French Sauce Terminology & Classification

Labels: Posted by Yann_Chef on at 6:10 pm


Before starting this list of the classic French sauce, I would like to do a little of brief about the three men who set the standard for all Chefs: Marie Antoine Careme, Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin and Georges Auguste Escoffier.


Marie Antoine Carême (1784-1833) was the founder and architect of French haute cuisine. He was one of at least 25 children born to an impoverished family who put him out on the street at the age of about 10 to make his own way in the world. One day, he knocked on the door of a restaurant for a job. By the age of 21 he was chef de cuisine to Talleyrand. He also served as head chef in the kitchens of the future George IV of England, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Baron James de Rothschild. He wrote several voluminous works on cookery, which included hundreds of recipes, menus, history of French cookery, instructions for organizing kitchens, and of course, instructions for monumental architectural constructions of food for pieces montees.. He died at the age of 48, and is remembered as the “chef of kings and the king of chefs.”

Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) was a lawyer, magistrate, and politician, and creator of the "Osmasome" this little part of the sauce flavour that escape into the air allow the guest to know what is cooking in the kitchen. He wrote one of the most celebrated works on food, "Physiologie du gout" (The Physiology of Taste), which was published 2 years before his death. It consists of 8 volumes and its full title is 'The Physiology of Taste, or Meditation on Transcendent Gastronomy, a Work Theoretical, Historical, and Programmed. His work does not relate of many recipes, but a lot of them have left their name in French classics culinary terms (Savarin cake, duck with orange sauce or duck Brillat-Savarin). His literary work is full of anecdotes and observations covering all aspects of the pleasures of the table. He was quite possibly the greatest food critic ever.

Georges Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935) was called "the emperor of chefs" and “emperor of the world’s kitchens” by Emperor William II of Germany. He modernized and codified the elaborate haute cuisine created by M. Antoine Careme, and developed the "brigade de cuisine" system of kitchen organization. Escoffier was chef at the Carlton Hotel in London, the Grande National Hotel in Lucerne, Switzerland, the Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo, the Savoy in London and the Ritz hotels in Paris and New York City. His books include "Guide culinaire" and "Ma Cuisine".
This is a list of basic French sauces is based on this classification define by Careme and revised a hundred years later by Escoffier. Most sauce of the French "Grande Cuisine" are either based or variations of these sauces. You may find it useful to have a better understanding of some dishes on the menus of restaurant serving French cuisine.
Basic Sauce: Brown or Espagnole, made with brown stock (Veal, Beef), brown roux and red wine and tomatoes


Bordelaise ( Trad: from Bordeaux): Red wine, Shallots and Veal bone marrow.
Diable (trad: Devil): White wine, Shallots, Cayenne pepper.
Lyonnaise (Trad: from Lyon): White wine, Onions.
Madeira: Madeira Wine.
Périgueux (Trad: Small town in Perigord in the south-west of France): Madeira wine, Truffles.
Piquante: White wine, Vinegar, Gherkins, Capers.
Poivrade: (Trad: Peppered): Vinegar, Peppercorn.
Red wine sauce: Red wine.
Robert: White wine, Dijon Mustard, Onions.

Basic sauce Velouté (Trad: velvety), made with white stock (veal, chicken, fish), blond roux

Allemande (Trad: German): Egg yolk, Mushroom, Cream.
White Bordelaise (Trad: from Bordeaux): White wine, Shallots.
Ravigote (Trad: Invigorated): White wine, Vinegar.
Supreme: Poultry stock, Cream, Butter.

Basic sauce: Béchamel (Named after a gastronome*), made with milk and white roux

Creme: Cream.
Mornay (Named after a family): Cheese, Egg yolks, Fish or Poultry stock.
Soubise (Named after a army commander): Onion compote.

Basic sauce: Hollandaise (From Holland): made with eggs, butter, lemon juice or vinegar

Mousseline (Light cloth): Whipped cream.
Béarnaise (From Béarn): Vinegar, Shallots, Cracked pepper, Tarragon and Chervil.
Choron (Named after its creator*): Béarnaise with tomato fondu.

Basic sauce: Mayonnaise, made with egg yolk, Dijon mustard, vegetable oil, lemon juice or vinegar
Rémoulade(Trad: twice ground): Gherkins, Capers, Mustard, Anchovy paste
Tartare: Shallots, Capers, Mustard, Gherkins, Parsley.


