They say the true measure of a chef, or an accomplished home cook for that matter, is in their skill in creating sauces. There seems to be some magic touch required that not just everyone has. Even the simple ones, like aioli, can be contrary, and if you are attempting something more complex, like hollandaise, it can be a demanding task indeed.
I have been making aioli, a classic French sauce (but having little to do with the stuff we buy in the jar at the grocery store), for years. One cup of good quality olive oil (regular oil for mayo), an egg, maybe a few drops of lemon juice, and a little garlic (not for mayo): hit it for a few seconds with the emersion blended, and voila, there appears a thick and creamy sauce that is simply brilliant of a grilled steak, or your favorite sandwich.
But the last two times I tried to make aioli, it just wouldn’t kick (thicken) and I had no idea why. I was left with a cup of thin oil that was good for absolutely nothing.
Let’s back up and start with the basics. Please never make the mistake of calling a sauce “gravy.” You just might get tossed out of a fine dining restaurant by an irate chef. Gravy is made from pan drippings and, more often than not, milk. It can be delicious (like with sausage gravy over a biscuit), but it is not a sauce.
A saucier (simply means sauce chef) in the classic brigade style French kitchen is the chef responsible for making all the sauces, and a good one worth his or her weight in gold. It is not a title awarded lightly. Remember that a saucier is not making a cup or two of sauce for Sunday dinner. He could be making it by the gallon, and if you are a chef or cook with some experience, you know that quantity does make a difference.
I frequent the Brew Paddle restaurant in Biloxi often, and although everything is good, the owner Chef Scott is a saucier of some merit. More often than not, I order the Cuque Madam (the famous French sandwich, made with good ham, gruyere cheese, and mornay sauce), or eggs Benedict (served on toast, with Canadian bacon and hollandaise sauce) and it is those perfectly prepared sauces that make all the difference in the world in both dishes. Simply brilliant.
A little history: Master French chef Auguste Escoffier (1856-1935), who is often referred to as the king of chefs, is credited with codifying French sauces as well as creating modern French cooking (as opposed to haute cuisine, the old French style of cooking, which featured exacting presentation and difficult technique).
Escoffier identified four sauces from which all other sauces derived (a fifth was later added). They are: Bechamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Hollandaise and Tomato. If you master these five sauces, you are on your way to becoming a respected chef or cook.
Making a good sauce is an exacting process and great attention must be paid to every detail. I finally figured out that the reason my aioli would not thicken was that I did not allow the eggs to come to room temperature first. A simple mistake, but critical.
Do you want to get better at making sauces? There is only one way, try, try and try again.