Espagnole sauce is one of the French mother sauces and though you've probably heard of it before, it can be a little tricky to get just right. Sure, it has a lot of ingredients and takes some finesse, but you don't need to worry about any kitchen nightmares! You can rest easy with our simple-to-follow recipe and some refreshers for what exactly Espagnole sauce even is!
This sauce belongs to the five French mother sauces and differs quite a bit from the rest of them.
Unlike some of the others, Espagnole sauce is very flavorful, made with a dark roux, and rarely served as a finishing sauce due to its potent taste. There are quite a few ingredients that go into it like beef bits from bones and a little something called mirepoix. Mirepoix is a mixture of chopped celery, onions, and carrots. Unlike the other mother sauces, Espagnole sauce uses a lot of potent ingredients that give it a strong taste, which is why it's rarely used as a finishing sauce.
Though it might take a little more to make, it's quite simple once you get the hang of it!
As we've mentioned, this sauce has a very potent taste and it's rarely served directly on food. It is, however, used as the base for a lot of other sauces that can be drizzled over food. Espagnole sauce acts as the base for a lot of secondary sauces like bordelaise, demi-glace, sauce chasseur, and sauce Africaine.
There you have it! It might seem a little daunting at first, but Espagnole sauce isn't all that difficult to make once you get the hang of it. Espagnole sauce is a wonderful base sauce so be sure to familiarize yourself with this one to make the best of your additional sauces!