*Louis Bechameil (1630-1703) was 17th century financier who was chief steward of King Louis XIV's household. Supposedly Béchamel sauce was named for him by Chef Francois Pierre de la Varenne.

*Alexander Etienne Choron(1837-1924)was a French chef from Caen who created the sauce choron, which is Béarnaise sauce with tomato puree. Choron was the chef de cuisine at the famous Voisin restaurant in Paris. During the Siege of 1871 he served many animals (some from the zoo) as food, including elephant, camel, cat, wolf, and St. Bernard. (Trivia: Cesar Ritz of hotel fame was a waiter there at the time).

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What means: Bleached Flour?

Labels: Posted by Yann_Chef on at 6:20 pm



Unbleached flour has become a quite common description on baking recipes. Whether it is in cookery books or blogs, it always sounds healthier. Isn't it? So, what is the antagonist of unbleached flour made of and why is it, that bleached flour sounds like the bad guy of the baking world.

First I will start to explain why, bleaching (whitning agent to be more precise) agent are used during the milling process of wheat flour. Experienced bakers will all, tell you the same thing: freshly milled flour makes a weak gluten, a slack dough and a dense loaf. In fact, wheat flour as to be aged, naturaly or chemicaly*, to allow the gluten development and improve its baking properties. The natural process of oxydation of the flour helps freeing the glutenin protein's end sulfur groups to react with each other and form even longer gluten chains that give the dough greater elasticity.

The down side of this process is that the yellowish flour becomes progressively paler as the xanthophyll pigments are oxydized to a colorless form.

The second explaination is of a cultural aspect. Our western society has become used to immaculate white bread. The demand of white bread has progressively overthrone the old traditional greyish, yellowish bread from my childhood.


Now, once the phenomenon of the color changes in air aged flour was understood, millers started to use bleaching agents, "I'll give their little name later," to whiten flours. Then, our consumptions habits changing and the increase in the demand of white bread (in opposition the the old traditional bread) as made its use the norm.

What are these bleaching agent? The first that was used is called azodicarbonamide. When it reacts with flour, it behaves as a hydrogen acceptor, and is quickly and completely converted to biurea, which is stable even during baking. The reaction occurs only during wetting of the dough. Acceptable doses for flour treatment range between 0-45 ppm. It is also used in the production of foamed plastics and the manufacture of gaskets. In the UK, the H.S.E has identified azodicarbonamide as a respiratory sensitiser (a possible cause of asthma) and determined that products should be labeled with "May cause sensitisation by inhalation." The use of azodicarbonamide as a food additive is banned in Australiaand in Europe.

The others are:
  • Organic peroxides: named benzoyl peroxide, it is a radical initiator. Homolytic cleavage of the weak oxygen-oxygen bond forms free radicals which trigger further reactions. It is also used in treatment of acne and in tooth whitening and hair dye. It is potential cancerogene and may act as a mutagen. It is also banned in Europe.
  • Calcium peroxide: (CaO2) is a solid peroxide with a white or yellowish color. For all practical purposes calcium peroxide is insoluble in water but will dissolve in acid to form hydrogen peroxide . When in contact with water it will immediately begin to decompose releasing oxygen. In agriculture it is used as a fertilizer, and is also used in the presowing treatments of rice seeds. Also, calcium peroxide has found use in the aquaculture industry as it is used to oxygenate and disinfect water, and in the ecological restoration industry as it is used in the treatment of soils. It is banned in Europe as a food additive. Its E number is E930.
  • Nitrogen dioxide: is the chemical coupound NO2. This reddish-brown gas has a characteristic sharp, biting odor. NO2 is one of the most prominent air pollutants and a poison by inhalation. It is banned in the EU and Australia.
  • Chlorine dioxide: is a chemical compound of formula ClO2. This greenish-yellow gas crystallizes as orange crystals at −59 °C. As one of several oxides of chlorine, it is a potent and useful oxidizing agent used in water treatment and in bleaching. Chlorine dioxide is used primarily (>95%) for bleaching of wood pulp, but is also used for the bleaching of flour and for the disinfection of water. It is reported to produce diabetes-causing contaminant alloxan when reacting with the proteins contained in flour. You may have guessed it is banned in Europe and Australia.

As you may have noticed chemical bleaching of flour is banned in the EU and Australia, there flour whitening and improving is done by adding some fava bean flour or soy flour. They act as flour improver as they fast forward the the gluten development as well as whitening wheat flour.


