Types of Culinary Sauces

Many popular cuisine dishes rely on a good sauce to enhance the flavor of the main ingredient. Whether the dish is biscuits and gravy or a juicy steak, a sauce can certainly make the meal taste better. Sauces also add a dressing to meat or vegetable dishes, preventing them from tasting too dry. There are thousands of types of cooking sauce for every kind of cuisine, but some tend to be favored more often owing to the type of food involved and the simplicity of the sauce.

Basic White Sauce/Roux

White sauce is the basis for most sauces. It is made from flour, butter and milk and forms the base for sauces, such as parsley sauce or cheese sauce. Dissolve 1½ oz. of butter in a saucepan and add 1½ oz. of flour. Stir the mix carefully until there are no lumps. The sauce should be cooked for around two minutes until the taste of the flour has disappeared. add 1/2 pint of heavy cream. Stir in about 1/5 of the cream and boil until the sauce starts to thicken. Then, slowly stir in the rest of the cream, keeping the spoon moving through it to prevent it from lumping. Basic white sauce can be used as the roux for biscuits and gravy or a mushroom sauce or bread sauce.

Béarnaise Sauce

Béarnaise sauce is a classic French sauce and quite complex to master. The sauce is comprised of 10½ oz. butter, four shallots, white wine vinegar, 3 tbsp. of freshly chopped tarragon leaves, salt, black pepper, four egg yolks and lemon juice. The butter must be clarified first. Do this by heating it in a pan until it begins to foam. Take it off the heat and leave it to stand until the white solids sink to the bottom, leaving the yellow clear butter above. Sieve the mixture using a fine sieve and keep only the yellow part, not the solids. Pour in the vinegar into a pan and heat until it has reduced by approximately two-thirds. Place a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Beat the eggs yolks into about 1 tsp. of water and add them to the bowl. Add the shallots, salt and pepper to taste, then add the tarragon. Add the reduced vinegar. This type of sauce can be an accompaniment to fish, chicken or turkey.

Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise sauce is a good accompaniment to fish, such as salmon. It is also the sauce used with eggs Benedict. The taste is quite vinegary, as it is the basic sauce from which Béarnaise sauce is made. You will need two egg yolks, 4 oz. butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Put the vinegar, peppercorns and bay leaf into a pan and reduce by two-thirds. Strain the vinegar to remove the peppercorns. Beat or whisk the egg yolks with the vinegar mixture. Clarify the butter as with the Béarnaise sauce. Pour the butter into the mixture very slowly, stirring the whole the time to prevent curdling. The sauce will start to thicken. Add a little salt and pepper to taste and lemon juice.

Diane Sauce

This sauce is the classic partner to steak. It is extremely simple to make and is used by many novice cooks as their foray into the sauce world. It is comprised of 2 oz. of unsalted butter, three shallots, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, red wine, beef stock, parsley and cream. Brandy is also often used but it is optional for those who prefer to not use alcohol in their cooking. Finely dice the shallots and place in a pan with the butter. Melt until the shallots are softened. Add the mustard and Worcestershire sauce, stirring well. Add the red wine and reduce slightly until the alcohol is cooked out. Then, add the cream to thicken the sauce. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, then serve with a juicy steak and French fries.

References

• BBC Food: Recipes
• Channel 4: Diane Sauce