Salse

These sauces form part of the basic Italian Jewish pantry. Everyone has a family tomato sauce recipe or a special touch with the nutmeg grinder for the besciamella. Mayonnaise is made fresh and has a golden hue due to the deep yellow-orange yolks that also color fresh pasta. Piquant salsa verde is spooned over cold poached fish and chicken, vegetables, and boiled beef. And the rich salsa di noce is used as an accompaniment for cooked fish.

Sweet-and-sour sauces remain popular today. Pine nuts and raisins are added to many pan sauces, along with a pinch of sugar and a dash of vinegar. These sauces are usually of Arabic or Levantine origin, transmitted via the cuisine of Sicily or the Sephardim. Bagna brusca, the frothy mixture of eggs and lemon juice bound with broth, is related to Greek (Sephardic) avgolemono sauce and was traditionally used as a creamy thickener in soups, stews, and pan sauces in dishes where non-Jews would have added cream or mounted a sauce with butter.