Sauces

[1st Semester Food Production | UNIT 6.3 BHM111 | IHM Notes]

Like stocks, sauces have lost some of their importance in the modern kitchen setup. The skill of the Chef Saucier was second to none and sauce making was an important and treasured art. Most of the decline could be attributed to the advent of convenience foods and the eating habits of people. However, much of this change is due to misunderstandings. How many times have we heard people exclaim `I don’t want all these sauces, give me plain and simple food’ and then proceed to pour ketchup and chili sauce over everything from French fries to burgers and even pizzas!! This could also be attributed to poorly made sauces. No one likes thick and pasty sauces over their meat or vegetables or salty but otherwise tasteless sauces gumming up their meat and fish. But just because some chefs serve badly made sauces, there is no reason to reject all sauce cookery. In fact, good sauce making is the pinnacle of good cooking, both in the skill they require and the excitement and variety they create in the food. Very often the most memorable part of a meal is the excellent sauce that accompanied the meat or the fish. A sauce works like a seasoning. It enhances and accents the flavour of the food. It should not dominate, overpower or hide the food.

DEFINITION

A sauce is defined as a flavourful liquid, usually thickened, which is used to flavour, season and enhance other foods. A sauce adds the following qualities to food:

- moistness

- Flavour

- Richness

- Appearance, colour and shine

- Interest and appetite appeal

CLASSIFICATION

Sauces can be classified as under:

- Mother sauces/leading sauces - Derivative/secondary sauces - Emulsion sauces - Proprietary sauces

- Dessert sauces - Miscellaneous sauces

- Contemporary sauces

Mother sauces/ leading sauces:

Mother sauces were comprised by various French chefs in the late 18th century to please the members of the courts of kings and their families. This brought the revolutionary change in the history of cuisines of the world. Later on in the starting of 19th century chefs like Auguste Escoffier did the estimated classification of these basic sauces and pronounced them as “Mother Sauces”, which latterly means the origin of a sauce.

Derivative/ secondary sauces:

Derivative sauces are the sauces, which require at least one mother sauce as main component and different ingredients are added to acquire a special taste from which the names is suggested. For Example; Onion or a soubise sauce must have béchamel as a base ingredient and then boiled onion paste and seasoning is added to form a sauce, unlike these other derivative sauces are comprised like this. Lot of innovation is being made these days, whereas the base or a basic recipe for the main (mother/leading) sauce remains same.

Emulsion Sauces:

Emulsion is a result of mixing two basic ingredients which are opposite of their nature; like water and oil, which technically cannot be mixed together because of their density which is of disperse phase and disperse medium. A basic and stable Emulsion looks like a gel kind of structure and is heavy in nature. Two different ingredients are aerated mechanically or chemically and holds the structure at different temperature ranges.

In Culinary world emulsion sauces are Hollandaise and Mayonnaise (not considered as sauce but as a dressing). In Hollandaise sauce, emulsion is created between cooked egg yolk and clarified butter and considered as warm emulsion as it is served just above room temperature so that butter do not freeze or even not so hot, so that egg yolk does not get curdled. Another emulsion, Mayonnaise is a cold emulsion which is a stable emulsion of egg yolk, vinegar and mustard with oil and some seasoning. Holding temperature of mayonnaise is below fifteen degree Celsius.

Proprietary sauces:

These varieties of sauces basically belong to the sauces which are bottled by a specific trade mark holder having a secret or generic recipe to create the same standard of delicate yet flavourful sauces. A very good example for this is H.P sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Soy sauce (light & dark), 8 to 8 sauce etc.

Dessert sauces:

These sauces are sweet and colourful in nature giving special texture, effect, colour and aroma. Generally, these are having fruits a base and natural colour of it. Examples are Chocolate sauce, coulis, liquid compote etc.

Miscellaneous sauce:

Misc. sauces are innovated and yet flavourful sauces used these days in new world gastronomy world, lifting the full flavour balance of the main ingredient, eg; quail fat sauce, leek ash sauce, centrifuged banana sauce etc.

