Getting started
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Sauces
Sauces
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The main purpose of adding a sauce to a food is to add moistness, flavor,
richness, to enhance the food’s appearance, and to give it appetite appeal.
To make the perfect sauce is the greatest test of any chef and the ability
to pair a sauce with a food shows great understanding of technique and
skill. There are two categories of sauce—classic and modern.
Classic sauce method
Modern sauce method
The “classic” sauce method involves three components—the liquid,
or body, of the sauce, the thickening agent, and the addition of
seasoning and flavoring ingredients. Most of the classic sauces
are built on one of five liquids. These are known as the “mother”
sauces (see the box below).
The modern sauce method relies less on thickening agents and
more on fresher, lighter flavors and ingredients. Today many chefs
have also been influenced by cuisines from around the globe, such
as Latin American and Asian cuisine. Because of the development
of, and experimentation with, new sauces it is often difficult to
classify and define them exactly.
The main modern sauces are: salsa, relish, chutney, floured
oil, and purée, plus a whole range of Asian sauces. Salsa is the
Spanish and Italian word for sauce, but the Mexican “salsa” is
made of chopped tomatoes, onions, chilies, and herbs.
In most English-speaking countries the word
“salsa” refers to a mixture of raw or
cooked, chopped vegetables, herbs, and
occasionally, fruits.
Relishes are made either using
raw or pickled vegetables.
Chutney originated in India
and is a cooked fruit and
vegetable condiment
that is sweet, spicy,
and tangy. Floured
oils make a light and
interesting sauce that
could be used instead
of salad dressings to
drizzle around the
plate (see picture left.)
Nearly any vegetable
can be turned into a
purée, sometimes called a
“coulis.” Vietnamese, Indian,
and Japanese sauces have
recently entered the Western
chef’s repertoire—it would take
years of study to know them all. They
are beyond the scope of an introductory
cooking course .
Mother sauces
The five mother sauces can be turned into
smaller, or derivative, sauces. For example,
take hollandaise (awl-lawn-daze), add chopped
tarragon and chervil and you have Béarnaise
(bare-nez) sauce, then add tomato and you
have Choron sauce.
The liquid
• Milk—béchamel (beh-sha-mel)
• White stock (chicken, veal, or fish)—velouté
(ve-loo-tay) sauces
• Brown stock—brown sauce, or espagnol
• Tomato with stock—tomato sauce
• Clarified butter—hollandaise
The thickening agents
• Roux (roo) is a cooked mixture of equal
quantities of fat and flour by weight. There are
three different stages of cooking a roux: white,
blond, and brown.
• Starches such as flour, arrowroot, corn flour,
or potato starch.
• Vegetable purées.
• Egg yolk and cream liaison. Eggs can
thicken a liquid due to the protein in the egg
coagulating with heat. The liaison enriches the
sauce at the same time as thickening it.
• Reduction. Although not strictly an agent,
the process of simmering a sauce reduces
the liquid through evaporation and therefore
thickens the sauce at the same time as
concentrating the flavor.
The seasonings
• Salt is the most important, followed by lemon
juice. These two emphasize the flavor that is
already there.
• Cayenne and white pepper.
• Madeira and sherry.
• Fresh and dried herbs.
Ingredients in mother sauces
Liquid
+ Thickening agent
= Mother sauce
Milk
+ white roux
= béchamel
White stock (veal, chicken) + white or blond roux
= velouté
Brown stock
+ brown roux
= brown sauce
Tomato + stock
+ optional roux
= tomato sauce
Butter
+ egg yolks
= hollandaise
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Workout: Research mother sauces
The next time you go out to eat, study the
menu and see how many sauces fit into the
classic (the five mother sauces) or modern
(using light, fresh ingredients) categories. If
the restaurant permits, collect menus from
different venues. If you can’t take the menu
away, carry a notebook and make notes
about the various sauces. This will give you
some great ideas to try out at home.
Menus are also a great source of
information when it comes to pairing
ingredients—especially matching sauces with
meats, fish, pastas, or vegetables.
Go on the Web and check out a few of the
many culinary sites available—Wikipedia has
great culinary sections. Type in “mother
sauces” and then see how many variant
sauces you can make from one mother sauce.
You’ll be surprised at the range of sauces
available at your fingertips!
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Workout: Collecting menus
Workout: Make pesto
Make your own pesto
Recipe
• 4 oz (125 g) basil leaves
• 4 oz (125 g) toasted pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1⁄2 tsp salt
• 4–8 fl oz (120—240 ml) olive oil
• 4 oz (125 g) Parmesan
Put the basil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt in a food
processor or pestle and mortar. Grind them together
and slowly add the oil, until you have thick paste.
Taste and adjust seasoning, stir in the Parmesan.
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Workout: Pesto serving suggestions
Add extra oil to the pesto, put it in a
plastic squeeze bottle and drizzle over
grilled meats or fish. Practice a zigzag or
complex artistic design on or around the
plate to give a rich color and dramatic
effect to the presentation of your dish.
Alternatively, using a spoon, lightly
coat the finished dish or place a pool of
sauce. dragging the spoon through it to
add visual appeal. Alternatively spoon
the sauce under the meat rather than on
top. This allows the meat’s crust to stay
crisp while also offering a contrasting
circular shape beneath.
Workout: Make your own maître d’hôtel butter
You can roll or pipe the butter
and serve it with fried/grilled
meats or fish.
Recipe
• 1⁄2 lb (225 g) butter
• 1 oz (30 g) chopped parsley
• Squeeze of lemon juice
1 Stir chopped parsley and
grated lemon zest into the
butter, season with salt
and pepper, and stir.
2 Spoon the mixture on
to a sheet of waxed paper,
creating a log shape. Roll
the paper around the butter
to create a sausage shape.
3 Compact the butter
by rolling and pushing in
the ends. Twist the ends
firmly and tuck them under.
Refrigerate for four hours.
4 To serve the butter,
carefully unwrap the roll
and slice it into disks, using
a sharp knife.
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