Simply saucy: sauces are the cornerstone of cooking, serving as a base for numerous creations. Typically, they are not used alone, but serve to enhance, balance or complement other foods. Sauces add visual as well as culinary depth to a variety of dishes

Prepared Foods, May, 2004 by Allison Rittman

It is no coincidence that the first chapter in Escoffier's timeless The Complete Guide to Modern Cookery is devoted to sauces, since sauces are building blocks of flavor. Sauces can add more than just great flavor. They can also provide texture, mouthfeel, aroma and color. Sauces must also change with the times and trends. In the last few decades, they have evolved from extremely elaborate and decadent preparations to more refined, simplistic and healthier versions.

Sauces are classified in numerous ways but, classically, have been distinguished by their function. Antonin Careme, a 19th century French chef, is credited with developing a systematic classification of sauces. They are divided into two groups, mother sauces and derivative sauces. A "mother" or "grand" sauce is defined by being a base sauce to which various ingredients can be added to create an endless number of derivative or "small" sauces.

The tour mother sauces are: Espagnole, a brown sauce: Bechamel, a white sauce: Veloute, a white stock-based sauce: and Tomato sauce. Emulsified sauces sometimes are classified as a filth group. Hollandaise sauce and mayonnaise are two examples. There also are "simple" or "independent" sauces, prepared independently from the foods with which they ultimately will be paired. A few examples include infused oils, salsas, chutneys and relishes. From the base mother sauces, a limitless number of small sauces can be derived. By adding mushrooms, shallots, white wine and tomato concasse to sauce Espagnole, the small sauce Chasseur is formed. Adding butter, grated Gruyere, and Parmesan to Bechamel sauce creates the small sauce, Mornay. This classification system also illustrates how important the quality of the mother sauce is to the quality of all the final sauces. Starting with a well-made mother sauce is essential to creating top-notch small or derivative sauces.

Making different and unique sauces can be as simple as adding new ingredients to create a completely new flavor profile, changing the texture or consistency of the sauce or additions, or using various cooking techniques. Changing the texture of a sauce is as easy as pureeing a sauce, using additional ingredients or straining the sauce through a fine sieve. The addition of textural elements such as minced shallots, chopped gherkins or a small amount of cream changes the sauce's mouthfeel.

Altering basic cooking techniques changes the flavor profile, the texture and the color of the final sauce. By adding roasted vegetables to a brown sauce, a rich, caramelized flavor is developed with slow-cooked, tender pieces of vegetables. The same sauce with blanched vegetables added will have more -bite" in the vegetable pieces, adding a textural distinction. By adding a puree of smoked vegetables and straining the sauce, this same base sauce can be completely changed to have a unique silky mouthfeel, with complex and smoky flavor notes.

Tomato sauce is a very versatile sauce. Sauces can be cooked or uncooked; smooth as a puree or full of particulates: flavored with meats, herbs, or vegetables; or cooked slowly or quickly. Any combination results in an endless number of unique tomato sauces. A simple, fresh tomato basil sauce cooked briefly to marry flavors retains a bright, vibrant color and can be contrasted with a hearty, rich Bolognese sauce loaded with meat, red wine and herbs, then slowly cooked for hours. The method and ingredients used depend on the desired final result.

Into the Thick of It

Another method to change the personality of a sauce is to change the thickening agent. There are many ways to thicken a sauce, and by changing the thickener in a sauce, a new viscosity, mouthfeel or flavor can be developed. A liaison is an ingredient used to thicken liquids to form a sauce. Some thickeners (e.g. vegetable purees, starch) work by dispersing solids or insoluble liquids to prevent the free movement of the water-based medium, increasing viscosity. Others (e.g. gums, egg-yolks) form an emulsion, which is the suspension of one liquid in another.

There are a wide variety of thickeners available. Vegetable purees, starches, gums, gelatins and egg yolks are good examples of common thickeners used in sauces. Vegetable purees may contain adequate levels of starch that act as a thickener, or they may act as an emulsifier. Starches are very cost effective thickeners, but do not impart the flavors a vegetable puree might. Flour is a common sauce thickener, and typically is made into a roux before being added to the sauce. A roux consists of equal parts of flour and a fat (e.g. vegetable oil, lard, butter), which is cooked to develop flavor. The roux then can be whisked into a hot sauce to provide thickening power as the sauce cooks. Beurre manie is another flour thickener, similar to a roux, but not cooked. Equal parts of butter and flour are blended together, and a small amount of the beurre manie is whisked into the sauce at the end of cooking to provide increased viscosity.