I let you come to your own conclusions and make your choice: bleached or unbleached flour...


* Chemicals used as flour improver. They are used mainly to speed up the development of the gluten. They are: Chlorine gas, bromate (banned since the 80's), Acid ascorbic (vitamin C) and anti caking agents.

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Fonio and Gluten Intolerance

Labels: , Posted by Yann_Chef on at 10:47 am




Fonio is a small annual herbaceous plant of the genus digitalis that grows to a height of 30 to 80 cm. Fonio is considered to be the oldest cereal in West Africa. In the Malian Dogon tribe's legend of the origin and creation of the universe, the fonio grain, is known as po, the "germ of the world".
White fonio (Digitaria exilis) is primarily grown in Guinea, where it is a staple for people living in the mountain regions of Fouta Djalon. It is also found in Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, etc. In West Africa: Digitaria exilis or fonio, white fonio, fundi or findi, acha, hungry rice. Digitaria iburua or black fonio, iburu. In Eastern Europe: Digitaria sanguinalis or large crabgrass or hairy crabgrass. In India: Digitaria cruciata or raishan. Only Digitaria exilis is of any real importance in West Africa nowadays.

Fonio produces rough grains, which still have their glumes (characteristic chafflike bracts of the inflorescence of grasses, sedges at the base of a spikelet) and lemmas (bract in a grass spikelet just below the pistil and stamens) after threshing. At this stage, the grain is known as raw or "paddy" fonio. Paddy fonio, the tip of which still has its seed coating, is oval with one slightly flattened side. The grains are very small (L: 1.5 mm, W: 0.9 mm). On average, there are 1000 grains in half a gram.

Hulled fonio grains have a shiny pericarp whose colour varies from white through yellow to purple. They have a hilum on one side and a relatively large germ, containing the fat reserves, on the other. The kernel, which is the main storage organ, is made up of starch grains and a small protein reserve. It is the main element in whitened fonio. Fonio is highly nutritious.
The nutritional composition of fonio differs little from wheat. The husked grain white fonio contains 8 to 10%percent protein (the black fonio has a protein content of 11.8%), carbohydrates 85%, fat 4 %, ash 1%.
The protein analysis of white fonio in comparison with a whole egg is: 7.3 percent of methionine, 46 percent of lysine, 72% isoleucine, 90-100% of valine, tryptophan, threonine, and phenylalanine, 127% of leucine; 175% of total sulfur; and 189 percent for methionine.
Furthermore, fonio does not contain any glutenin or gliadin proteins which are the constituents of gluten, making this cereal suitable for people with gluten intolerance.
Fonio grain is used in a variety of ways. It is used to make porridge and couscous, ground and mixed with other flours to bake breads, popped and brewed for beer. It is a good substitute for semolina in the making of pastas and shortbread biscuits. The best way to cook fonio is steaming or boiling for about 20 minutes.
In the Hausa region of Nigeria and Benin, people prepare a wusu-wusu (couscous) using both types of fonio. In northern Togo, the Lambas brew the tchapalo (the most famous beer of the country) from white fonio. In southern Togo, the Akposso and Akebou peoples prepare fonio with beans in a dish that is reserved for special occasions.
I recieved quite few e-mails asking me where fonio can be purchased, so there is the only online shop the I am aware of:
Useful links about gluten intolerance:

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White Bread

Labels: Posted by Yann_Chef on at 10:44 am



This recipe is the basic white bread recipe that I use in the restaurant. It is a classic French, yeast, white bread. It can be shaped and flavoured to your liking with sun dried tomatoes, pesto, etc.

This is a recipe for 2 large loaf of 500g:
  • 1kg Stronghold (T55), unbleached flour (organic flour is best)
  • 12g Salt
  • 40g Fresh yeast
  • 1/2 lit/ 1 pt (about) Water

Mix the flour and the salt (add your flavouring at this point). Dissolve the yeast in half of the water. Place the flour in a mixer (type Kenwood chef), set on slow and slowly add the water/ yeast mixture. Add the rest of the water slowly until the dough reaches a soft, moist texture. You may not need all the water as the flour does not behave the same way if the weather is dry or humid. Set you food mixer on fast for 5 minutes then on slow for another 10 minutes. At this point, the gluten matrix forms and the starch absorb the moisture and solidify the gluten matrix by filling the gaps in the gluten web of protein.


