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Beyond flavor, the most important element of any sauce is its ability to smother and cling to whatever it gets drizzled, dolloped, or poured on. That means making the sauce thick and stable, which is accomplished with three techniques: a roux, an emulsifier, and a reduction (liquid that's slowly cooked down until thick).
The importance of Roux
Before we list the five sauces, we need to talk about roux. What makes a sauce a sauce? Basically, liquid needs to be thickened so that it coats and clings to food instead of running off of it. Thickening can happen by cooking down and reducing things like tomato sauce, which will naturally thicken as moisture evaporates, but other sauces need a little help. This is where roux comes in. Roux is basically cooking fat and flour together before adding in the liquid you want thickened. The fat used is generally butter, but oil or other fats can also be used. The fat and flour cook together briefly to cook out some of the floury, pasty flavor in the flour (and in Southern cooking, roux is actually cooked until very dark to add a nutty, toasty flavor). When the liquid is added to roux and everything comes to a boil, the flour thickens the liquid and you end up with sauce. Four out of the five mother sauces are thickened by roux, which is why it's important that you know what it is.
Directions
3 cups vegetable or peanut oil
5 cups maida
Place a iron pan over medium heat and heat the oil until just smoking. Whisk in flour, a little at a time and cook, whisking constantly, until roux becomes smooth and thick. Continue to cook, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon and reaching all over bottom of pan, until roux darkens to desired color. Be careful not to produce specs of black. The roux must remain an even color throughout process. If specs appear you must start over.
For a Light Brown Roux, cook the mixture, over medium heat for 1 1/2 hours, or until the color of peanut butter. Remove about 1 cup of the light colored roux, cool completely, and set aside.
For a Medium Brown Roux, cook the mixture, over medium heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until the color of a copper penny when ready. Remove about 13/4 cups of the medium colored roux, cool completely, and set aside.
For a Dark Brown Roux, cook the mixture an additional 35 to 45 minutes. The color should resemble dark chocolate when ready. Remove all of the remaining dark roux from the pan, cool completely and set aside.
NOTE: The timings for various shades of roux will vary depending on the cooktop as well as the amount of roux made. (A smaller amount will cook in much less time.) If this is your first time making a roux, the slower you cook it, the less likely you will be to burn it. The important thing is to cook the roux to the desired color, as specified above.
