Sauce
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- For the computer protocol, see SAUCE
In cooking, a sauce is a liquid served on or used in the preparation of food. Sauces are not consumed by themselves; they add flavour, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted.
Sauces may be prepared sauces, such as soy sauce, which are usually bought, not made, by the cook; or cooked sauces, such as Béchamel sauce, which are generally made just before serving.
Sauces for salads are called salad dressing.
Sauces are an essential element in cooking all over the world.
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Sauces in French cuisine
Sauces in French cuisine date back to Medieval times. There were hundreds of sauces in the lore. In 'classic' French cooking (19th and 20th century until nouvelle cuisine), sauces were a major defining characteristic of French cuisine.
In the 19th century, the chef Antoine Carême classified sauces into four families, each of which was based on a mother sauce. Carême's four mother sauces were:
- Allemande
- Béchamel is based on flour and milk
- Espagnole is based on brown stock, beef etc.
- Velouté is based on a light broth, fish, chicken or veal.
In the early 20th century, the chef Auguste Escoffier updated the classification, replacing sauce Allemande with egg-based emulsions (Hollandaise and mayonnaise), and adding tomate. Escoffier's schema is still taught to chefs today:
Sauces in other cuisines
Sauces and condiments also play an important role in other cuisines:
- British cooking: Gravy is a traditional sauce used on roast dinner, comprised of roast potatoes, roast meat, boiled vegetables and optional Yorkshire puddings. Apple sauce and mint sauce are also used on meat. Salad Cream is used on salads. Ketchup and brown sauce are used on more fast-food type dishes. Strong English mustard (as well as French or American mustard) are also used on various foods, as is Worcestershire sauce. Custard is a popular dessert sauce. Some of these sauce traditions have been exported to ex-colonies such as the USA.
- Chinese cuisine is known for prepared sauces based on fermented soy beans (soy sauce, black bean sauce, hoisin sauce) as well as many others such as chili sauces and oyster sauce.
- South East Asian cuisines, such as Thai and Vietnamese, often use fish sauce, made from fermented fish.
Asian prepared sauces are not thick as they do not contain thickening agents such as flour. The thickening occurs in the last minutes of cooking when thickeners like corn starch or arrowroot are added.
Sauce variations
There are also many sauces based on tomato (such as tomato ketchup and tomato sauce), other vegetables and various spices. Although the word 'ketchup' by itself usually refers to tomato ketchup, other vegetables or fruits may be used to prepare ketchups.
Sauces can also be sweet, and used either hot or cold to accompany and garnish a dessert.
Another kind of sauce is made from stewed fruit, usually strained to remove skin and fibers and often sweetened. Such sauces, including applesauce and cranberry sauce, are often eaten with specific other foods (apple sauce with pork or ham; cranberry sauce with poultry) or served as desserts.
Examples of sauces
White sauces
Brown sauces
Béchamel family
Emulsified sauces
Butter sauces
Sweet sauces
- Butterscotch sauce
- Chocolate or fudge sauce
- Custard
- Hard sauce -- not liquid, but called a sauce nonetheless
- Fruit sauces
Sauces made of chopped fresh ingredients
- Latin American Salsa cruda of various kinds
- Salsa verde
Hot sauces
East Asian sauces
- Prepared sauces
- Cooked sauces
- Lobster sauce
- Sweet and sour sauce
- Teriyaki - a way of cooking in Japan, a branch of sauces in North America.
Southeast Asian sauces
Other sauces
Also see: Condiment - Coulis - Custard - Garum - Ketchup -Kochujang - Mustard - Salad dressing - Salsa - Toenjang
References
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de:Soße es:Salsa (gastronomía) fr:Sauce nl:Saus ja:ソース pl:Sos