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It's in the sauce
DINING & ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE - JULY 2004
It's in the sauce
Chefs reveal their secrets
Larousse Gastronomique lists more than 200 sauces on its 1,000 pages, from aigre-doux (sweet-and-sour) to zingara (paprika and tomato). The actual number of sauces in the world, however, is unknown, probably in the thousands and constantly growing. Many of them are really variations on a few ?mother? sauces. One culinary writer says there are really only three:
? brown stock, made from boiled meats like beef or veal shins, shanks or neck bones, plus selected vegetables, herbs and spices;
? white stock, made from boiled chicken or veal bones with onions, leeks, carrots, plus spices and herbs; and
? fish stock, made from fish bones and trimmings, again with a selection of vegetables, herbs and spices.
Others list five: béchamel, velouté, brown or Spanish, Hollandaise and tomato. But that doesn?t account for all the dessert sauces made with such delights as chocolate, caramel and liqueurs, not to mention coulis ? purées made from fresh or frozen fruits.
However they are categorized, Gordon Grimsdale, in his 1986 The Book of Sauces, avers that sauces have ?produced vast gastronomic and culinary effects in making plain food more palatable, or, in earlier years, unpalatable food edible.?
The word ?sauce? is old, by the way, deriving from Middle English via Old French and ultimately, says the Oxford Concise Dictionary, from the Latin verb salsus, meaning ?to salt.? But sauce-making goes back even further than the Roman and Greek eras to the Assyrians and Egyptians.
Today, sauces range from simple to complicated: one seafood sauce listed by Grimsdale has 14 ingredients, including a previously prepared tomato sauce (five additional ingredients) that, in turn, was made from a brown stock (11 more ingredients) for a grand total of 30, although some items are duplicated.
However, a sauce doesn?t have to be complex to be good. Chef Charlie Mazuir of Anthony?s Caribbean Grill on Paradise Island has created three simple dipping sauces that are great for deep-fried conch, grouper and shrimp.
Quick dipping sauces
Apricot horseradish
8 oz apricot jam
1?2 tsp white horseradish
Juice from 1?2 lemon
Tartar
8 oz mayonnaise
8 oz sweet relish
1 tsp dill
Conch fritter dip
8 oz mayonnaise
8 oz ketchup
1 oz hot sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
For each sauce: combine ingredients, mix to a smooth, creamy consistency and refrigerate before serving.
Key to fine dining
However categorized, sauces are recognized by everyone as one of the keys to fine dining, one that enables chefs to show off their skills and demonstrate their talents. Indeed, one respected chef says he could make a gourmet meal out of a ham sandwich, everything depending on fresh ingredients, a creative presentation and, of course, the sauce.
Many haute cuisine chefs will delegate important duties to their assistants, but not the sauces. Using only the freshest of ingredients, the masters arrive early to prepare their sauces for that day. Other sauces, of course, have to be made on the spot, like this delicious one from Café Villaggio.
Seafood sauce for pasta
7 oz salmon
7 oz scallops
7 oz shrimp
7 oz lobster
14 oz fresh tomato, diced
1?2 oz garlic, chopped
1 oz butter
13?4 oz white wine (dry)
Pinch red chilies
32 oz heavy cream
Clean and dice the seafood. Melt butter, add garlic and chilies and cook for one min. Add seafood and cook until golden. Add wine, tomato and season with salt and pepper. Add cream and cook 15 minutes. Serve over pasta of choice and garnish with chopped parsley.
This delicious sauce, from the kitchen of Chez Willie on West Bay Street, goes well with steak tartare and fish.
Sauce Tartare
3 oz chopped tomatoes
4 hard-boiled eggs (whites and yolks chopped separately)
1?2 lb anchovies, chopped
3 oz chopped parsley
2 oz Dijon mustard
Pinch salt
1 oz capers, chopped
2 oz dried chives
5 oz mayonnaise
Dash of olive oil
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Dash balsamic vinegar
Combine ingredients and mix until smooth.
Oriental sauces
There are many types of Szechwan sauce, sometimes thickened with a little cornstarch or thinned with a little water. Often, a featured item, such as beef, chicken, lobster or shrimp, is cooked in the sauce as it is being prepared. For delicious Szechwan sauces try Double Dragon on East Bay Street and two other locations, or the huge buffet of Oriental dishes at Asia Buffet upstairs in the Island Traders Building on East Bay Street. The following sauce is made at East Villa, also on East Bay Street, just past the Harbour Bay Shopping Centre ? a popular spot for locals and visitors alike.
Szechwan sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp dry sherry (or cooking wine)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp chili paste
Pinch dry ground ginger
Clove of garlic, minced
In a wok or heavy saucepan, cook the ginger and garlic briefly in a little oil, add vinegar, sugar, sherry and chili paste. Bring to a boil.
Sauces Italiano
Nassau is blessed with a variety of good Italian restaurants, including Villaggio out west, Sole Mare at the Wyndham Nassau Resort, Café Matisse, downtown on Bank Lane, Island Pasta Market in the El Greco Hotel and Capriccio Ristorante at Cable Beach. All of them make wonderful pasta sauces. The following recipe is from Chef Claudio Infanti of Capriccio ? a chic spot at the western end of the Cable Beach strip.
Shrimp tomato
sauce for pasta
10 shrimps (16/20)
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh basil
1 fresh tomato, diced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1?2 cup white wine
Salt, red pepper to taste
In a saucepan, fry shrimp in oil for about 3 mins. Remove some of the oil. add garlic, basil, fresh tomato and wine. Cook until wine evaporates. Add tomato paste and cook for another 3 mins. Serve over linguine.
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