Book chapter
Mother of Whom, Exactly?: Toward a Science-Informed Sauce Curriculum
From Garum to Mole, pp 275-292
05 Jun 2026
Abstract
The work of Auguste Escoffier casts a long shadow, including in the institutes of culinary education in North America. To read almost any modern work on food is to encounter the mother sauces—béchamel, velouté, espagnole, tomato, and hollandaise—made famous by Escoffier and left largely unchanged since their publication in the early twentieth century. Such stasis, argues Jonathan Deutsch, not only would horrify Escoffier, but has also made sauce production routine and formulaic. Deutsch argues instead for a science-based understanding of sauces and sauce-making, one that is based on the chemical physical properties of ingredients and not the definition posited by a centuries-old cooking manual.
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Details
- Title
- Mother of Whom, Exactly?
- Creators
- Jonathan Deutsch
- Contributors
- Andrew Donnelly (Editor)Beth M. Forrest (Editor)Deirdre Murphy (Editor)
- Publication Details
- From Garum to Mole, pp 275-292
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press; New York, NY
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Health Sciences
- Other Identifier
- 991022205976004721