Demi-glace is a rich brown sauce used in French cooking. It’s made by reducing a mix of half brown stock and half Espagnole sauce until it’s thick and shiny. The result is a super flavoursome sauce that’s the base for many other sauces and dishes.
Demi-glace is important in hospitality especially in high end restaurants and hotels. It’s a sign of culinary expertise and adds to the overall dining experience. Chefs who can make a proper demi-glace are highly sought after in the industry. The sauce is versatile and can be used in many dishes from meat entrées to vegetable sides so it’s a staple in many professional kitchens.
Let’s say you’re a sous chef in a busy hotel restaurant. During a crazy dinner service your head chef yells out 'We’re running out of demi-glace!' You know this is serious because demi-glace is the base for many of your signature dishes. You quickly delegate tasks to your team and tell one of the cooks to start a new batch straight away. You also think of alternative sauces for dishes that use demi-glace so you can still serve high quality food if you run out. This is an example of how knowing and being able to make key culinary components like demi-glace can help you run a professional kitchen effectively.'