A
velouté sauce, along with
Allemande,
Béchamel, and
Espagnole, is one of the original
4 mother sauces of
French cuisine created by
Antonin Carême in the 19th century. (French chef August Escoffier would later classify tomato, mayonnaise, and hollandaise as mother sauces.) The term is from the French adjectival form of
velour meaning
velvet.
In preparing a velouté sauce, a light stock (one in which the bones used have not been roasted), such as chicken, veal or fish stock, is thickened with a blond roux.
Thus the ingredients of a velouté are butter and flour to form the roux, a light chicken, veal, or fish stock, salt and pepper for seasoning. Commonly the sauce produced will be referred to by the type of stock used e.g. chicken velouté.
It is often served on poultry or seafood dishes, and is used as the base for other sauces. Sauces derived from a velouté sauce include
