Sauce

The term sauce comes from the French sauce of the same meaning, from Latin salsa also of the same meaning, from sal, "salt". Related words: "saline", "salad".

A sauce is a thick liquid which can be used to add flavour to food, to moisten it and/or make it look more attractive on the plate.

Table of contents

1 Sauces in French cuisine
2 Sauces in other cuisines
3 Sauce variations
4 Examples of sauces

4.1 References

Sauces in French cuisine

Sauces form an important part of traditional French cuisine. These French-style sauces are thickened with starch or roux (flour cooked in butter) and fall into two basic categories:

Brown sauces, which are based on demi-glace, a reduction of browned veal and beef bones
White sauces, based on velouté, a reduction of the meat and bones of veal, chicken or both, or of fish.

Also important in French cuisine are the following types of sauces:

Béchamel; family sauces, based on flour and thickened milk
"Emulsified sauces", which use eggs as emulsifiers to combine normally immiscible ingredients such as oil and vinegar
"Butter sauces", in which butter fat is re-emulsified back to a state resembling the original

Sauces in other cuisines

Sauces and condiments also plan an important role in the cuisines of many other countries:

British cooking: Gravy is a traditional sauce used on the traditional 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 sweet sauce. Some of these sauce traditions have been exported to ex-colonies such as the USA.
Asian cooking uses an entirely different range of sauces.

Sauce variations

There are also many sauces based on tomato (such as tomato ketchup and tomato sauce), other vegetables and various spices. Note that ketchup can be based on vegetables or fruits other than the tomato.

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 (applesauce with ham; cranberry sauce with poultry) or served as desserts.