There are a large number of sauces. Among them, we find tartar, béarnaise, Caesar or even yogurt sauce. Each has a particular flavor, to enhance very specific dishes, whether it is meat, fish or any other food. Which sauce is best for which dish? We guide you.
Find the right sauce that will enhance your dish
Incorporating a sauce into a dish cannot be done blindly. For good reason, in the same way that a clam dish is better with parsley or a puree is better enhanced with chives than basil, sauces have their own specificity.
Sauces can be thick or liquid. It depends on how you prepare them: with cottage cheese, flour and eggs or crème fraîche. They can be more or less colorful, depending on whether you add tomato paste, a little mustard or if you just add herbs to yogurt. As for flavors, the sauces vary from mild to spicy. For meat, sauces are generally spicier, like peppery; while for fish, the sauces are lighter and lemony.
Béarnaise sauce: for the meat
Béarnaise sauce is an emulsified sauce, where melted butter is combined with egg yolks, adding shallot, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. The spicy notes of this sauce served hot perfectly enhance red meat.
Mayonnaise sauce: the all-purpose
Mayonnaise sauce is probably the simplest to prepare: egg yolks, mustard, wine vinegar, peanut oil and a little salt and pepper. To be prepared using ingredients from the cupboard, it is the recipe within everyone’s reach. Serve cold and integrate into a hamburger, a potato salad, to serve eggs and mayonnaise as a starter or to dip some shrimp. By adding a few herbs, capers and pickles, the mayonnaise transforms into tartar sauce.
Tartar sauce: for fish and chips
Mayonnaise, chopped hard-boiled egg, chives, capers, pickles and Greek yogurt, all seasoned with lemon zest. This is how you obtain a beautiful tartar sauce, served cold and ideal for anything fried, such as cod cooked fish and c hip style.
Hollandaise sauce: for fish and eggs Benedict
Melted butter, egg yolks and lemon juice, nothing else. Hollandaise sauce is thick and deliciously comforting. We often recognize it on eggs Benedict, a recipe whose success would not have been the same without this sauce. Served warm or cold, it is also ideal for white fish, salmon or mackerel.
Pepper sauce: for a steak
Pepper sauce is number one on the podium of the best sauces for entrecôtes and steaks. Prepared with crème fraîche, butter, a good dose of green pepper and a little flour to thicken everything, it is one of the strongest in the mouth. Its peppery flavor perfectly captures the flavors of red meat and is served hot, like béarnaise sauce.
Yogurt sauce: for salmon
A bit like a Dutch sauce, but less thick, the yogurt sauce has only a few ingredients: stirred yogurt seasoned with lemon juice, cider vinegar and a few shallots. Served cold and light, this sauce pairs perfectly with salmon.
Herb sauce: for toast
Based on cottage cheese, the herb sauce is composed of shallots, parsley, basil, fennel, garlic and a touch of lemon juice to spice it all up. A sauce that celebrates fresh herbs with fromage blanc and an ideal recipe for spreading, like enjoying a raw salmon toast.
Chive sauce: for potatoes or a vegetable platter
What would a dish of baked potatoes be without a touch of freshness enhanced with chives? Generally speaking, this herb with alliaceous notes is perfect for any type of potato-based dish. Served as is, in soup or puree, chives will always enhance this starchy food. As white and creamy as a herb or yogurt sauce, chive sauce is prepared with crème fraîche. Add lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper before incorporating chopped chives. A sauce to serve fresh and as an aperitif, to dip raw cucumbers or carrots.
Caesar sauce: for fresh salads
Eggs Benedict have Hollandaise sauce, Caesar salad has Caesar sauce. The latter owes its success by far to this legendary salad from French brasseries. This sauce is the most delicious, prepared with cream and parmesan. Seasoned with garlic, oil, vinegar and a few anchovies, it is the cheese sauce that many people love. Perfect for spicing up chicken and, of course, Caesar salad.
Barbecue sauce: for grilling
Barbecue sauce is often children’s favorite sauce. They eat it with fries or a few chicken nuggets. As for adults, we use this sauce to accompany pork ribs or any other type of grilled meat. It owes its red color to the tomato paste necessary for its preparation, and its subtly sweet notes from the honey that composes it. Mustard, garlic, onion, olive oil, cider vinegar, white wine, parsley, tarragon, pepper, thyme and Worcestershire sauce, this sauce is by far the richest in ingredients.
So many flavors for so many recipes, what is certain is that in the kitchen, anything is possible.
