what is veloute

Velouté is a French mother sauce that is one of the five "mother sauces" of French cuisine, along with espagnole, tomato, béchamel, and mayonnaise or hollandaise. It is a savory sauce made from a roux and a light stock, and the name "velouté" means "velvety" in French. In preparing a velouté sauce, a light stock, such as veal, chicken, or fish stock, is thickened with a blond roux. The sauce produced is commonly referred to by the type of stock used, such as chicken velouté, fish velouté, or seafood velouté. Velouté sauce is often served on poultry or seafood dishes and is also used as the base for other sauces. Some sauces derived from a velouté sauce include Normande sauce, Poulette, Sauce à la polonaise, and Sauce ravigote. Velouté sauce is easy to make and can be used as a base to build many different kinds of sauces.