About Sauces

Many dinners have been sadly diminished by sauces that are unsatisfactory.  This may be due to lack of
concern or skill but is more often caused by lack of time available for preparing the sauce carefully and
thoughtfully.  There is so much to do in the last hours before serving a fine dinner that making a sauce
at that time risks its quality, and if a mistake is made in its preparation there is no time to remedy that
mistake.  Excepting simple sauces that can be prepared very quickly such as pan sauces it is much better to
prepare sauces the day before: you can take all the time you want and there is no anxiety or disappointment.
There are dressings, cold sauces and hot sauces and there are many different ways to make them.  I am
going to confine myself here to hot sauces and the most reliable and versatile way to make them: the classical
French way.  Put simply, a hot liquid is thickened with a binder and then is flavored.
Sauces are made from stock, from broths and pan juices, from milk, from cream, from wine, or from any
combination of these.  The liquid or liquids used may be reduced (excepting milk) and are then thickened with
roux, or with cornstarch, or with arrowroot.  Finally, sauces are given their individuality with flavorings and
finishes.  Gravies are sauces; they are improvised in the roasting dish from pan juices with a binder made in
situ.  The purpose of reduction is to make the sauce as rich and flavorful as can be.  Saltiness limits how far
'reduction can be taken: reduce until saltiness is becoming excessive.  As roux masks salt slightly, and most
sauces are diluted somewhat as they are finished, reduction can continue until the stock is quite salty.  This
will take practice but don't worry: you can dilute an overly salty sauce just before serving with a little stock
or cream, as is appropriate.  Cream masks salt very well.
Roux is the most reliable thickening agent.  It should be at room temperature when used.  When ready to thicken,
have the sauce at a very slow boil and whisk while crumbling the roux in, starting with a tablespoon of roux for
a pint of sauce.  Whisk the sauce as the roux cooks into and thickens it.  The sauce will have to return to a slow
boil and cook for a minute or two for the roux to have its full effect.  Wet a tablespoon with the sauce and hold
it almost vertical over the pan so that you can see the its bottom side.  How fast does the sauce run off?  Does
a layer of sauce remain on the spoon?  The traditional way to describe a sauce that has been thickened properly
is to say that it will coat a spoon.  An especially thick sauce will coat a spoon thickly.  Add more roux as needed
and check again until the sauce is as thick as you want.
At this point some sauces are flavored with additions such as capers, sautéed onions, chopped fresh herbs, or
reinforced wines such as Madeira or sherry.  Some sauces are finished - in the sense of giving it a smooth finish
like a piece of fine cabinetry - with cream or butter.  Sauces that are diluted with wine or cream must be
thickened with this in mind.
I want to recommend a text: Sauces by James Peterson published by Wiley and Sons.  This book contains
everything you need to know about sauces and is beautifully written.