In essence, Western cuisine derives its base from French cuisine. Auguste Escoffier’s modernisation of classical French cooking techniques serves as the base of the culinary world today, in particular, his popularisation of the 5 Mother Sauces; Sauce bechamel, espagnole, veloute, hollandaise and tomate, are names that every cook and chef should know by heart. In fact, most modern sauces are variations of this fundamental sauce tree.