Contemporary sauces:

Contemporary sauce are the regional sauces and represent the country where it was originated, they are generally freshly prepared but these days they are sold bottled too - eg; pico de gayo, guacamole, pesto, chutney, sriracha, hot garlic sauce etc.

THE STRUCTURE OF A SAUCE

Three kinds of ingredients make up the structure of a sauce.

- A Liquid, which is the body of the sauce

- A Thickening agent

- Additional seasoning and flavouring agents

LIQUID

A liquid agent provides the base and the body of the sauce:

Milk for the Béchamel Stock for the Veloute and Espagnole Butter for the hollandaise Oil for the Mayonnaise

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STANDARD RECIPE OF:

TOMATO SAUCE

NUMBER OF PORTION: 400 GM

INGREDIENTS & QUANTITY

1. OLIVE OIL : 30 ML

2. BAY LEAF : 1 NO

3. CRUSHED PEPPERCORN : 2 GM

4. FINE CHOPPED GARLIC : 5 GM

5. FINE CHOPPED ONION : 10 GM

6. FINE CHOPPED CELERY : 5 GM

7. FINE CHOPPED LEEK : 10 GM

8. BASIL LEAVES : 5 GM

9. TOMATO PUREE : 150 ML

10. SALT : 5 GM

11. SUGAR : 15 GM

12. TOMATO CONCASSE : 500 GM

13. OREGANO (OPTIONAL) : 1 GM

METHOD:

1. HEAT OLIVE OIL IN A PAN, ADD BAY LEAF AND CRUSHED PEPPER CORN, LET THEM TO CRACKLE.

2. SAUTE ALL CHOPPED INGREDIENTS TILL TANSLUCENT AND SOFT, ADD BASIL LEAVES.

3. ADD TOMATO PUREE AND REUCE IT TILL OIL COMES ON TOP.

4. ADD SALT AND SUGAR AND ADD TOMATO CONCASSE, ADD OREGANO IF YOU LIKE AND COOK TILL THE CREAMY AND THICK SAUCE IS OBTAINED, CHECK SEASONING AND USE.

NOTE:

• TO MAKE CONASSE = USE FRESH TOMATO AND PUT A SCORE OF + SIGN ON TOP OF THE TOMATO SKIN AND REMOVE THE EYE FROM BOTTOM, DIP THE TOMATO IN BOILING WATER FOR 13 SECONDS AND REMOVE AND REFRESH IN CHILLED WATER, PEEL OFF THE TOMATO SKIN AND CUT IT INTO TWO HALVE'S REMOVE THE SEEDS AND RESERVE THE LIQUID COMING FROM THE SEEDS PULP AND USE IN SAUCE, CHOP THE TOMATO FLESH IN 5MM CUBE AND USE.

• ALWAYS USE FRESH, TIGHT AND RED TOMATOES WITH THICK FLESH TO MAKE SAUCE.

• SUGAR IS USED TO ADJUST THE ACIDITY LEVEL OF TOMATOES AND MUST BE ADDED IN MINUTE QUANTITY.

BECHAMEL SAUCE (WHITE SAUCE)

NUMBER OF PORTION: 01 LITRE

INGREDIENTS & QUANTITY

1. MILK : 1 LITER

2. ONION : 1 NO

3. BAY LEAF : 1 NO

4. CLOVES : 2 NO

5. REFINED FLOUR : 100 GM

6. BUTTER : 100 GM

7. BUTTER CUBED : 20 GM

METHOD:

1. ON A PEELED ONION WRAP A BAY LEAF AND SECURE IT WITH CLOVES. (KNOWN AS CLOUTE)

2. HEAT MILK AND CLOUTE TOGETHER TO EXTRACT FLAVOUR.

3. MEAN TIME MELT BUTTER IN A PAN AND COOK REFINED FLOUR OVER A VERY LOW HEAT, OR BLOND COLOUR HAS OBTAINED FROM BUTTER AND FLOUR MIXTURE. (KNOWN AS ROUX)

4. LET THE ROUX COOL DOWN AND WHISK INTO THE HOT MILK SLOWLY, KEEP WHISKING SO THAT NO LUMP IS FORMED LET THE LIQUID BOIL NICELY, SIEVE THE SAUCE FOR SMOOTH TEXTURE.

