Espagnole Mother Sauce

Espagnole sauce is a basic brown sauce, and is one of the mother sauces of classic French cooking. In the early 19th century the chef Antonin Carême included it in his list of the basic sauces of French cooking. In the early 20th century Auguste Escoffier named it as one of the five sauces at the core of France's cuisine. "Espagnole" is the French for "Spanish". Many French sauces have names of countries, such as hollandaise sauce or crème anglaise. Generally, the country's name is chosen as a tribute to a historical event or because the sauce's content evokes that country. In the case of Spanish sauce, it is thought that the name was given due to its red color, which is associated with Spain. Subsequently, several legends were created to explain its name. It is said, for example, that Anne of Austria – who despite her name was Spanish – introduced cooks from Spain to the kitchens of the French court and that her cooks improved the French brown sauce by adding tomatoes. A similar tale refers to the Spanish cooks employed by Louis XIV's wife, Maria Theresa of Spain. Another suggestion is that in the 17th century, Spanish bacon and ham were introduced as the meat for the stock on which the sauce is based, rather than the traditional beef. There is no historical evidence of Spanish cooks in the kitchens of the French court, therefore, these legends appear to be untrue.

Source: Wikipedia