Culinary I Stocks, Sauces, & Soups Practice Exam

Demi-glace is a concentrated brown sauce formed by reducing a brown stock with espagnole. The idea is to take the depth and color of espagnole and enrich it with veal stock, which provides the gelatin and body that thicken and coat the palate as you reduce. This combination yields a glossy, intensely flavored sauce that serves as a versatile base for many other sauces.

Using veal stock is essential because it adds the rich mouthfeel and stability you get from gelatin, while tomato, beer, or cream would alter the flavor and texture in ways that move away from the traditional demi-glace profile.