Purées

Appears in
Professional Cooking: 8th Edition
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2014

  • About

Vegetable purées have long been used as sauces. Tomato sauce is the classic example. However, nearly any vegetable can be puréed and used as a sauce, provided it is flavorful, properly seasoned, and of an appropriate consistency or thickness. A vegetable purée is sometimes called a coulis.

Purées of starchy vegetables, such as squash or dried beans, may need to be thinned with stock, broth, or water. Even potato purée is sometimes thinned and used as a sauce, usually enriched with a little raw butter stirred in. In addition, potato and other thick purées are used as thickeners for other sauces.