Cooking Stack Exchange
Cooking Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [sauce]

A separately-prepared cooking liquid or condiment served with other food.

Broadly, a sauce might be defined as almost any liquid food. Please use this tag only for those requiring preparation and generally served or mixed with a different, solid food.

Avoid using the tag for any of the following:

  • Soups, stocks, and broths; use the , , or tag instead, even if it is intended to be used as a sauce.
  • Well-known preparations generally referred to by other names (e.g. , ).
  • Jams, jellies, and other preserves (use or a similar corresponding tag).

Please do consider adding a sub-tag if referring to a well-defined sauce or category of sauce - for example, or .

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What is a "nonreactive" pan?

I just realized the recipe I use for Chardonnay Beurre Blanc requires the use of a "small nonreactive saucepan." In the past, I have used my 1.5 quart All-Clad saucepan without problems. What sort of pan materials should I avoid? Similarly, I've…
JustRightMenus
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Are recipes for Antonin Carême's original mother sauces available?

Did Carême publish actual recipes for his mother sauces? I'm not looking for recipe suggestions, or Escoffier's revisions, or anyone else's revisions. There are numerous recipe suggestions available from many reputable sources, many with impactful…
Phil
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Why should I cook the flour first when making bechamel sauce?

Why should I cook the flour first with butter, instead of just combining all the ingredients until I get the desired consistency when making a bechamel sauce?
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How can I improve my barbecue sauce recipe?

I've been trying to refine my BBQ sauce lately and I'm really curious if I can improve it, or if I'm mixing a sauce for a wrong purpose. The times I've made it, it have been used as a marinade for steaks, and a spread on the steaks while they've…
cyberzed
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Is dry rub necessary in making bbq ribs?

Normally when I make bbq ribs in the oven at home, I have to prepare the ribs approximately a day ahead. I usually cover the ribs with a dry rub mixture (made of garlic powder, paprika, sugar, salt, pepper, etc.), wrap it up in foil and let it sit…
Daphne Law
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How do I concentrate the flavor in orange juice?

I poured squeezed orange juice over my meatballs and I thought how well it complements them, but that it's too watery to enjoy with meat. I proceeded to reduce squeezed orange juice on the stove with and without starch and it just did not work -…
Bar Akiva
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Does adding water back into an over-reduced sauce lose flavour?

If I over-reduce a sauce (e.g. a tomato sauce for pasta), so that it is too thick, I'll sometimes add some water in to thin it out again & bring it back to the desired consistency. Would the resulting sauce be the same in the end as if I reduced it…
anotherdave
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How do I get the best possible texture when making vegetable cream soups?

Many recipes call for straining the almost finished soup to get rid of any extra chunky bits and get the best mouthfeel. But I am really confused, because with any reasonably fine sieve I filter out almost all of the vegetable matter and end up with…
VoY
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Rubbing eggplants in salt

I saw somewhere they rubbed sliced eggplants in salt and leaving them out up to an hour before putting them in the oven. From what I understood it had to do something with the eggplant's bitter taste... I want to cook sliced eggplants in the oven…
hizki
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Perfect Hollandaise every time using a blender/food processor?

I was a cook at a cafe recently that was buying in Hollandaise. I started making the sauce from scratch following the same basic procedure each time but got varying results. sometimes the Hollandaise would be too thick; more like a butter spread…
Chicken Pie
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In general, would I need to season a meat when making a sauce?

I'm making a Romesco Sauce. I wonder, in general, would I need to season the meat that goes with the sauce? or do I leave the meat plain (just cook thoroughly without even salt and pepper). The above image is the grilled chicken that the Romesco…
jeffrey
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What is the proper way to use corn starch to thicken sauces?

How do you mix corn starch slurry and how do you use it? Do you add the corn starch to the water, or do you add water to the corn starch? Generally what proportions do you need, what is the ratio of water to cornstarch? Do you need to use more…
milesmeow
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Non-cow's milk replacement for Parmesan cheese in Genovese pesto

My family loves Genovese pesto and we'd started making our own (with varied success). One of our number has been diagnosed as intolerant to cow's milk. This rules out pretty much all shop-bought varieties, so we now have to take the homemade route…
Nick Hawes
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Would sous vide-ing tomatoes result in a deeply caramelised tomato sauce?

I am looking to take the effort out of slow-cooking tomatoes for several hours over the stove and wondered if sous-vide may be a possible method of doing this. I understand that the end result may be slightly watery but this sauce can then be…
seeker
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What do you do with left over tomato paste?

I sometimes make sauces that use tomato paste. The problem is that usually I need only one or two tablespoons and I don't know what to do with the rest of the can. The smallest can I could find is 6 oz. and while it only costs 50 cents, I hate the…
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