Explore 19th Century French Mother Sauces in Fort from Home Victorian Cooking: Let’s Get Saucy. In French cuisine, Mother Sauces are a group of sauce recipes that form the base of “daughter” or “small” sauces. From a simple base, an experienced cook can build a variety of sauces.
In our first program on Victorian Era Sauces, we will start with a basic roux, to create a bechamel sauce. From here, we will turn this into a mornay. Our final destination will be a dish that is similar to one of fabled 19th century composer Beethoven's favorite dishes.
French Mother Sauces can be found in a variety of mid- 19th century cookery books, notably Mary Randolph in The Virginia Housewife (1824) and the ubiquitous Mrs Beeton (1861) and also Godey's Lady's Book (1861).
Fort from Home Victorian Cooking is a monthly series that presents demonstrations of historical recipes, presents historical food research, and provides tips on how to adapt Victorian cooking to a modern kitchen.
