There are five mother sauces. These sauces come from French cuisine, so they’re very important to know for that, and important to know in general when cooking. They are:

• Béchamel
• Sauce Tomate (tomato sauce)
• Hollandaise
• Espagnole
• Veloute

The designation of these mother sauces came from the French chef Marie Antoine-Carême. Their designation as such comes from these sauces being considered the backbone of all other sauces used in cooking, with all others being derived from changes to the mother sauces.