Derivative Sauces (Son of Mother)

Class started with a review of the Grand (a.k.a. Mother) sauces, then a new definition/equation: A Grand sauce + garnish (anything from water and stock to vegetables and aromatics to dairy and eggs = derivative, or "small" sauce.

In the old days, when the French were formalizing cooking, cooks would start as kids sweeping up and washing dishes and then, when someone broke an arm or got the plague, they'd jump in and cook. They would write down everything they were being shown on cards, and would refer to them throughout their careers. One of these chaps, named Saulnier, not only wrote them down, but published them in a book called Le Repetoire de la Cuisine. The book is simply a list of ingredients that go into every derivative sauce -- it's up to you to know the technique. Sounds like the founding father of food bloggers!

Today's assignment: to make eight derivative sauces from the mother sauces we made yesterday. All the recipes were written on index cards by each student. The only technique Chef M brought to our attention is the tempering of liaison, which is cream and egg yolk whipped together. To prevent the egg from curdling, a small amount of the hot liquid is mixed in to the liaison, then the liaison is mixed into the hot mixture, never again to be brought to a boil.

Soon the knives came out, and teams reassembled. The Late Kid was so late that he never showed up -- other students suspect he'll be forced to drop out due to too many absences. So it was just me and 2nd Language Girl (2LG) working up a tableful of mise en place ("put in place," i.e., measure and arrange all ingredients) for 8 recipes, then going for it.

There was Demi-Glace, which was simply Sauce Espagnole and brown veal stock combined in equal portion and reduced by half. Strong tasting stuff, Demi-Glace. From that, we made so-called Fortified Wine, which was a pint of Demi-Glace with shallots reduced in a few shots of port, simmered with the Demi-Glace, and finished with some butter. Not your average Thunderbird, and only slightly wine-y.

All sauces were tossed or taken home, but Chef M held aside our Sauce Mornay to make killer mac 'n' cheese (see addenda). It's dead simple to make: a quart of Bechamel, 4 ounces of Gruyere and Parm-Regiano each, salt to taste. My mac 'n' cheese involved Bechamel with cheddar, moz and monterey jack, but I think Mornay's cheese combo is much more interesting.

Some of the sauce recipes were a bit more involved; I'll skip the blow-by-blow but if you want to Google them for more info, they were: Sauce Allemande, Sauce Forestiere, Sauce Supreme, Sauce Creole, and Tomatoes Sauce Soubise.

Working as the only 2 person team with 2LG actually was surprisingly smoother than yesterday. I told her what to do, and she did it. I explained each step of every recipe, we got the simplest two on the fire. Then, after Chef M tasted and approved them, we got the next two on the fire, saving the most complex for last. Our team was the first to finish all the sauces, and got to assist with lunch and preparing lamb bacon for a future lunch.

One thing that became very apparent to me was the power of salt. Early on, Chef M stressed: salt makes everything taste better. When it's time for Chef M to taste our sauce, we give it to him completely finished -- including seasoning. Here's how it works: Once you reach nappe consistency, you add a little salt, then taste. Add more salt, and add again and again bit by bit until it tastes good without tasting salty. In this way you can notice how every teaspoon makes a distinct difference. You know it is true, but this graphic illustration on your tongue kind of makes it feel like a new piece of knowledge.

Unfortunately, I was so consumed with the sauces -- cooking them, getting them to Chef M, keeping on top of my mise, making sure 2LG was busy and cleaning pots -- that I didn't take any pictures. During this process I joked with her that we're kicking ass because Late Kid wasn't there to slow us down. She giggled and told me I will make a great chef. That felt kinda cool.

Tomorrow, the red-headed step-child of Mother Sauces, Hollandaise, and that emulsion that is to Jews what holy water is to vampires: mayonnaise.

ADDENDA:
Some classmates have already started volunteering at God's Love We Deliver, they make it sound pretty cool -- a large industrial kitchen where the chef lets culinary students do the more complex things and explain the large-scale techniques while the non-culinary volunteers back them up.

BREAKFAST: 5:30am, good yogurt with honey, raw cashews, vanilla, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
Trying to adjust my sleep schedule for Sunday, where I will have to be up around 2:30am to get to the start line of a 100 mile bike ride in time.

LUNCH #1: 11:45am, veal-bacon BLT with mayo on french bread, 2 small slices of pizza, ramekin of sauce Mornay macaroni & cheese, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Really hungry after today's work. The veal bacon was pleasantly bacony and mild. The pizza was brought up from another class, and I must say, was absolutely horrible. It didn't help that it was cold, but the dough was way too thick and gummy (undercooked), the toppings were too nouveau and precious (goat cheese and anchovies? black olives, onions and gruyere? Puh-leeze!) and no attempt at balance. Chef M's mac 'n' cheese was ROCKING, though -- I've been making decadent mac 'n' cheeses for a while now, but the mornay sauce really gave it something special. I guess the stuff I make is classic American, while this was as French as it comes.

LUNCH #2: 1:30pm, battered fried shrimp, 2 shrimp shumai, a few edemame pods, small green salad, 4 bites of carrot cake, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Spent the afternoon with an old friend and her husband, neither of whom I see often enough. They took me to a new Japanese place around the corner of their house, I ate around a lunch special to be social.

DINNER: 7:30pm, penne with Sauce Creole and Tomato Sauce Soubise, grape fizzy lizzy, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Cooked up some pasta and through two of the sauces we made on them. The Soubise was a wonderfully creamy with the best essence of tomato in it, while the Sauce Creole was a little bit harsh, needed pepper or some hot spice to mask it and make it a little bit deeper. Didn't like the chunkiness of the Creole, though the recipe didn't call for straining. B snarfed ice cream while I downed a juice-sweeteded soda as my official dessert.