Integral Sauces for Sautéed Meats

Meats are sautéed by rapid cooking in a small amount of hot fat. The technique should not be confused with frying, in which meat is cooked by being partially or entirely submerged in hot fat, or stewing, in which meats are often first browned in hot fat but then finish cooking in liquid. Even experienced cooks are sometimes confused by careless nomenclature that confuses stews and sautés. In strict culinary parlance, a sauté is composed of pieces of meat (including poultry) that have been browned in hot fat and finished cooking, without added liquid, either on top of the stove or in the oven. The sauce for a sauté is then prepared in the pan used to brown the meat and combined with the cooked meat just before serving—not sooner. When pieces of meat are browned but then cooked in liquid, the preparation is an authentic stew.