Lovers of good eating call French sauces the gift that la cuisine française has given the world. As Frank Crowninshield once said, “In the eyes of the world at large it is a matter of less importance that France adopted the Code Napoléon in her judicial procedure than that she adopted a touch of vinegar and burnt butter in cooking an egg. We Americans are mildly interested, of course, in reading about the discovery of radium by Madame Curie, but what we really yearn to know is the name of the uncommemorated French female who first mixed a sauce béarnaise.”
No one, I'm sure, will deny that skill in French cooking, either professional or amateur, means knowing the sauces and, naturellement, making them expertly too. But for the gourmet, a mere knowledge of the different sauces is hardly enough. He must roll the flavorful mixture over his tongue, savoring all the nuances or developing a high gastronomic fever when perfection is missed. Otherwise half the pleasure of eating a sauce is lost. And for those who love to cook, the putting together of combinations that make really fine sauces—the mixing and blending for flavor, the stirring and cooking for texture—is one of life's great satisfactions. Without good sauce cookery, too many foods would reach the table sans goût—or as pretty dull dishes.
Since they are so important, how then does one acquire this priceless skill of making fine sauces? Well, if you were starting your training as a chef—faire votre apprentissage—and it was this time of the year when a cold dish or two is included in almost every meal served, you might begin in the cold sauce department. A practical start for anyone, for that matter. Even though the cold sauces in general are quite simple, you develop a sense of taste and discretion with seasonings. And you won't be discouraged by failures because they will be few. As a matter of fact, once you master mayonnaise you'll find you have the cold entree sauces under control, and when you can make a smooth, satiny soft custard you have the dessert ones well in hand. These are the two kinds that include eggs to achieve the desired texture and so can't be tossed together so casually as the vinaigrette variations, for example, or the fruit sauces, that depend for success on an agreeable combination of flavors.
When I write about cold sauces, my mind immediately spins back over the years like a machine in reverse stopping at all the purple-velvet festivities for which I've planned and set up cold buffets. I know so well that unless the many savory sauces we used had not been developed through the years, the whole idea of the cold buffet and cold entrees within hot meals would never have become so popular. Time passes so quickly that I can hardly believe it is more than forty years ago that I was in Paris as a young chef learning to prepare and arrange foods for functions for the haut monde that were the talk not only of Paris but of the world. I doubt whether anyone today would believe the time and care which went into making and decorating every dish served. Time, of course, meant nothing in those days, and the fact that a food would be on display for several hours was reason enough to spend as many hours in merely its decoration. Chefs worked twelve or more hours a day and an apprenti much longer. Time and money then seemed far less important than pride in workmanship.
I particularly remember those warm spring days in May and June, “the season” in Paris. Society arrived from all over the world to enjoy the city at its loveliest and the thrill of the racing at Longchamps. When the Grand Prix was run off during the last week in June, “the season” ended, but until then fine living was at its peak. And fine food was hardly the least of the extravagances that beautifully gowned women and their meticulously groomed escorts came to enjoy. What woman in those days thought of dieting? What man wanted to put his arm around a pencil-thin figure? Madame did not shy away from a good truite saumonée sauced with a rich mayonnaise. Mais non! She enjoyed every mouthful and all the other tempting cold entrees, too, especially after a day in the hot sunshine watching the races. Those who liked open-air dining would seek out a favorite restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne or perhaps visit the Ambassadeur on the tree-lined Champs Elysées. Others preferred the smartness of the Ritz or the big restaurants in the center of the city. To many a person it was worth a trip halfway across Europe to eat once a year, of a spring evening, in Monsieur Leopold Mourrier's Pavillon d'Armenonville or his equally popular Café de Paris with its famous picture-backed menus.
