Sauce espagnole

One of Auguste Escoffier's five mother sauces, known as espagnole sauce, is a brown sauce that is typically made from brown (beef or veal) stock, butter, and flour. Additionally, bacon, ham, tomatoes, onions, bay leaves, red wine, garlic, and celery may be added to the sauce, according to personal preferences.

Traditionally, it is served with red meat. Even though it is named after the French word for Spanish, it has no clear Spanish origin. As usual, there are a number of theories about its origin. One says that Louis XIII's wife modified the brown sauce by adding tomatoes–a typical Spanish ingredient–into it.

Another one claims that the color of the sauce is the culprit for its name, as the French associated the dark-colored sauce espagnole with their stereotypical image of a Spaniard. Regardless of its origin, espagnole is a highly versatile sauce, providing a starting point for many other sauce varieties such as sauce Africaine, Bigarade, Chasseur, and demi-glace.