Brown sauce (sauce espagnole)

About the dish

Brown sauce is one of the classic mother sauces, and the book uses it, among other things, with stuffed onions. The method stresses gentle heat and skimming.

How to make it

1. 1

   Brown the flour

   Melt the 60 g butter and stir in the flour. Cook over low heat or in a medium-hot oven until nicely brown and smelling of hazelnuts.

2. 2

   Cook the sauce

   Add the stock and put on the heat. Stir until it begins to boil, then move to quite gentle heat so that it bubbles in only one spot. Let it finish cooking like this and skim off the scum. After 1 hour, stir in the tomato purée and the mirepoix.

3. 3

   Make the mirepoix

   Chop the cleaned vegetables finely and dry them in a cloth. Cook them with the 15 g butter until all is tender. If not used at once, put it in a bowl, press it down with the back of a fork and cover with buttered white paper.

4. 4

   Finish

   Simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes after adding the mirepoix. Add wine, salt and pepper to taste, and strain.

5. 5

   Store

   If the sauce is made some time before use, pour it into a container and stir until cold so no skin forms on the surface.