Today many fine restaurants both here and abroad still set up cold buffets for summer luncheon service, and some places continue the custom in winter, too. Many also provide a cold buffet for summer dinners. The buffet tables are especially designed and have long, oblong insets of metal to hold the chopped ice on which to place the silver dishes of food. As a rule, there are twenty to thirty different cold dishes: salads of many kinds, fish in aspic and chaud-froid sauces, eggs stuffed with various fillings, cold meats and poultry, foie gras and other pâtés, fresh fruit and fruit compotes. Many of the tables also include a small fountain in the center to add the refreshing coolness of running water. This is certainly a convenient way of serving food, especially for the hostess with a large group to entertain. The food is prepared long ahead of time, and serving requires so much less help. The foods don't stand so long on the table at a home party as in a restaurant. So if they are well chilled before being placed there, they will remain cold during the serving, and ice under them is not necessary.
But to get back to cold sauces—and I speak now of sauces for appetizers, entrees, and salads, not of dessert sauces. They are a piquant group, refreshing with the spiciness of herbs, pickles, or mustard, tangy with the sharpness of vinegar or lemon juice. We think of them with all cold foods but especially with fish and shellfish, and anything bland, if bolstered with one of these piquant sauces, becomes actually appetite-provoking. The exception is mayonnaise whose appeal lies in a certain smooth delicacy rather than a pronounced seasoning. Mayonnaise, incidentally, is a sauce that has really stood the test of time. Cardinal Richelieu, credited with discovering this combination of oil and egg yolks which he flavored with lemon juice, did so back in the early 1600's. Its popularity has never waned. We still make the same sauce the same way today.
Making mayonnaise, or any of its variations, presents one major problem. Unless the right care is taken when adding the oil to the egg yolks, the mixture will separate and be a curdled mass instead of an emulsion. Almost everyone experiences this at least once. I remember as a child watching my mother whip up the sunny-colored mixture and thinking how easy that was—and then trying one Sunday morning when she was at church to surprise her by making a bowl of mayonnaise for the chicken that had cooled in Saturday's pot-au-feu. I was the one who was surprised when she went to spoon out my masterpiece and it broke down into a tragic curdled mess. Many years later when I was a guest at the home of one of New York's well-known food purveyors, the young son of this family of gourmets came and tugged at my sleeve and led me to the kitchen where a terrible thing had happened. He was to show off his culinary skill by preparing a fish dish with mayonnaise for supper—and the mayonnaise had curdled! What to do? He was almost in tears. So I showed him what my mother had taught me those many years before—to take another egg yolk and gradually and thoroughly beat the separated mixture into it. It all pulls together—and that's a trick to remember!
Cold sauces are, of course, essential for the cold buffet but their usefulness doesn't end here. Practically every meal includes either an appetizer, a salad, or a dessert using a cold sauce. And many hot dishes are sauced with cold sauces—sautéed fish with sauce tartare or sauce rémoulade, or calves' brains or head with vinaigrette are just a couple of examples of hot foods traditionally accompanied by cold sauces.
Mayonnaise comes first in the cold sauce group because of its popularity and also because it is a foundation for so many variations. Follow the rules and it is easy enough to make, so don't hesitate to tackle it. For consistent success, just remember these four points. One, have both egg yolks and oil at room temperature—not just out of the refrigerator. Two, don't try to combine more oil with the yolks than they can hold in emulsion—about 1 cup of oil to 2 egg yolks is correct. Three, add the first spoonfuls of oil a few drops at a time and after that in a thin stream like a thread, whipping the mixture all the time, adding a little of the vinegar whenever the mixture gets too heavy. Four, don't store mayonnaise in an automatic refrigerator, or the extreme cold will congeal the oil and cause separation. Store homemade mayonnaise in a cool place or in the special compartment of the refrigerator that is less cold than the rest. Follow these simple rules, and you will have no trouble.
Mayonnaise
Rinse a bowl in hot water and dry it thoroughly. Put in 2 egg yolks, ½ teaspoon salt, a little pepper, ½ teaspoon dry mustard, and 1 teaspoon vinegar. Mix all together well. Add 1 cup olive oil, drop by drop, beating continually until 5 or 6 drops have been added. Add ½ teaspoon vinegar and then the rest of the oil in a thin stream, beating all the time. Add a final ½ teaspoon vinegar when the mixture becomes thick. Prepared mustard may be used instead of, or in addition to, the dry mustard, and ½ teaspoon lemon juice instead of the vinegar.
