One culinary item that is seemingly inconsequential but one that can make or break a whole menu is sauce. It is one of the most exacting sections in the curriculum of any culinary school. To make one, you start with one of the 5 Classic Mother Sauces: Espagnole, Veloute, Bechamel, Hollandaise and Tomato.

Basically, Espagnole sauce is a brown sauce made with *roux, stock from roasted bones and **mirepoix, Veloute is stock thickened with roux, Bechamel is milk thickened with roux, Hollandaise is a blend of cooked egg yolk and clarified butter, and last but not least Tomato - is probably the most popular and familiar.

**A basic mirepoix is made from 2 parts onion, 1 part carrot, 1 part celery, 4 parts fresh tomatoes, garlic and herbs of choice (bouquet garni) roasted but not browned, and strained out of the finished stock.

Before you start making a sauce, have ready a basic stock made from some bones such as knuckle of veal or oxtail, roughly chopped then roasted for 15 minutes, brought to the boil in water then simmered for 4 hours. To enrich, you can add beef or veal trimmings along with some rendered bacon rind (lightly grilled or fried without additional fat) and the mirepoix. Cook for 1 hour more, before passing through a sieve. Skimmed, you can freeze this stock - make sure to mark the container with date and amount, use within 2 months. You can make a fish or chicken stock in the same way using the appropriate ingredient.

* A thickener, White Roux is equal weights of flour and fat; 1 oz butter and 2 oz sifted flour cooked gently over moderate heat in a saucepan for 3 minutes.

To make Espagnole sauce for 2 people, combine 4 ozs cooked mirepoix, 1 Tbsp roux and 1 pint basic stock, 1 sprig thyme, 2 bay leaves, bring to the boil, turn down heat and simmer for 1 hour. Veloute sauce: Gradually add pint fish or chicken stock, depending on the finished dish, to white roux. Keep stirring to achieve a very smooth texture and gently cook for 1 hour. Good over egg-based pasta such as fettucine or for spinach and pumpkin ravioli along with grated cheese and ground black pepper. Also excellent with steamed fish, sauteed chicken breast and stir-fried vegetables.

Bechamel sauce: Melt 30 gms butter in a saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Add 2 Tbsp flour, stir and cook for 2 minutes, until bubbling. Remove from heat. Slowly whisk in 2 cups milk until mixture is smooth. Return to heat. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 12 minutes or until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat. Stir in 30 gms grated parmesan and a little grated nutmeg. Serve.

Hollandaise sauce: In a blender, combine 2 egg yolks, coffee spoonful of made up mustard, 1 tspn fresh lemon juice and blend for about 5 seconds. Heat cup butter until melted, set the blender on high speed, and pour the butter into the egg yolk mixture in a very thin stream. It should thicken almost immediately. Keep the sauce warm by keeping the blender jug in a pan of hot tap water.

Tomato sauce: Use tinned tomatoes as most of the fresh found locally are too watery. Gently fry (chopped) 3 cloves garlic and 3 shallots for 2 minutes, add 1 x 12 ozs tin of tomatoes and a small bunch of fresh basil leaves and 2 bay leaves, and cook for 25 minutes on medium. Adjust the seasoning. In Italy some time ago, Peter H Cronin - who taught me how to make this sauce, says most amateur cooks cook this sauce for far too long and lose the freshness. Tomato sauce is a great standby to have in your freezer, it can be turned into a luscious summer soup, poured over pasta or served with fish, fowl, game and meats.

(HK Edition 11/19/2011 page4)