Espanyol brown sauce

Espanyol brown sauce is considered one of the four main or basic sauces of French cuisine. Along with béchamel sauces, allemand and currency, Spanish sauce or la sauce espagnole has taken a worthy place in France's ancient culinary tradition. The main highlight of the brown espanyol sauce is the initial composition of the ingredients and the method of making the product. Like other basic espanyol sauces, they are prepared from roux, i. e. wheat flour and fat fried in butter.

Since the Middle Ages, France has used ru as a thickener for basic sauces. There are several varieties of flour base for sauces:



roux blanc or white roux;

roux blond or golden roux is made like a white appearance, but fried longer so that the flour receives a distinctive golden color;

roux brun or red roux to achieve a dark color in the base for the sauce add meat juice;



Brown espanyol sauce is prepared using dark roux and meat broth. In addition, pre-browned vegetables, as well as herbs, are added to the brown espanyol sauce. In order to make the taste of the sauce more savoury, tomatoes are added to espanyol in their own juice or tomato paste. Legend has it that the famous brown espanyol sauce was invented by one of the court chefs who was hired to host a ball to celebrate the wedding of Anne of Austria and Louis XIII. The chef was Spanish and decided to change the classic French white sauce to his native manner.

The cook fried the base for the flour sauce longer than usual, so the roux became a light brown color. The cook mixed wheat flour fried until golden crust with boiling veal broth. The last touch of a new masterpiece of world cooking called brown espanyol sauce was delicate pieces of beef, vegetables, herbs and tomatoes. Foodies claim that tomatoes give a distinctive taste and aroma to espanyol sauce. It is noteworthy that French hostesses harvest espanyol sauce for future use. Brown sauce was incredibly popular until the 17th century.

Espanyol was then replaced by new varieties of sauces. At the beginning of the 19th century, chefs Auguste Escoffier and Antoine Karem decided to revive the former greatness of espanyol sauce. Nowadays, French meat dishes are served with classic brown espanyol sauce. Espanyol sauce is thought to work perfectly with pork, beef and lamb dishes. In addition, bacon or ham and meat fried on an open fire are seasoned with brown sauce. Italians have adopted French sauce and use espanyol in famous raviolas.