Sauces 101

Scholarly sauces...

No ketchup (none). Just sauce (saucy), raw sauce.

You’ll be a saucier after this.

A sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid used in the preparation of other foods or served on food to give them a particular flavour or add aesthetics. Note, it’s not an excuse to serve dry food.

The most basic of sauces:

A White Sauce, or Béchamel Sauce, if you’re feeling fancy (or looking to show off. I won’t judge you) is a milk-based sauce. It’s made with a white roux (flour and a fat such a butter, lard or vegetable oil cooked together until the raw flour taste is removed), thinned with milk which can be infused prior to its addition to the roux with spiced and herbs such as bay leaves, peppercorns, star anise etc.

It is the base for a Mornay sauce (a Béchamel sauce with any single cheese or combination of several), most commonly used to make Macaroni and cheese and also lasagna.

A Red Sauce, or Sauce Tomate, is a tomato-based sauce. Translates to ‘Tomato Sauce’. Who would have guessed…

This refers to any of the various sauces made predominantly with tomatoes, usually consisting of onions and garlic sweated or sautéed before the addition of the tomato, or puréed altogether and cooked. Served as part of the dish as opposed to a condiment. Though, in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, the term ‘tomato sauce’ is used to describe a ketchup-like condiment.

When you hear ‘Tomato Sauce’, you likely think of Italian cuisines, such as pasta dishes. However, tomatoes are a relatively recent entry in Italian cuisine. Introduced from the Spanish New World to European botanists in the 16th century first appearing in Antonio Latini's cookbook Lo scalco alla moderna (Naples, 1692) and first being paired with pasta in the Italian cookbook L'Apicio moderno, by Roman chef Francesco Leonardi, edited in 1790. They do however have some of the best tomatoes in the world. Grown in the small town of San Marzano sul Sarno, near Naples in volcanic soil in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. San Marzano tomatoes have flesh that is much thicker and with fewer seeds, they have a stronger, sweeter and less acidic taste.

Tomatoes are ideal for simple and appealing sauces, with their rich flavour and their seeds may be removed to avoid their bitterness. They have a high liquid content and can be thickened over time when cooked down to the desired consistency and adjusted with water, stock or wine. Also, their skin is very soft and is easily broken down, but the flesh may be scalded and peeled to adjust its texture (or mouthfeel).

A Pan Sauce is sauces that are made by deglazing the pan.

You know the brown bits of caramelized drippings stuck to the pan after sautéing, roasting or searing meat or vegetables? That’s the fond, from the French word for ‘base’, also called by the French culinary term sucs, translation to ‘juices’ and pronounced ‘sook’ from the Latin word succus (sap), it’s the caramelized sugars, proteins and rendered fats form the foundation of a pan sauce.

And combinations of aromatics such as cloves, garlic, peppercorns, thyme, rosemary, shallots or star anise are added and heated in the fat causing them to release their aromas into the sauce creating a more complex flavour. Using a wooden spoon and a little wine, stock, or in a pinch, juice or water (which is also good if you’re avoiding alcohol) scrape the bottom of the pan until the liquid has thickened with the dissolved fond. Next, the sauce is reduced by gently simmering the liquid in the pan. If you like, swirl in some butter to make the sauce smooth, creamy and enhance its flavour. The aromatics are removed before serving, but mushrooms or other herbs and spices and sometimes lemon juice can be added.

So, think twice before you wash that pan. If you still plan to wash it, think again. Keep thinking until you come to your senses.

Let’s not forget, Salsa. The word salsa is literally Spanish for "sauce", which itself derives from the Latin salsus (salted). The pronunciation between the native Spanish, American and British English differs, but it’s all the same thing.

Usually used when referring to the often tomato-based, heterogeneous mixture typical used in Mexican cuisine. Customarily made using a molcajete (similar to a mortar and pestle), but a food processor can save you a lot of time.

Ingredients vary and could include anything from avocado to zucchini and any number of combinations of herbs and spices and thus can range from "mild" to "extremely spicy".

There are as many different types of salsas as there are sauces. Some of the most common are:

Chipotle Tomato Salsa

Fire-Roasted Salsa

Guacamole*

Habanero Salsa

Mango Salsa

Pineapple Salsa

Salsa Verde

Up next, Szechuan Sauce!

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Maybe not…

Remember:
You may only be an Amateur Chef, but, you can still be a Professional Cook.