Espagnole Sauce Recipe

This espagnole, or brown sauce recipe, is one of the five, classic mother sauces of french cuisine. It is made from simmering mirepoix, tomato puree, herbs, and beef stock. Rumors have abounded for years that french brown sauce was named for the spanish tomatoes used in one of its earlier versions, or that spanish cuisine played a large part in its evolution to what we know today. Contrary to popular thought, espagnole sauce has nothing to do with spain, but rather because of french stereotypes of spaniards at the time.