Sauce

Incooking, asauceis aliquid,cream, or semi-solidfood, served on or used in preparing otherfoods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavour, texture, and visual appeal to a dish.Sauceis aFrenchword probably from the post-classicalLatinsalsa, derived from the classicalsalsus'salted'.Possibly the oldest recorded European sauce isgarum, thefish sauceused by theAncient Romans, whiledoubanjiang, the Chinese soy bean paste is mentioned inRites of Zhou20.
Sauces need aliquidcomponent. Sauces are an essential element in cuisines all over the world.
Sauces may be used for sweet or savory dishes. They may be prepared and served cold, likemayonnaise, prepared cold but served lukewarm likepesto, cooked and served warm likebechamelor cooked and served cold likeapple sauce. They may be freshly prepared by the cook, especially in restaurants, but today many sauces are sold premade and packaged likeWorcestershire sauce,HP Sauce,soy sauceorketchup. Sauces forsaladare calledsalad dressing. Sauces made bydeglazinga pan are called pan sauces.
A chef who specializes in making sauces is called asaucier.
American sauces include prepared cold condiments likeketchup,mustard,mayonnaise,tartar sauce,cocktail sauce, varioushot (spicy) sauces, and a variety ofsalad dressings, often used for dishes other than salad.Barbecue sauceis used both as a condiment and as an ingredient in some varieties ofbarbecue.
Hot sauces includegravy, andtomato sauce, often served with pasta.White (béchamel) sauceis widely used as an ingredient.
Dessert sauces includefudge sauce,butterscotch sauce,hard sauce(which is not liquid), and many others.
In traditional British cuisine,gravyis a sauce used onroast dinner. The sole survivor of the medieval bread-thickened sauces,bread sauceis one of the oldest sauces in British cooking.Apple sauce,mint sauceandhorseradish sauceare used on meat (usually onpork,lambandbeefrespectively).Redcurrant jelly,mint jelly, andwhite saucemay also be used.Salad creamis sometimes used on salads.Ketchupandbrown sauceare used on fast-food type dishes. Strong Englishmustardis also used on various foods, as isWorcestershire sauce.Custardis a populardessert sauce. Other popular sauces includemushroom sauce,marie rose sauce(as used in a prawn cocktail),whisky sauce(for serving withhaggis),Albert sauce(horseradish sauce to enhance flavour of braised beef) andcheddar sauce(as used in cauliflower ormacaroni and cheese). In contemporary British cuisine, owing to the wide diversity of British society today, there are also many sauces that are of British origin but based upon the cuisine of other countries, particularly former colonies such asIndia.
There are many varied cuisines in China, but many of them compose dishes from sauces including different kinds ofsoy sauce,fermented bean pasteincludingdoubanjiang,chili sauces,oyster sauce, and also many oils and vinegar preparations. These ingredients are used to build up a range of different sauces and condiments used before, during, or after cooking the main ingredients for a dish:
In someChinese cuisines, such asCantonese, dishes are often thickened with a slurry ofcornstarchor potato starch and water.
SeeList of Chinese sauces
Filipino cuisinetypically uses "toyomansi" (soy saucewithkalamansi lime) as well as different varieties ofsuka,patis,bagoongandbanana ketchup, among others.
Sauces inFrench cuisinedate back to the Middle Ages. There were many hundreds of sauces in the culinary repertoire. Incuisine classique(roughly from the end of the 19th century until the advent ofnouvelle cuisinein the 1980s), sauces were a major defining characteristic of French cuisine.
In the early 19th century, the chefMarie-Antoine Carêmecreated an extensive list of sauces, many of which were original recipes. It is unknown how many sauces Carême is responsible for, but it is estimated to be in the hundreds. Many are included in hisArt de la cuisine française au XIXe siècle.
Carême considered the fourgrandes saucesto beespagnole,velouté,allemande, andbéchamel, from which a large variety of petites sauces could be composed.
In the early 20th century, the chefAuguste Escoffierrefined Carême's list of basic sauces in his classicGuide culinaire. Its 4th and last edition listed the foundation or basic sauces as espagnole, velouté, béchamel, and tomate.Sauce allemande, which is a variant of velouté made with egg yolks,is replaced by sauce tomate.Another basic sauce mentioned in theGuide culinaireis sauce mayonnaise, which Escoffier wrote was a mother sauce akin to the espagnole and velouté due to its many derivative sauces.
InA Guide to Modern Cookery, an English abridged translation of Escoffier's 1903 edition ofLe guide culinaire, hollandaise was included in the list of basic sauces,which made for a list that is identical to the list of five fundamental "French mother sauces" that is acknowledged by a variety of sources:
A sauce which is derived from one of the mother sauces by augmenting with additional ingredients is sometimes called a "daughter sauce" or "secondary sauce".Most sauces commonly used in classical cuisine are daughter sauces. For example, béchamel can be made intoMornayby the addition of grated cheese, and espagnole becomesbordelaisewith the addition of reduction of red wine,shallots, and poached beefmarrow.
A specialized implement, theFrench sauce spoon, was introduced in the mid-20th century to aid in eating sauce in French cuisine, is enjoying increasing popularity at high-end restaurants.
Indiancuisines use sauces such as tomato-based sauces with varying spice combinations such astamarind sauce, coconut milk-/paste-based sauces, andchutneys. There are substantial regional variations inIndian cuisine, but many sauces use a seasoned mix of onion,gingerand garlic paste as the base of various gravies and sauces. Variouscooking oils,gheeand/orcreamare also regular ingredients in Indian sauces.
Indonesian cuisineuses typical sauces such askecap manis(sweetsoy sauce),bumbu kacang(peanut sauce) andtauco, while popular hot and spicy sauces aresambal,colo-colo,dabu-dabuandrica-rica. Sambal is an umbrella term; there are many, many kinds ofsambal.
Italian sauces reflect the rich variety of theItalian cuisineand can be divided in several categories including:
Examples are:
There are thousands of such sauces, and many towns have traditional sauces. Among the internationally well-known are:
Sauces used in traditionalJapanese cuisineare usually based onshōyu(soy sauce),misoordashi.Ponzu, citrus-flavoured soy sauce, andyakitorinotare, sweetened rich soy sauce, are examples of shōyu-based sauces. Miso-based sauces includegomamiso, miso with ground sesame, andamamiso, sweetened miso. In modern Japanese cuisine, the word "sauce" often refers toWorcestershire sauce, introduced in the 19th century and modified to suit Japanese tastes.Tonkatsu,okonomiyaki, andyakisobasauces are based on this sauce.
Korean cuisineuses sauces such asdoenjang,gochujang,samjang,aekjeot, and soy sauce.
Salsas("sauces" inSpanish) such aspico de gallo(tomato, onion and chili chopped with lemon juice),salsa cocida,salsa verde,chile, andsalsa rojaare an important part of many Latin and Spanish-American cuisines in the Americas. Typical ingredients includechili, tomato, onion, and spices; thicker sauces often containavocado.
Mexican cuisineincludes sauces which may contain chocolate, seeds, and chiles collectively known by theNahuanamemole(compareguacamole).
InArgentinianandUruguayancuisine,chimichurriis an uncooked sauce used in cooking and as a table condiment for grilled meat.
Peruvian cuisineuses sauces based mostly in different varieties ofajícombined with several ingredients, most notablysalsa huancaínabased on fresh cheese andsalsa de ocopabased on peanuts or nuts.