5. DROP CUBED OR MELTED BUTTER ON TOP OF SAUCE AND SPREAD EVENLY TO AVOID ANY SKIN, FORMATION ON THE SAUCE.

NOTE:

• KEEP ONE INGREDIENT COLD OR HOT, FOR BETTER AND SMOOTH SAUCE.

• ALWAYS COOK THE FLOUR & BUTTER ON A VERY LOW FLAME FOR EVEN COOKED ROUX.

• SPREAD THE BUTTER EVENLY ON TOP OF SAUCE, TO AVOID SKIN FORMATION.

• YOU MAY ALSO ADD SOME NUTMEG POWDER TO INCREASE THE FLAVOUR.

VALOUTE

NUMBER OF PORTION: 01 LITRE

INGREDIENTS & QUANTITY

1. STOCK (VEG, CHICKEN, FISH) : 1 LITRE

2. REFINED FLOUR : 100 GM

3. BUTTER : 100 GM

4. THYME : 1 SPRIG

5. WHITE WINE : 50 ML

METHOD:

1. MAKE ROUX WITH REFINED FLOUR AND BUTTER, LET IT COOL DOWN AND ADD TO THE BOILING LIQUID, ALSO ADD WHITE WINE AND THYME SPRIG TO STRENGTHEN THE FLAVOUR.

2. KEEP WHISKING TO AVOID ANY LUMP FORMATION, SIEVE FOR SMOOTH SAUCE AND USE.

NOTE:

• USE A CLEAR STOCK FOR BETTER RESULTS.

• WINE AND THYME IS OPTIONAL, YOU MAY OR YOU MAY NOT USE IT.

• VELOUTE'= VELVETY TEXTURE

BROWN SAUCE

NUMBER OF PORTION: 01 LITRE

INGREDIENTS & QUANTITY

REDUCED BROWN STOCK : 1 LITRE

BUTTER : 30 GM

CRUSHED GARLIC CLOVES : 10 GM

ROSEMARY : 2 GM

SPRIG OF THYME : 1 NO

BROWN ROUX : 100 GM

TOMATO PUREE : 200 ML

CRUSHED PEPPERCORN (MIGNONETTE) : 2 GM

SALT (OPTIONAL) : 2 GM

METHOD:

1. HEAT BUTTER IN A PAN AND ADD CRUSHED GARLIC CLOVE, ADD ROSEMERRY AND SPRIG OF FRESH THYME

2. ADD BROWN ROUX AND TOMATO PUREE, COOK WELL AND ADD BROWN STOCK, WHISK WELL TO AVOID LUMPS AND SEASON THE THICKENED LIQUID, BRING TO A BOIL AND LET IT REDUCE FOR 5 KEEP STIRING IN BETWEEN AND SIEVE THE SAUCE.

NOTE:

• YOU MAY ALSO DE-GLAZE RED WINE FOR SOME FLAVOUR ADDITION AND COLOUR TO THE SAUCE.

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MISCELLANEOUS SAUCES

These are sauces that do not fit into any of the above classifications. These include:

• Mint Sauce for Roast lamb

• Horse radish sauce for Roast Beef

• Bread Sauce for Roast Chicken

• Cranberry sauce for Roast Turkey

• Apple sauce for Roast Pork

• Raisin Sauce for Ham

• Orange sauce for Roast duck

DESSERT SAUCES

These are sauces, which are served exclusively for desserts. These will include

- Custard sauce for steamed and baked puddings

- Jam Sauce for ice creams and sundaes

- Chocolate sauce

- Rum sauce

- Brandy sauce

- Melba sauce

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