Traditional Tomato Sauces

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By James Peterson

Published 1991

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Most of the better-known Italian sauces, such as sugo finto, salsa di pomodoro, and ragù, are constructed around a flavor base of one or more mirepoix vegetables (celery, carrots, onions), in some cases pork or veal, sometimes garlic, various herbs, and a bouquet garni.

In French cooking, tomatoes are more often used as a flavoring or secondary component added to a more complex sauce, rather than as a sauce base. Despite this seemingly secondary role, tomatoes enter into a classic Sauce Espagnole and hence into practically every classic French brown sauce. Tomato concassée and coulis are also used to moisten meat and chicken stews, such as marengo and chasseur, but in each of these examples the sauce is balanced with other ingredients and flavors. Mexican and Spanish tomato sauces, such as salsa, are often raw concassées seasoned with appropriate herbs and spices.