Adjusting Sauces

rabbithutch · Jul 23, 2012

Knowing that we have a lot of very good cooks and well informed members of SMF, I want to tap into it.

Can someone speak with authority about how to adjust the flavor of sauces? For example, if you make a sauce that has too much pepper heat, how would you 'adjust' it to take some of the heat out? Would you dilute the base liquid? Add something to absorb it (like a raw potato)? Add sugar? Or salt?

That's just a for example. I would like to read a good dissection of what flavors make good sauces and how to control the effect of each. I know that this is just a silly WAG, but let's suppose that there are a limited number of 'flavors' that can be detected by the human palate . . . say, sweet, salty, acidic, basic, hot, cold, thickness/thinness, et al. Does anyone know of any good website or published material that goes into the 'science' of tastes as they relate to sauces? Seems this is something that would be taught in the best culinary schools (but I have no clue).

diggingdogfarm · Jul 23, 2012

Wow!
It's a difficult question to answer because there are so many different types of sauces and everyone's perceptions and tastes are different.
Sugar does counter the spiciness of hot peppers some if it's compatible with the sauce you're making.
Best advice is to be very carefully with the ingredients that can be easily overdone so you don't get in trouble and need to correct it.
That's one of the reasons I leave salt out of all of my spice blends.

As far as combining flavors, there's an excellent book called The Flavor Bible. While not strictly about sauces, it is about combining complimentary flavors.

There are a gazillion good sauce books, it's difficult to recommend one without knowing exactly what sauce you have in mind.

HTH

~Martin

cliffcarter · Jul 24, 2012

rabbithutch said:
... For example, if you make a sauce that has too much pepper heat, how would you 'adjust' it to take some of the heat out? Would you dilute the base liquid? Add something to absorb it (like a raw potato)? Add sugar? Or salt?

Once the heat is there it is not going away unless you dilute the mixture with liquid, adding sugar will make sweet heat and adding salt will make salty heat. Adding a liquid will also alter the flavor profile of the sauce, so you must also add spices and whatever else is in the sauce in proper ratio with the liquid to maintain the flavor you want.

smokinhusker · Jul 24, 2012

Great info shared by Martin and Cliff. Personally we like a little heat and when making a new sauce etc that amount of cayenne, etc is the first ingredient I look at and start with a smaller amount. You can always add to but you can't take away.

rabbithutch · Jul 24, 2012

Thanks for the responses.

I'm going to look into The Flavor Bible and the website, too.

dewetha · Jul 24, 2012

nice info. i just bought that book on my nook! can't wait to read it.

rabbithutch · Jul 26, 2012

I bought The Flavor Bible from Amazon and it came in today's mail. I've only read the intro's and basics and thumbed through the rest of it.

Basically, it is an encyclopedia that lists a topic - type of meat, style of cooking, spice, condiment, sauce, etc. - and then list characteristics and complementary ingredients and foods. It's gonna take me while to get used to finding stuff in it but it appears to be a very good reference book. It comes as close as I could get to answering my question.

dewetha · Jul 26, 2012

rabbithutch said:
I bought The Flavor Bible from Amazon and it came in today's mail. I've only read the intro's and basics and thumbed through the rest of it.
Basically, it is an encyclopedia that lists a topic - type of meat, style of cooking, spice, condiment, sauce, etc. - and then list characteristics and complementary ingredients and foods. It's gonna take me while to get used to finding stuff in it but it appears to be a very good reference book. It comes as close as I could get to answering my question.

i was disappointed in the electronic formatting but the information is excellent

rabbithutch · Jul 27, 2012

dewetha said:
i was disappointed in the electronic formatting but the information is excellent

Did I miss something? Are you referring to the typesetting or did you get some electronic media with yours?

cliffcarter · Jul 27, 2012

dewetha said:
nice info. i just bought that book on my nook! can't wait to read it.

rabbithutch said:
Did I miss something? Are you referring to the typesetting or did you get some electronic media with yours?

Apparently you missed this post

dewetha · Jul 27, 2012

what cliff said. i think this book is probable easier to flip though by hand vs a nook. the over formatting is poor at best.

there is no index and the search is about usless do to the number of things it returns. this is a better buy in print form

rabbithutch · Jul 27, 2012

dewetha said:
what cliff said. i think this book is probable easier to flip though by hand vs a nook. the over formatting is poor at best.

there is no index and the search is about usless do to the number of things it returns. this is a better buy in print form

Aah! I'm still stuck on paper when it comes to books like this.

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Adjusting Sauces

rabbithutch

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rabbithutch

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