The chef Auguste Escoffier, having established a dazzling reputation in Europe, was lured to London by a Mr.Ritz who ran a hotel. He eventually got fired for endorsing products without the consent of his employer – prepared sauces, with his name on the jar. For this and for his writing he was, without doubt, the first celebrity chef. He published his Guide to Modern Cookery in 1907, and, in an early chapter, laid down the rules of sauce-making, which were subsequently elevated to the status of holy writ by those responsible for generations of catering training.
Escoffier emphasised the importance of what he called “the leading, or ‘mother’ sauces” and of the roux, the flour-and-butter blend that is the cohering element of some of these sauces. For years, I followed his instructions slavishly – eight parts butter to nine parts flour, half-and-half, in practical terms. Now I find I can make a better, lighter, less glutinous sauce by using a two-to-one blend; a heaped teaspoon of flour of twice that of butter.
Escoffier’s dictum that sauces should be ‘smooth, light (without being liquid), glossy to the eye and decided in taste’ is as valid as ever.

SORREL OR SPINACH SAUCE (for fish)
Chop very finely, two tablespoons of fresh sorrel or spinach.
Heat a small saucepan. Cook together 1 heaped teaspoon of flour and twice the quantity of butter. Stir briskly with a wooden spoon until the mixture is a deep yellow. Add the sorrel, a grind of black pepper, and a glass of dry white wine and cook for a further five minutes, stirring repeatedly. Finish by adding two tablespoons of single cream, turning down or removing the pan from the heat, and stirring to ensure that the cream does not curdle.
The consistency can be adjusted by adding more cream or wine.

SAUCE SOUBISE
250g onions, peeled and sliced into very thin rounds
45g butter
1 dtsp sieved flour
salt, pepper
grating of nutmeg
140 ml mixed clear stock and milk

Soften the onions in butter, letting them turn pale yellow, approx 7 – 8 mins.Stir in 1 dessertspoonful of sieved flour, add salt, pepper, nutmeg then just over ¼ pint of warmed clear stock/milk mix. Simmer gently for 15 minutes. Thin with more stock/milk if necessary. If too thin, keep simmering until reduced.
I sometimes add black olives at the last minutefor additional flavour and garnish.