I started my cooking adventure with my Grammie and Mom and Dad. Then one day in Paris in 1998 I stumbled upon le Cordon Bleu which happened, by chance, to be offering a one-day “Mother Sauce” class the next day. The class was called “The Five Mother Sauces”:

Béchamel is a roux whisked with milk or other dairy to make a white sauce.
Velouté is a roux whisked with chicken, turkey, fish or any other clear stock.
Espagnole. Sauce espagnole is a basic brown sauce.
Sauce Tomate
Hollandaise

Bitten by the le Cordon Bleu bug, I followed up with the Cuisine de Base, November – December 2000; Cuisine Intermediaire, November – December 2002; Cuisine Superieure, November – December 2004 then immediately to my stage, January – March 2005.