Espagnole sauce


Espagnole sauce is a basic brown sauce, and is one of Auguste Escoffier's five mother sauces of classic French cooking. Escoffier popularized the recipe, which is still followed today.
Espagnole has a strong taste, and is rarely used directly on food. As a mother sauce, it serves as the starting point for many derivatives, such as sauce africaine, sauce bigarade, sauce bourguignonne, sauce aux champignons, sauce charcutière, sauce chasseur, sauce chevreuil, and demi-glace. Hundreds of other derivatives are in the classical French repertoire.
Escoffier included a recipe for a Lenten espagnole sauce, using fish stock and mushrooms, in Le Guide culinaire, but doubted its necessity.

Preparation

The basic method of making espagnole is to prepare a very dark brown roux, to which veal stock or water is added, along with browned bones, pieces of beef, vegetables, brown sugar and various seasonings. This blend is allowed to slowly reduce while being frequently skimmed. The classic recipe calls for additional veal stock to be added as the liquid gradually reduces, but today, water is generally used instead. Tomato paste or pureed tomatoes are added towards the end of the process, and the sauce is further reduced.

Etymology

Espagnole is the French word for "Spanish", but the sauce's origin story is argued by French cooks. According to Louis Diat, the creator of vichyssoise and the author of the classic Gourmet's Basic French Cookbook:
"There is a story that explains why the most important basic brown sauce in French cuisine is called sauce espagnole, or Spanish sauce. According to the story, the Spanish cooks of Louis XIII's bride, Anne, helped to prepare their wedding feast, and insisted upon improving the rich brown sauce of France with Spanish tomatoes. This new sauce was an instant success, and was gratefully named in honor of its creators."

In Kettner's Book of the Table, published in 1877, an entirely different explanation is given:
The name "Kettner" in the title refers to Auguste Kettner, former chef to Napoleon III, who emigrated to England and in 1867 opened a restaurant in Soho, Kettner's, one of the oldest restaurants in London.