If the mayonnaise should separate or curdle, beat another egg yolk slightly and whip the curdled mixture into the new yolk, a very little at a time. This will restore the emulsion. If the mayonnaise is not to be used immediately, stir in 1 tablespoon boiling water after the last of the oil has been added—it will hold better.
Mayonnaise is standard, but its variations are far from standard. By that I mean that different chefs, different cook-books, and even different localities put together combinations that vary as to the specific ingredients and the amounts of them which may be added to the basic mayonnaise. The recipes given here are the ones usually served in first-class restaurants.
Light Mayonnaise
Use primarily with fruit for salads. Add the juice of ½ lemon to 1 cup of mayonnaise and then fold in 2 table-spoons whipped cream.
Mayonnaise à la Mint
Use with cold vegetables such as broccoli or with cold fish. Make an infusion with 1 tablespoon mint leaves and ½ cup vinegar by scalding the vinegar and pouring it over the chopped mint leaves. Cool, strain, and use for the vinegar called for in the mayonnaise recipe. Add a few chopped mint leaves to the finished mayonnaise.
Green Sauce
Use with cold lobster, salmon, striped bass, or other fish. Wash thoroughly 15 water cress leaves, 12 spinach leaves, and 8 parsley tops. Cover them with boiling salted water and let stand for 5 or 6 minutes. Drain, put in cold water, and drain again, pressing out all the surplus water. Rub the wilted leaves through a fine strainer and combine with 2 cups mayonnaise, mixing well. Add more seasoning if desired.
Vincent Sauce
Use with fish, especially with fried fish like white bait, oyster crabs, soft-shelled crabs, or with cold lobster, salmon, striped bass, and other fish. Follow the recipe for green sauce, adding 15 sorrel leaves, blanched as above, to the other greens called for. Tarragon and chives are sometimes used.
Rémoulade Sauce
Use with any fried fish, cold fish, or shellfish. Add ½ cup finely chopped sour pickles, 2 tablespoons finely chopped capers, 1 tablespoon prepared mustard, and 1 tablespoon mixed chopped parsley, tarragon, and chervil to 2 cups mayonnaise. Mix well. Make sure that all the moisture is pressed out of the chopped pickles and capers.
Tartare Sauce
To the recipe for rémoulade sauce, add 6 ripe olives, finely chopped, and 1 teaspoon chopped chives.
Sauce Niçoise
Use with cold fish or shellfish. Cook ½ cup tomato purée until it is reduced and as thick as mayonnaise, stirring as it cooks to prevent scorching. Chill. Chop 1 medium-sized pepper, red or green, very finely and 1 teaspoon mixed tarragon and chives. Combine purée, pepper, and herbs with 2 cups mayonnaise and mix well.
Aïoli Sauce
Use with hot or cold fish. Crush 4 small cloves garlic (more or less to taste) very thoroughly and combine with ½ teaspoon salt and 2 egg yolks. Add 1 cup olive oil, a few drops at a time, until 5 or 6 drops have been added, then continue adding it in a thin stream as in making mayonnaise. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a little warm water. Some add ½ cup mashed potato, cold or lukewarm, with the idea that it will prevent the sauce from separating. After all the oil is in, add the juice of ½ lemon.
Russian Dressing for Shellfish
Use with cold shellfish, especially lobster. Mix together the tomalley and coral of a cooked lobster with 1 table-spoon caviar and rub through a fine sieve. Add 1 teaspoon prepared mustard and combine with 1 to 1 ½ cups mayonnaise. Add 1 teaspoon finely chopped chives and parsley and mix well.
Russian Dressing
Add 3 tablespoons chili sauce, 1 teaspoon finely chopped pimiento, and 1 teaspoon finely chopped chives to 1 cup mayonnaise.
Mona Lisa Dressing
Add 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon horseradish, and 1 teaspoon English mustard to 1 cup mayonnaise. Then fold in 2 tablespoons very heavy cream, plain or whipped.
Sauce à la Ritz
Add 1 tablespoon chili sauce, ¼ tea-spoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 fresh tomato, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped, and 1 teaspoon mixed finely chopped chives, chervil, and parsley to 1 cup mayonnaise. Mix well.
