Sauce Training

1. Sauce Training “A good sauce can make or break a dish. A sauce works like a seasoning, but also adds texture. A great sauce can help a mediocre entrée as easily as a bad sauce can ruin an otherwise excellent dish”

2. Sauce vs. Gravy • Sauce • A liquid accompaniment to or a component of a dish. • Gravy • A sauce that is made from drippings of meat , usually thickened.

3. Sauce Uses • Sauces can be used to accompany meats and other singular items: • Gravy: breaded veal, chicken fried steak, cordon bleu, steak gravy, roast beef, turkey dinner • Fish sauces: dill sauce, citrus sauce, Au Gratin • Pasta sauces: Blush sauces, tomato sauce, Alfredo • Dessert sauces: Vanilla, fruit, chocolate

4. Sauce Uses • Moistening agent for casseroles: • Macaroni and cheese, tuna casserole, enchilada casserole • Canned, cream soups • Heavy cream, milk • Base for soups, stews and chowders: • Clam chowder, minestrone, beef noodle, cream of chicken • As a main ingredient in recipes: • Braised sirloin tips, pot pies, stroganoff, chicken ala king, sausage gravy with biscuits • Dipping agents • Salsa, fondue, spinach dip, nacho cheese dip

5. Structure of a sauce • Sauces are made using three separate components: • Liquid-this provides the body of the sauce, the volume and the main flavor direction. There are five main liquids upon which sauces are built; these correspond with the five original or main sauces that are sometimes called “Mother Sauces.” • Thickening agent-sauce should cling to food, it needs integrity and requires an agent to thicken and give body. The sauce should not be thickened to the point it is pasty, heavy or sticky. • Flavoring agent-flavors are added at different stages of the sauce making. Some flavoring agents come from the roux, others come from the liquid, and still others come from spices or added ingredients such as cheeses or purees.

6. Mother Sauces Mother sauces originate with the liquids which comprise them. These are the most common basic sauces from which all lower sauces spring. Sauce Liquid Thickening Agent Béchamel Milk White roux Veloute White stock White or blonde roux Brown sauce Brown stock brown roux (roasted bones) Tomato sauce Tomato+stock Pureed tomato Hollandaise Butter Egg yolks

7. Roux Flour is the principal starch used in sauce making. Also used are waxy maize, and cornstarch. Starches thicken by gelatinization, where starches literally swell to many times their size while absorbing water. Acids inhibit this process. Generally acids should not be used in a sauce until it is fully gelatinized. Starch granules must be separated before adding into a liquid. Lumps occur when the outside of starch molecules gelatinize together too quickly, this forms a coating around them preventing the liquid from reaching the starches inside. Starch granules are separated by either mixing with fat (as in a true roux) or a cold liquid (as in a cornstarch or flour slurry)

8. Roux continued Roux is the thickening agent that is used in Béchamel sauce. The Roux is prepared by adding flour (starch) to the melted butter (fat) at a 1:1 ratio. Stirring and cooking slightly until a nutty smell is given. Not cooking the roux results in a pasty, floury taste that is imparted to the finished sauce. Roux per gallon of sauce: • Thin sauce-6 oz flour with 6 oz butter • Medium sauce-8 oz flour with 8 oz butter • Thick-12 oz flour with 12 oz butter

9. Preparing a sauce using roux Liquid may be added to the roux or vise versa; however you must always add hot to cold or cold to hot. Method # 1 Add fat to pan, heat through then add starch (flour) to the fat, stir to make a paste. Cook until hot and bubbly with a nutty smell. Pour the cold liquid (milk) into the hot roux in 3 stages, beating to prevent lumps. Bring milk to a boil. Reduce to simmer and continue to beat well. Sauce must boil or it will not thicken completely. Simmer while stirring to prevent scorching.

10. Preparing a sauce using roux Method # 2 Prepare roux as described, allow to cool. Bring liquid to a simmer in a heavy pot. Add roux in small amounts to hot liquid, beating thoroughly. Continue adding roux, beating and boiling sauce until desired thickness is reached.

11. Universal and White Cheddar Sauce Are add water only Béchamel sauces Do not require refrigeration before blending Blends quickly and easily with water, no lumping Are complete sauces, finished and seasoned Simply combine powder with water, boil and serve Can be prepared as thick or thin as desired and adjusted anytime during the cooking process Will never curdle or break Can be frozen, or refrigerated and later re heated without the worry of curdling Can be held for very long periods on steam table, even at or near boiling without the worry of curdling or breaking. Can be baked in oven with chicken, pork, fish etc., sauce will remain silky and smooth.

12. Universal and White Cheddar Sauce Can receive any additional flavoring, spice, additive or ingredient without the worry of curdling or separating. Acids will never affect the performance, and can be added at any time during the process. Require no roux addition. Are formulated using heart healthy sun flower oil Have no added MSG, hydrogenated oils, no trans fats, no saturated fats Have only 135 calories (Universal Sauce) per finished cup Provide consistent results every time. Are a component in scratch cooking much the same as mayonnaise is.

13. Universal sauce Universal Sauce can be used to create literally hundreds of cream based minor sauces (refer to list). From these sauces spring thousands of applications or recipes

14. Creamed sauces Creamed sauces are limited only by your imagination and can be custom blended to match the meal being prepared. Try mixing flavors form the list above such as creamy lemon peppercorn for fish or walnut basil for chicken. The possibilities are endless. Sauces are the way that chefs can most easily be creative. Chicken, as an example can be cooked only a few ways but the sauces that can be paired with it are endless. There are really no sauce flavor guidelines or absolutes. There are certainly sauces that are tried and true that everyone knows and loves but they are only the start, not the end. Fun and different sauces are the centerpiece of creative cooking.

15. Universal sauce is NOT • A sauce that can be used for desserts. It is savory by nature it is only for savory applications. • A good beef or pork gravy base. Generally these heavier meats use their own drippings for gravy thickened by roux. • Infallible, it can be scorched especially during re-heating, even though it seems to be difficult to do it during the initial cooking. Treat it as you would any cream sauce, stir occasionally during prep. • Just a soup base or a cream soup base. • Necessarily a “low sodium” food. Although it is not high in sodium be careful not to couch it as a low salt food. • Gluten free • A replacement for anyone’s favorite recipe. It is a simple, healthy, reliable, component that will compliment and simplify any recipe at any skill level.

16. Sales Hurdles “I make everything from scratch” “I don’t sell (like) soup” “Too expensive……..” “I don’t want another item on my shelf” “I need recipes” “ How can I convert my own recipes?”