Place your dough in a warm place, covered with a clean kitchen cloth. Let it proof for 1 hour. The fermentation process takes place. The yeasts feed on the glucose component, of the starch and generate some CO2. The dough rises and doubles in size.


Put the dough in a the mixer and set it on a medium speed for 6 minutes. On a clean and floured surface knead the dough by hand for 10 minutes. Dive it in two parts of equal size. Shape your bread to your liking. Place your bread on a baking tray leaving some space for the to rise again. Score the bread. Set a side to proof for 1/2 hour in a warm place. This is the final fermentation process, more CO2 is produced as well as some alcohol type molecule that will kill the yeast in the bread.


Preheat your oven on high heat (230 degrees Centigrade) and place a container of water in it. Sprinkle some flour on the bread put in the oven for about 40 minutes. After 10 minutes set your oven to 160 degrees Centigrade. The first part of the of the cooking process will create the crust and the flavour of the bread by the browning reaction or "Maillard reaction". The very same chemical reactions that happen when you roast meat. The second part of the cooking process set the starch/ protein walls around the bubbles of CO2.


Leave the bread to cool on a pastry rack.


For a more in depth look at what is going on when your are making bread follow this link: http://foodlorists.blogspot.com/2007/10/i-admit-it-now-but-discussion-that-will.html

"Great eaters and great sleepers are incapable of anything else that is great."

Henry IV of France

Nut free, Dairy free, vegetarian

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Amaranth and Gluten Intolerance

Labels: , Posted by Yann_Chef on at 4:20 pm


Amaranth is a tiny seed, about 1 to 2 mm across, of three species of amaranthus. It originated in Mexico and Central and South America. There, this pseudo-cereal crop was already, cultivated 5000 years ago. The Incas, Mayas and Aztecs considered amaranth a staple food as well as maize and beans. After the arrival of the Spanish conquistador the cultivation of the crop was banned. In response, the indigenous population stored their harvest in hard to reach places of mountainous Central and South America. It is only in the 16th Century that amaranth was introduced in Europe, but only as an ornamental plant. From there, different species of amaranth spread throughout the world during 17th, 18th and 19th century. In India, China and under the harsh conditions of Himalayas this plant became important grain and/or vegetable crop.

At present amaranth is grown in the USA, South America, India, China and Russia. The Czech Republic is the most important grower in Europe (approx. 250 hectares). Today this seed supplements other grains in many baked goods and breakfast cereals, and snacks. The Aztec combination of popped amaranth seeds and sticky sweetener lives on in Mexican alegria ("joy"). In India amaranth is known as rajeera (the king's grain) and is the main ingredient of Indian laddoo (traditional sweet).

Amaranth is an interesting seed for coeliacs as it is nutritious and free of gluten. There is a breakdown of its composition for a serving of 100g:

Water 9.84g ; Protein 14.45g ; Fat 6.51g (Saturated Fat 1.662 mg, Monounsaturated Fat 1.433 mg, Polyunsaturated Fat 2.891 mg) ; Carbohydrates 66,71g ; Vitamin C 4.2 mg ; Thiamin 0.08 mg ; Riboflavin 0.208 mg ; Niacin 1.286 mg ; Vitamin B6 0.223 mg ; Folate 49 mcg ; Food Folate 49 5.6 mcg ; Dietary Folate Equivalents 49 mcg ; Pantothenic Acid 1.047 mcg ; Calcium 153 mg ; Iron 7.59 mg ; Magnesium 266 mg ; Phosphorus 455 mg ; Potassium 366 mg ; Sodium 21 mg ; Zinc 3.18 mg ; Copper 0.777 mg ; Manganese 2.26 mg.

Energy for 100g: 374 kcal or 1565kj

Amaranth seeds can be cooked like all edible cereals; Steamed or boiled, they are great puffed. They enter the composition of yeast breads in a ratio 1/3 amaranth flour 2/3 wheat flour on average. The reason for this is the lack of gluten components, glutenin and gliadin, does not allow the creation of the elasticity and plasticity necessary to the development of the dough. It is possible to bake breads made exclusively from amaranth flour with the use of baking powder. The result is a soda bread type of baked goods. Amaranth is a good substitute to wheat flour in the making of batters, crepes, pancakes and fritters, etc. Amaranth is also, used in breakfast cereals and sports bars.

Note that the leaves can also, be cooked like spinach or in salads.

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