Escoffier codified five mother sauces in Le Guide Culinaire (1903) as the foundational building blocks of French cuisine: espagnole (brown stock), chicken velouté and fish velouté (light stock), hollandaise (butter), béchamel (milk), and tomato. The system's purpose was standardization. By mastering these five bases, a cook could derive dozens of secondary sauces through simple additions. This modular approach remains the organizational framework taught in culinary schools today.
flowchart TD
M[Mother Sauces] --> ES["Espagnole<br/>(Brown Stock)"]
M --> V["Velouté<br/>(Light Stock)"]
V --> C["Chicken<br/>(Suprême)"]
V --> Fish