Michel Roux sees himself as a choreographer mapping out a dance. "Sauce-making is like a ballet," he writes. It demands devotion and focus, but it's easy to learn if taken step-by-step.

 

The Sauce Book Collection includes Sauces for Savory Dishes, Sauces for Salads and Chilled Dishes, Sauces for Seafood, and Sauces for Sweets. Together, the four books in this collection offer a complete introduction to the art and practice of sauce making.

 

Michel Roux starts each book with practical advice on menu planning and techniques. He brings together sauces for savory dishes: stocks and marinades; thick, rich gravies as well as light healthy sauces. For seafood, Roux offers fish stocks, roux, flavored beurre blanc and oils, coulis and many other sauces. "Cold sauces are magical," Roux says, and offers suggestions for salad dressings, salsas, relishes and vinaigrettes. Finally there is advice to crown the meal with something sweet and out come fruit coulis, ice creams and sorbets, creams and sabayons to accompany desserts and gateaux.