Veloute Sauce - Smooth, Velvety, and Simple

Tips on Making French Mother Sauces for Home Chefs

Dec 21, 2008 Brian Smith

Named after its smooth, velvety texture, veloute sauce is a very simple, yet elegant sauce that is exquisite when paired with fish, lamb, or vegetables.

To begin with gather the following ingredients:

  • 2.5 Cups Fish or Chicken Stock
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter (Unsalted)
  • ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
  • 2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
  • Salt (To Taste)
  • Freshly Ground Black Pepper (To Taste)

Recipe:

  1. Heat the stock until almost boiling in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Meanwhile, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and heat until melted. Slowly stir in the all purpose flour and whisk until combined. Cook, whisking constantly until golden in color and nutty in smell (3-5 minutes). This is called a blonde roux.
  3. Remove from the heat and slowly add the heated stock, whisking to combine. Return to the heat and bring to very low simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced by one quarter and slightly thickened.
  4. Strain through a fine meshed sieve and stir in the heavy cream. Serve immediately or cool rapidly for use in another recipe.

Tips:

The texture of a veloute sauce is the most important feature of this classic sauce. The perfect veloute should be thinner than béchamel sauce and be able to lightly coat the back of a spoon. If the sauce is too thick, then thin with some additional heated stock. If the finished sauce is too thin, then stir in a small cube of butter coated with flour. This will act as a simple roux that will slightly thicken the liquid it is added to.

When dealing with such a simple sauce, it is important to not scald it at any of the steps. Unlike other, heavier sauces there are few options of masking a burnt veloute sauce. However, light the burnt taste is. Never leave the sauce unattended and use the lowest heat setting possible when following the recipe.

Some chefs have problem with clumping when using a roux. To help prevent this always make sure the stock or liquid that is added to the finished roux is heated. Clumping occurs when a warm roux is added to a cold liquid, or vice versa. If clumping does occur, then simply whisk the lumps out, or strain through a fine meshed sieve.

Variations:

  • For a richer flavor substitute 2-3 tablespoons of the stock with a dry white wine or vermouth. Use this variation over poached fish or steamed vegetables.
  • Add 3 tablespoons of a white wine reduction flavor with 1 tablespoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of fresh tarragon to a prepared veloute sauce. Make sure you strain the aromatics from the reduction before adding. Stir in 2 tablespoons of brandy to finish the variation. This is great with bacon-wrapped scallops.
  • Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to create an aurora sauce perfect for grilled lamb chops.

See The Mother Sauces (Part I)

See The Mother Sauces (Part II)

The copyright of the article Veloute Sauce - Smooth, Velvety, and Simple in Recipes is owned by Brian Smith. Permission to republish Veloute Sauce - Smooth, Velvety, and Simple in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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