Most chefs agree that while cooking the dish properly is important, the secret is always in the sauce! Sauces add colour, moisture, and flavour to our food, and there’s rarely such a thing as pouring on too much! Sure, you can eat a plate of plain spaghetti, but isn’t it better smothered in sauce? Much more so!
So, my fellow cooks and fine food aficionados, break out your saucepans and ladles because it’s time to examine a few of the world’s most beloved sauces!
Amatriciana – Since we have already mentioned spaghetti, let’s start with a classic Italian sauce that tastes great on all kinds of pasta! This sauce came into prominence in the 17th century and got its name from a small town in the hills of Sabine called Amatrice. Along with Carbonara and Cacio E Pepe, Amatriciana is a member of the so-called “Holy Trinity Of Roman Pasta,” widely considered to be the best of The Boot! Amatriciana is made from diced tomatoes sautéed in pork fat. It’s most popularly served with a dusting of finely grated pecorino cheese over a steaming dish of spaghetti or bucatini pasta! Buon appetito!
Avgolemono – For our next entry, we will move south-east across the Ionian Sea to sunny Greece, where this delicious concoction is served as either a stand-alone soup or a delicious sauce!
This recipe dates back to the days of Alexander the Great, and it tastes great, too! Avgolemono is a mixture of lemon juice and whisked eggs that are cooked until they form a thick broth, but not too long because that can make it curdle! Avgolemono is wonderfully tasty just eating it from a bowl on its own, or by pouring it over dolmathes, grape leaves stuffed with rice and lamb.
Hollandaise – This scrumptiously buttery sauce traces its origins to Holland, the charming low country that gives it its name. Hollandaise sauce is most famous for its starring role in that breakfast classic Eggs Benedict, which is comprised of sourdough toast, poached eggs, and smoked ham, all smothered under loads of this wonderful sauce! It’s a bit of a trick to make, involving whisking eggs with melted butter, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and a dash of salt and cayenne pepper until it reaches a perfect state of emulsion. You can put Hollandaise sauce on a lot more than eggs; it also goes perfectly with white fish, chicken, or pork!
Sweet and Sour – Our space is limited, so we can’t cover all the amazing sauces of the world we have grown to love, but we would be remiss if we kept it just to Europe! Sweet and Sour sauce hails from the Hunan Province of China, where it has long been used to accentuate the flavours of dishes containing fish, meats, and vegetables. The base is made of rice vinegar and sugar, and in the eastern provinces of China honey, pineapples and pears are added, while in the far west ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and molasses are used. Pour it over rice or egg noodles, and serve hot!
We hope you have enjoyed this brief look at the world’s most beloved sauces, and maybe we can share some more next time! Stay saucy!
