce is generally a sauce with a meat stock base, thickened by reduction, and sometimes the addition of a browned roux, similar in some ways to, but more involved than, a gravy. The classic mother sauce example is espagnole sauce as well as its derivative demi-glace, though other varieties exist. [1]
In Danish cuisine brown sauce (brun sovs) is a very common sauce, and refers to a sauce with a meat stock base (in modern times, often replaced by broth made from bouillon cubes), thickened by a roux, and sometimes colored a rich, deep brown with a product consisting of dark caramelized sugar, known as brun kulør (literally, "brown colouring") or madkulør (literally, "food colouring") or collorit soya (in Sweden). It is similar to what is known in the UK as gravy browning and in the U.S. as a brown gravy. Variations include mushroom sauce, onion sauce, and herbed brown sauce. [2]
The Norwegian variety (brun saus) is made in the same way as the Danish brown sauce, usually from wheat flour. The sauce is colored by first browning the butter in the pan, before adding the wheat flour and letting it brown further. Food coloring (sukkerkulør, literally "sugar coloring"), soy sauce, and brown cheese (both for colour and taste) are sometimes added. The sauce may acquire different tastes depending on the meat served, as it is common to cook the meat for a while in the sauce before serving. [3]
In Sweden (brunsås) and Finland (ruskeakastike), meatballs are usually served with a light brown, thick sauce, prepared in the same manner as sauce espagnole (combining dark brown roux with stock), but attains a lighter colour and smoother consistency due to the addition of cream. It is spiced with black pepper, and it is common to add soy sauce, blackcurrant jelly, apple sauce, onions, mustard, allspice, tomato puree or other ingredients to add flavor. It is available as ready-to-use or in dehydrated form in stores. [4]
Cajun cuisine is a subset of Louisiana cooking developed by the Cajuns, itself a Louisianan development incorporating elements of Native American, West African, French, and Spanish cuisine.
In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, texture, and visual appeal to a dish. Sauce is a French word probably from the post-classical Latin salsa, derived from the classical salsus 'salted'. Possibly the oldest recorded European sauce is garum, the fish sauce used by the Ancient Romans, while doubanjiang, the Chinese soy bean paste is mentioned in Rites of Zhou 20.
Gravy is a sauce made from the juices of meats and vegetables that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with thickeners for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt or gravy browning or bouillon cubes. Powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts. Canned and instant gravies are also available. Gravy is commonly served with roasts, meatloaf, rice, noodles, fries (chips), mashed potatoes, or biscuits.
Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends West African, French, Spanish, and Native American influences, as well as influences from the general cuisine of the Southern United States.
Roux is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cooked to the desired level of brownness. A roux can be white, blond (darker), or brown. Butter, bacon drippings, or lard are commonly used fats. Roux is used as a thickening agent for gravy, sauces, soups, and stews. It provides the base for a dish, and other ingredients are added after the roux is complete.
Stock, sometimes called bone broth, is a savory cooking liquid that forms the basis of many dishes – particularly soups, stews, and sauces. Making stock involves simmering animal bones, meat, seafood, or vegetables in water or wine, often for an extended period. Mirepoix or other aromatics may be added for more flavor.
Demi-glace is a rich brown sauce in French cuisine used by itself or as a base for other sauces. The term comes from the French word glace, which, when used in reference to a sauce, means "icing" or "glaze." It is traditionally made by combining one part espagnole sauce and one part brown stock. The sauce is then reduced by half, strained of any leftover impurities, and finished with a sherry wine.
A velouté sauce is a savory sauce that is made from a roux and a light stock. It is one of the "mother sauces" of French cuisine listed by chef Auguste Escoffier in the early twentieth century, along with espagnole, tomato, béchamel, and mayonnaise or hollandaise. Velouté is French for 'velvety'.
Au jus is a French culinary term meaning "with juice". It refers to meat dishes prepared or served together with a light broth or gravy, made from the fluids secreted by the meat as it is cooked. In French cuisine, cooking au jus is a natural way to enhance the flavour of dishes, mainly chicken, veal, and lamb. In American cuisine, the term is sometimes used to refer to a light sauce for beef recipes, which may be served with the food or placed on the side for dipping.
Norwegian cuisine in its traditional form is based largely on the raw materials readily available in Norway. It differs in many respects from continental cuisine with a stronger focus on game and fish. Many of the traditional dishes are the result of using conserved materials because of the long winters.
Noodle soup refers to a variety of soups with noodles and other ingredients served in a light broth. Noodle soup is a common dish across East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Himalayan states of South Asia. Various types of noodles are used, such as rice noodles, wheat noodles and egg noodles.
Chinese Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Chinese with local Indonesian style. Chinese Indonesians, mostly descendant of Han ethnic Hokkien and Hakka speakers, brought their legacy of Chinese cuisine, and modified some of the dishes with the addition of Indonesian ingredients, such as kecap manis, palm sugar, peanut sauce, chili, santan and local spices to form a hybrid Chinese-Indonesian cuisine. Some of the dishes and cakes share the same style as in Malaysia and Singapore, known as Nyonya cuisine by the Peranakan.
Fricassee or fricassée is a stew made with pieces of meat that have been browned in butter then served in a sauce flavored with the cooking stock. Fricassee is usually made with chicken, veal or rabbit, with variations limited only by what ingredients the cook has at hand.
Javanese cuisine is the cuisine of Javanese people, a major ethnic group in Indonesia, more precisely the province of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java.
A meatball is ground meat (mince) rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many types of meatballs using different types of meats and spices. The term is sometimes extended to meatless versions based on legumes, vegetables, mushrooms, fish or other seafood.
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef, pork, venison, rabbit, lamb, poultry, sausages, and seafood. While water can be used as the stew-cooking liquid, stock is also common. A small amount of red wine or other alcohol is sometimes added for flavour. Seasonings and flavourings may also be added. Stews are typically cooked at a relatively low temperature, allowing flavours to mingle.
Indonesian noodles are a significant aspect of Indonesian cuisine which is itself very diverse. Indonesian cuisine recognizes many types of noodles, with each region of the country often developing its own distinct recipes.
In French cuisine, the mother sauces, also known as grandes sauces in French, are a group of sauces upon which many other sauces – "daughter sauces" or petites sauces – are based. Different classifications of mother sauces have been proposed since at least the early 19th century.
