The Five Mother Sauces: Foundations of Classic Cooking Class

Description

Great cooking often begins with a great sauce. In The Five Mother Sauces, we’ll go beyond simply following recipes and explore the techniques behind the five foundational sauces of classical cuisine: Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Tomato, and Hollandaise. Working alongside our chef, you’ll learn what makes each sauce unique, how it is built, and—most importantly—how understanding a few fundamental techniques can give you the confidence to create dozens of sauces without relying on a recipe. 

You’ll explore the role of roux, stocks, reductions, emulsification, dairy, aromatics, and proper seasoning, along with how consistency and temperature affect the finished sauce. We’ll also demonstrate how the mother sauces become the starting point for familiar variations you can use in everyday cooking. 

Then you'll put those techniques into practice as we prepare a complete dinner featuring chicken and beef, fresh Spinach & Tomato Pasta, rich Béchamel Potato Gratin, and Asparagus, giving you the opportunity to see how different sauces complement proteins, vegetables, and starches. For dessert, we'll continue our exploration of classic French technique with a Crème Mousseline Parfait with Crème Anglaise, providing one more opportunity to practice working with custards, temperature, and texture. 

Chef: Sunny Mayernik 

Dinner Menu 

Classic Spaghetti 

Velouté Chicken and Espagnole Beef Béchamel 

Potato Gratin Asparagus with Hollandaise 

Dessert- Crème Mousseline Parfait with Crème Anglaise 

Overview Join us for a 2.5–3 hour hands-on cooking experience where you'll cook, taste, sip, learn, and connect. Each class blends immersive culinary instruction with lifestyle cooking skills—from smart shopping to ingredient selection, substitutions, and chef-driven techniques. 

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