 Beef with espagnole sauce and French fries | |
| Type | Sauce |
|---|---|
| Associatedcuisine | French |
| Main ingredients | Meat stock, brownroux |
Espagnole sauce (French pronunciation:[ɛspaɲɔl]ⓘ) is a basicbrown sauce, and is one of themother sauces of classicFrench cuisine. It is a strong-flavoured brown sauce, made from a dark brownroux andbrown stock—usually beef or veal stock—and tomatoes ortomato paste.[1]
In the early 19th century the chefAntonin Carême included it in his list of the basic sauces of French cooking. In the early 20th centuryAuguste Escoffier named it as one of the five sauces at the core of France's cuisine.
Espagnole is the French for "Spanish". Many French sauces have names of countries, such ashollandaise sauce orcrème anglaise. Generally, the country's name is chosen as a tribute to a historical event or because the sauce's content evokes that country. In the case of Spanish sauce, it is thought that the name was given due to its red color, which is associated with Spain.[2]
Subsequently, several attempts were created to explain its name. It is said, for example, thatAnne of Austria – who, despite her name, was Spanish – introduced cooks from Spain to the kitchens of the French court and that her cooks improved the French brown sauce by adding tomatoes.[3] A similar tale refers to the Spanish cooks employed byLouis XIV's wife,Maria Theresa of Spain.[4] There is no record of Spanish cooks in the kitchens of the French court, therefore, these explanations appear to be baseless.[5] Another suggestion is that in the 17th century, Spanish bacon and ham were introduced as the meat for the stock on which the sauce is based, rather than the traditional beef.[6]
A "Spanish Sauce" appears inVincent La Chapelle's 1733 cookery bookLe Cuisinier moderne as a sauce for pheasant.[7]Marie-Antoine Carême printed a detailed recipe for "Sauce Espagnole" in his 1815 bookLe Pâtissier royal parisien.[8] By the middle of the 19th century, the sauce was familiar in the English-speaking world; in herModern Cookery of 1845Eliza Acton gave two recipes for it, one with added wine and one without.[9] The sauce was included inAuguste Escoffier's 1903 classification of the fivemother sauces, on which much French cooking depends.[10]
La Chapelle's recipe calls for onions, carrots, gravy, ham essence, lemon, garlic, basil, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, green onion, white wine, and, optionally, partridges. Liver is added at the end of cooking.
Carême's recipe runs to more than 400 words. He calls for ham, veal, and partridges gently braised in water for two hours, after whichroux is mixed in and the pan is returned to the stove for a further two hours or more. It is garnished with "parsley, chives, bay leaves, thyme, sweet basil, cloves, and parings of mushrooms".[11]
Auguste Escoffier's recipe for espagnole, dating from 1903, is briefer, and it includes tomatoes, unlike older recipes. It calls for brown stock (made from veal, beef, and ham), brown roux, tomatoes, andmirepoix (diced onion, carrot, celery, and ham or lightly salted pork belly), simmered for up to eight hours.[12]
Sauce espagnole is the basis for many French sauces. They include:
| Sauce | Ingredients | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| africaine | Cayenne pepper, madeira, onion rings, diced truffles | [13] |
| bigarade | juice and zest of orange and lemon; duck stock, sugar | [14] |
| bordelaise | thyme, mignonette pepper, bay leaves, red wine | [15] |
| bourguignonne | shallots, parsley, thyme, bay, mushroom trimmings, butter and red wine | [16] |
| aux champignons | mushroom stock and small mushroom caps | [17] |
| charcutière | onions, white wine, vinegar, pepper, mustard, gherkins | [18] |
| chasseur | sliced mushrooms, chopped sautéed shallots, white wine, butter, parsley | [15] |
| chevreuil | mirepoix of vegetables, game trimmings, red wine, pepper sauce, Cayenne pepper | [19] |
| à la diable anglaise | shallots, white pepper, vinegar, tomato purée | [20] |
| financière | madeira, truffle essence | [21] |
| aux pignoles à l'italienne | pine kernels (pignoles), sugar, vinegar, nutmeg, pepper, red wine | [22] |
| Robert | onions, white wine, vinegar, pepper, mustard | [23] |
| Saint-Malo | white wine, shallots, mustard, anchovy paste | [24] |
| venaison | game essence, pepper sauce, redcurrant jelly, sugar | [19] |
