Espagnole sauce has three components: tomato paste, a brown stock (traditionally veal, but it can be any protein-- and the recipe I posted for the essential chicken stock works as a method for any protein), and a brown roux. A brown root is a white root that has been cooked longer. The longer a roux cooks, the darker it becomes. If you've ever made gumbo, the color of the room that you need for sauce espagnole is about the same as you would use in a gumbo-- that is, dark, rich, mahogany brown. This can take almost half an hour. But it's better that it takes longer because you're more conservative with the heat then getting it done quickly at high heat and risking scorching something. Never walk away from a roux; as a roux darkens, the rate at which it takes on additional browning accelerates proportionally to how brown it already is. As with a light roux, if it burns get rid of it, wash out the pan, and start over.
The procedure for incorporating the liquid in Espagnole as much the same as it is in velouté and béchamel: incorporate the stock half a cup of time while continuously whisking into the dark roux (which is made of the same ingredients as in the other sauces that use light roux: equal parts flour and butter). Once all the stock is incorporated, whisk in a tube of tomato paste, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook down for an hour. As with every other sauce thickened by a roux, be mindful of the temperature of the sauce since a roux continues to thicken a sauce even more as it cools. As with those sauces, only prepare the espagnole at the last minute.
Now, on to its first daughter: the “original” demi-glace. That version of demiglace is a 1 part veal stock reduction plus 1 part Espagnole, reduced by half (“demi” being the French for “half). However, there seems to be a more modern version of what exactly a “demi-glace” is that has become popular thanks to the internet—Alex calls this version “demi-glaze” with a “z” to differentiate it from the classic “demi-glace” with a “c”. Demi-glaze with a “z” is simply an ultra-concentrated brown stock thickened slightly with emulsified cold butter—the base of espagnole, without the roux or tomatoes—is what the French, according to Alex, simply call “glace.” This second daughter sauce is far more common than either the mother sauce or the first daughter, and, especially on the internet, will most likely be what you get if you click on a video or text recipe for something calling itself “demi-glace.”
If you make this, be sure to leave a comment down below letting me know!
The procedure for incorporating the liquid in Espagnole as much the same as it is in velouté and béchamel: incorporate the stock half a cup of time while continuously whisking into the dark roux (which is made of the same ingredients as in the other sauces that use light roux: equal parts flour and butter). Once all the stock is incorporated, whisk in a tube of tomato paste, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook down for an hour. As with every other sauce thickened by a roux, be mindful of the temperature of the sauce since a roux continues to thicken a sauce even more as it cools. As with those sauces, only prepare the espagnole at the last minute.
Now, on to its first daughter: the “original” demi-glace. That version of demiglace is a 1 part veal stock reduction plus 1 part Espagnole, reduced by half (“demi” being the French for “half). However, there seems to be a more modern version of what exactly a “demi-glace” is that has become popular thanks to the internet—Alex calls this version “demi-glaze” with a “z” to differentiate it from the classic “demi-glace” with a “c”. Demi-glaze with a “z” is simply an ultra-concentrated brown stock thickened slightly with emulsified cold butter—the base of espagnole, without the roux or tomatoes—is what the French, according to Alex, simply call “glace.” This second daughter sauce is far more common than either the mother sauce or the first daughter, and, especially on the internet, will most likely be what you get if you click on a video or text recipe for something calling itself “demi-glace.”
If you make this, be sure to leave a comment down below letting me know!
(Credit to the French Cooking Academy)
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