What Is Espagnole Sauce?
Espagnole sauce is a brown sauce that is a mother sauce, one of the basic sauces found in French cuisine. Its name comes from the French word for “Spanish,” despite the fact that the sauce has no immediate ties to Spanish cooking or culture. The recipe for this brown sauce was originally standardized by the French chef, restaurateur, and food writer Auguste Escoffier in the late 19th century, and has not changed much since that time. Espagnole sauce typically includes a brown stock, such as beef or veal stock, and butter and flour cooked together until they turn a medium brown color to make a thickening agent known as a brown or dark roux. There are many variations on the recipe, and the sauce may be used as a base for many other well-known French sauces, such as Sauce Chausseur, a variation that includes mushrooms, shallots, and white wine.
