Sauces

Appears in

Published 1987

About

André Simon once quoted the French phrase, ‘C’est la sauce qui fait manger la poisson’, which translates to ‘It’s the sauce that makes the fish edible’. As Simon says, if the fish is so bad that it must have a sauce then it most likely should be dumped in the rubbish bin anyway! Sauces may compliment but they must not overpower. Thus one of the most popular sauces in modern cookery is the beurre blanc and its variations.

The quality of the following sauces will depend on the balance between the flavour provided by the stock, the acid of the wine or vinegar and the type of butter used. I try to use King Island butter but if it is not available, I simply use a good quality unsalted butter. The butter does not separate due to the homogenising effect of the cream and acid.