Sauces
Sauces are the next most important part of the French & continental cuisine. These sauces can be
derived from stocks by using different thickening agents. Sauces are capable of adding variety to the
dishes by imparting color, flavor, texture and even drama to a great extent. Sauces are of different
types. They vary by way of the basic ingredient used, color and consistency. These sauces are
integral for plate presentations and add to the overall improvement of the product.
A sauce is liquid, creamy or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are
not normally consumed alone; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to the final dish. The
sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted. Possibly the oldest sauce
recorded is garum, the fish sauce used by the Ancient Romans. Sauces may be used for savory dishes
or for desserts. They can be prepared and served cold, like mayonnaise, prepared cold but served
lukewarm like pesto, or can be cooked like béchamel and served warm or again cooked and served
cold like apple sauce. Some sauces are industrial inventions like Worcestershire sauce, HP sauce, or
nowadays mostly bought ready-made like soy sauce or ketchup, other are still freshly prepared by
the cook. Sauces for salads are called salad dressing. Sauces made by deglazing a pan are called pan
sauces. A cook who specializes in making sauces is a saucier.
Definition
Sauces are liquid or semi-liquid mixtures. A keen sense of smell, delicate sense of taste, a light,
strong hand for blending – all contribute to the perfect sauce. Long ago, Grimande de la Royere,
philosopher and gastronomer wrote: “The sauce is to culinary art, what grammar is to language”. A
perfect sauce has a colourful appearance, is glowing in its rich smoothness, its texture is that of
velvet, and it has a definite taste. It has natural flavor and complements the food it accompanies,
rather than mask its taste.
Importance of Sauces in Food Preparation
• Enhances flavor.
• Some sauces help in digestion, e.g. mint sauce, apple sauce with roast pork.
• It gives moistness to the food, e.g. white sauce adds creaminess to firm and dry food.
• Adds color to the food. Hollandaise sauce served on a vegetable adds colour. Tomato sauce goes
with Fish a l‘orly.
• Served as an accompaniment, sometimes gives a contrasting taste to another food, e.g. cranberry
sauce with roast turkey.
• Sometimes gives the name to the dish. E.g. Madeira wine when added to brown sauce it is called
Sauce Madeira.
• Enhances the nutritional value of the dish.
• Dress and complements the food that needs some additional quality and makes the food more
palatable.
• Gives tartness and contrast or balances a bland food.
Thickening Agents
These are different ingredients added to give the thick consistency to a sauce. The different agents
make each sauce unique by way of its taste, color, consistency & flavor.
Roux
It is a fat and flour mixture, which are cooked together. It is cooked to various degrees, namely
white, blond or brown. Equal quantities of flour and butter and margarine are taken to prepare the
different colored roux. The colour acquired depends upon the degree of cooking of the flour and the
color of the sauce depends upon the liquid and roux used. While preparing the sauce, the boiling
liquid should never be added to a hot roux as it may become lumpy, a cold liquid to a hot roux or hot
liquid to an old roux may be added to get a smooth texture.
Starch
Arrowroot, corn flour, fecule (potato starch), tapioca are used to thicken the sauce. A paste should
be made of cold liquid and starch and then stirred into boiling liquid and allowed to boil, till the
starch is cooked. It gelatinizes at 93°C.
Starch contains no gluten and gives a clear sauce and thickens more as it cools.
Beurre Maine
It is chiefly used for fish sauces. Equal quantities of flour and butter are kneaded, and very little
quantity is added at a time to the boiling liquid and stirred well to form a smooth consistency.
Yolks of Eggs and Cream
It is a liaison, added as a finishing agent at the end of cooking. The product is never boiled when the
liaison is added, or it would curdle. The liaison is added to thicken delicate cream or veloute sauces
or cream soups. Yolks of eggs are used to prepare the mayonnaise by emulsifying with oil.
Blood
It is usually used for game cooking. It thickens the sauce and gives a particular flavor e.g. preparation
of Jugged Hare.
Sauces could be grouped as follows:
• Basic sauces
• Cold Basic Sauces
• Butter Sauces
• Others sauces (miscellaneous)
Béchamel Sauce:
Ingredients: Butter, flour, milk, salt, and white pepper.
Classic Recipe: Mornay Sauce
Ingredients: Béchamel, Gruyère cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt, and nutmeg.
Usage: Mornay is a cheese sauce often used in dishes like macaroni and cheese or to elevate
vegetables.
Recipe
Butter 30 GM
Flour 30 GM
Milk 300 ml
Onion 1, studded with cloves.
Method :
Boil the milk.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan and the flour and cook do not allow it
to color.
Whisk in the warm milk and bring to the boil whisking constantly to avoid lumps.
And the onion.
Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10 mins, whisking constantly and scraping
the base and sides to prevent the sides from sticking
Strain.
Note: when cooking a large amount its advisable to cover and cook in a moderate oven
(300 degree f) for 30 – 40 minutes, stirring from time to time. Nutmeg is often,
classically added as a flavoring).
Velouté Sauce:
Ingredients: Roux (butter and flour), a light stock (chicken, fish, or veal), salt, and white pepper.
Classic Recipe: Suprême Sauce
Ingredients: Velouté, cream, lemon juice, and chicken or veal stock.
Usage: Suprême Sauce is a rich, creamy sauce often paired with poultry dishes.
Recipe
White Stock …… 400 ml.
(Veal,chicken,fish)
Butter ……. 40grms.
Refined flour… 40 grms.
Seasonings….. to taste.
Method :
In a small sauce pan, over a medium heat, bring the stock to boil.
Melt butter in a pan, add flour and cook gently off and on the flame the blond roux to a golden straw colour by
stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and cool slightly.
Whisk in the stock slowly and return the pan to the heat. Bring to boil slowly and stir continuously till the right
consistency is achieved.
Simmer the sauce gently by stirring from time to time.
Add seasonings to adjust the taste.
Espagnole (Brown Sauce):
Ingredients: Brown roux, brown stock, tomatoes, mirepoix (a mixture of onions, carrots, and celery),
and brown sauce seasonings.
Classic Recipe: Demi-Glace
Ingredients: Equal parts Espagnole and brown stock.
Usage: Demi-Glace is a concentrated, flavorful sauce used to enhance the taste of meats, particularly
in French cuisine.
Recipe
20g Butter
20g Flour
200ml Brown Stock.
120gms Mire Poix (50g Carrots, 50g Leeks/Onions/20g Celery)
1000ml Brown Stock
250ml Tomato Puree
Pinch salt
8 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
Spring of Thyme
Method:
1. Make a Brown Roux and Bring together with the Brown Stock. Set aside.
2. Prepare all the Mire poix Ingredients and add to the Basic Brown sauce, Add the Brown
stock, Bouquets Garni ingredients and the Tomato Pure. Simmer for 30 mins and Strain to
use.
Tomato Sauce (Sauce Tomat):
Ingredients: Tomatoes, vegetables, sometimes roux, and various seasonings.
Classic Recipe: Tomato Concassé
Ingredients: Diced tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, basil, salt, and pepper.
Usage: Tomato Concassé is a chunky tomato sauce often used in pasta dishes or as a base for pizza.
Recipe
15 g butter
20 g salt-cured pork, diced small (cured ham)
150g carrots, diced
150g onions, diced
150g celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
500g Blanched Tomatoes, crushed in a bowl
500ml veal or chicken stock (veg where reqd)
In a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the salt-cured pork and cook, stirring, until
the fat melts and the pork lightly browns, 5 to 7 minutes.
Now Add the carrots, onions, and celery to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften
and turn golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, thyme, and bay leaf.
Stir the tomatoes and stock into the pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover the pot and Simmer for 1
hour. Remove and set the lid slightly, leaving a 1/4 inch gap between the lid and the pot on one side. Simmer
for a further 15mins.
Hollandaise Sauce:
Ingredients: Egg yolks, clarified butter, lemon juice, salt, and white pepper.
Classic Recipe: Béarnaise Sauce
Ingredients: Hollandaise, white wine vinegar, tarragon, shallots, and chervil.
Usage: Béarnaise is a flavorful sauce commonly served with grilled meats or fish.
HOLLANDAISE SAUCE: HOT EMULSIFIED SAUCE
Hollandaise and its variations are opaque, but the sauce should have a lustre and not appear oily.
They should have a smooth texture. A grainy texture indicates over cooking of the egg yolks. It
should have light consistency.
Recipe
1 table spoon of cold water, few milled pepper corn
Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of salt to season
2 egg yolks
5 ml Viniger / lemon juice
120 gms Butter
Prepare a reduction of with vinegar / lemon juice and pepper corns in a pan, reduce to half. Swirl the
pan w the cold water and allow to cool.
Place egg yolk and strained reduction into a mixing bowl and whisk to a ribbon stage over a bain
marie.
Gradually whisk in the cubes of cold butter gradually, until the reduction is formed.
Add salt, caynne pepper and lime juice.
Mayonnaise Sauce:
1 egg yolk
150ml oil (canola, sunflower, olive, or a combination)
1 tbsp. white vinegar
Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
5g Mustard powder
Combine all the ingredients except the Oil in a cold Bowl. Gradually, whisk in the Oil drop by drop till
an emulsification form, bringing together the Sauce to a homogenous mixture and a Lucious Sauce.
Store cold.