Seasoning Sauces

The final and most important touch to perfect a sauce is to adjust the seasoning. A well-balanced sauce aims for a combination of flavors with no single flavor being overly dominating.  The sauce should accommodate the food that it is served with. It should complement it rather than overwhelm the dish.

The taste of a good sauce should always been too strong by itself and its flavor should be concentrated. If a sauce is going to be reduced, it should be lightly seasoned only, since the flavor and seasoning will become concentrated as the liquid reduced.

As for specific seasoning instructions, I would like to quote Herman Senn who described that it very well in his book, “The Book of Sauces” published in 1915: “it is most difficult to give any precise directions for seasoning … experience alone will teach a cook”.

I would like to add, that tasting and rectifying the seasoning a small amount at the time when the sauce is almost finished will help you to judge and decide how much seasoning is needed. If you are still not sure, there is nothing wrong in asking for a second opinion from whoever is around.