Essentials of a Good Sauce

Distinct, desirable and delectable, a sauce that is well made should have a unique nature despite where it originated from or whether it is thin or thick or dark or light. With tantalizing textures, Mayonnaise should be soft and rich, an enchanting brown sheen should be displayed for Demi-glace sauce and Sabayon should be fluffy with froth.

Along with the nuances of taste, a sauce should possess the right flavor to give it body and character that would enhance a dish with the exact degree of pungency or mild natures. Sauces should be served in an attractive way and this where color comes into play to transform a dish with various hues such as a Grilled Flank Steak should be served with a red wine shallot sauce, a creamy tinted butter sauce should accent a Salmon Hollandaise and Pork Chops should be accompanied with a yellow mustard sauce. 

As consistency is a distinguishing factor for identifying a sauce besides giving it a rich flavor, Velouté sauces and white butter sauces should cloak the dish with a semi transparent veil and brown sauces should have a translucency that should add a glaze over the meats. With some of the sauces being so light that it can be compared to a thin sheen of oil, only white sauces like Béarnaise and Hollandaise sauces, sweet sauces and sauces for pasta should have a thick consistency to coat ingredients but not hide the shape of the food it covers.

In order to give it an aesthetic appeal and add to the taste, a sauce must never be moist with an adhesive, glutinous or sticky surface. When created to enhance and enrich gratin of vegetables that already possess high water content or to bind soufflés, a sauce should hold the right consistency that should look as good as it tastes. With the seasoning regulated to the right degree to enrich flavors and not be overpowering, a sauce that has to be served cold should be thicker than the sauces that are served when hot.