Michel Roux: Sauces - Cookbook Review

By Michel Roux
(Rizzoli; Rev. Upd. edition, 2010)

At first, we were daunted by the title of famous toque Michel Roux's book, definitively named Sauces. We were worried about complicated hollandaise, béarnaise and fish stock à la Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

But, happily, while Roux delves into the so-called basic "mother sauces" of French cookery, he also offers many saucy recipes for lazy bones: fresh vinaigrettes; chutney; aioli, tomato water; easy homemade mayonnaise; crème anglaise and other dessert creams; and fun things like leek coulis; one of Roux's favorites, for fish like halibut.

Funny, that the chef shares his name with "roux," the classic French way of thickening a sauce with butter and flour; a word that had always intimidated us without realizing that we had been doing it this way all along, as taught by our French-Dutch mama.

Reviewed by Sylvie Greil