Thousand Island Dressing
Follow the recipe for sauce à la Ritz, substituting ½ teaspoon chopped pimiento and ½ teaspoon chives for the combination of chives, chervil, and parsley.
Mayonnaise Chaud-Froid Sauce
This is the sauce that is used to coat fish and lobster and on which the decorations are placed. Soften 2 tablespoons gelatin in ¼ cup cold water for 5 minutes. Set over hot water and steam until the gelatin is dissolved. Add to 2 cups mayonnaise and mix well.
Two sauces which have all the richness of mayonnaise but are different are sauce gribiche and cream mustard. Both are used for chicken, fish, and shell-fish. Sauce gribiche is also good with calves' feet or calves' brains or cold boiled beef or, in fact, with any of the many meats on the hors d'oeuvres tray
Sauce Gribiche
Separate 3 hard-cooked eggs, put the yolks in a bowl, and crush them until they are smooth. Add ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon mustard, and a little pepper. Add 1 ½ cups olive oil, little by little, beating vigorously as in making mayonnaise. Add ½ cup vinegar, stirring constantly. Chop the egg whites into fine dice, chop ½ cup sour pickles and press out all the moisture, and chop 1 tablespoon mixed parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chives. Add the pickles, egg whites, and herbs to the egg-yolk-and-oil sauce and mix well.
Cream Mustard
Mix together 1 teaspoon prepared mustard, a little salt, a little pepper, and a few drops lemon juice. Add ½ cup heavy cream which may be plain or whipped, little by little, stirring vigorously until well combined.
The other cold entree sauces are variations of vinaigrette sauce or of Frénch dressing. Here again the term used depends upon who is using it. The two names are used interchangeably. But as a rule French dressing is considered the simple mixture of oil, vinegar, and simple seasonings like salt and pepper, while vinaigrette includes the chopped herbs, pickles, and so on. All of the sauces of this type are used on fish, meats, vegetables, and combinations of them, particularly those that are popular on the hors d'oeuvres tray. French dressing is, of course, the dressing that is used with the tossed green salad. Any of this group of sauces must be well mixed because the oil and liquid never hold together in an emulsion.
French Dressing or Vinaigrette Sauce
Mix together 1 tablespoon vinegar with 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil. Add ½ teaspoon salt, a little pepper, and if desired ½ teaspoon dry or prepared mustard. The amount of oil depends upon the taste and also on the strength of the vinegar.
Vinaigrette with Fines Herbes
Mix together 1 tablespoon vinegar with 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil and add ¼ teaspoon prepared mustard and 1 teaspoon mixed chopped parsley, tarragon, chervil, and chives.
Vinaigrette with Mustard
Mix together 1 teaspoon prepared mustard, a little salt, a little pepper, and either 1 teaspoon lemon juice or 1 tablespoon vinegar. Add 4 tablespoons olive oil, little by little, stirring vigorously until well combined.
Vinaigrette Sauce for Hors d'Oeuvres
Mix together 2 tablespoons vinegar and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add 1 teaspoon salt, a little pepper, 1 teaspoon capers, 1 teaspoon each chopped parsley, tarragon, chives, and chervil, and 1 tablespoon chopped hard-cooked egg. Combine well.
Lorenzo Dressing
Mix ½ cup chili sauce with ¾ cup olive oil, ¼ cup vinegar, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add some finely chopped water cress leaves and combine well.
Vinaigrette for Calves' Feet or Brains
Add to vinaigrette sauce with fines herbes ½ calf's brain that has been cooked in court-bouillon (water to which celery, onion, parsley, bay leaf, a few drops of vinegar, salt, and pepper have been added), drained, and then crushed. The calf's brain thickens the sauce.
Ravigote Sauce
Use particularly with leftover meat and fish. Mix together 2 tablespoons vinegar and 5 tablespoons olive oil and add ½ onion, finely chopped, 1 table-spoon prepared mustard, 1 chopped hard-cooked egg, 1 teaspoon mixed chopped parsley, tarragon, chives, or chervil, and salt and pepper to taste.