Unit 319 Prepare, Cook and Finish Complex Sauces and Cold Dressings.

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Unit 319Prepare, Cook and Finish Complex Sauces
and Cold Dressings.
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Revision of Level 2 Sauces.

• Basic sauces and dressings.

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Complex Sauces Introduction.

• The modern kitchen has produced a wide range of
  variations to the old classical methods of roux
  based sauces. Nowadays crème fraiche, fromage
  frais and yogurt are used as alternatives to
  cream, egg yolks and butter making today's sauces
  lighter, less fatty with less rich textures.
• Many modern chefs will use a reduced purée of
  vegetable or fruit base preparation as the sauce
  without any thickening agent.
• It is worth noting that very small amounts of a
  starch can be added to act as a stabilizer.

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Cream Thickened Sauce.

• Many sauces are enriched with the addition of
  cream. Most sauces will have been made in the
  traditional way before the cream is added,
  therefore their thickening agent will already be
  present.
• Some dishes will have their cooking liquid
  reduced to concentrate the flavour and
  consistency and then the cream is added. It is
  then necessary to cook and reduce again to
  thicken the sauce.

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• Only a good quality double cream is suitable for
  this method of sauce making as single and
  whipping cream do not have the viscosity to
  ensure a suitably thickened sauce.
• It is worth noting that when cooked for any
  length of time thin cream or one with
  insufficient butter fat content, will result in
  the protein overcooked and shrunk, giving it a
  curdled appearance.
• It is also important to note that many chefs
  prefer not to over use cream in their dishes as
  many customers today prefer the lighter less rich
  sauces.

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Fruit/Pulse/Vegetable Thickened Sauces.

• This type of sauce is the process of cooking down
  the main ingredient until it is soft enough to be
  puréed in a blender (or similar).
• The concentration is achieved by the evaporation
  of the water content until the desired thickness
  occurs. Sometimes a starch can be added in the
  form of cornflour or potato starch.

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Reduction Sauce.

• Many different sauces develop from this basic
  technique. In classical cookery a reduction sauce
  was based on the addition of wine, vinegar or a
  quality stock added to a pan in which meat,
  poultry, game or fish had been cooked.
• The item is removed, the fat tipped off and the
  wine, vinegar or stock added. The liquid is
  reduced and concentrated before other ingredients
  are added. A spirit like brandy can be added and
  ignited that is to flambé the dish.

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• Other ingredients added could be a white or brown
  sauce, garnish, cream, herbs etc. This is only a
  brief explanation of a very extensive and varied
  selection of sauces and it is not within the
  requirements of this unit to identify them all.
• The term reduction sauce can include sauces
  whose base starts with the main ingredient or
  body of the sauce being concentrated by
  simmering away the water content in order to
  concentrate the flavour and thicken the sauce.

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Egg Based Sauce.

• The combining of egg yolks and melted butter to
  form an emulsified sauce, is known as a
  hollandaise sauce. The attention to correct
  preparation and production methods is vital to
  make this sauce.
• Awareness of good hygiene, use of fresh eggs, the
  temperature of the egg yolks and butter and the
  fact that the sauce must be made just prior to
  service, requires a sound level of knowledge and
  skill.

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Hollandaise sauce.

• Is also classed as a warm sauce. The best
  temperature for the holding of the sauce is
  37C or blood heat.

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Explain the differences between Hollandaise
Béarnaise.
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Stocks/Gravy/Glaze.

• Stocks.
• The traditional stock pot has been the foundation
  of many kitchen preparations for many, many
  years. The cooking of meat/bones, vegetables and
  herbs in a pot with water has long been a basic
  method of cookery to produce an aromatic cooking
  liquor to be used as the basis to other dishes.
• The classical kitchen has worked with the making
  of these stocks beef, veal, poultry, game and
  fish as the first step in ensuring the quality of
  a finished dish.

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• Nowadays due to a greater awareness of food
  hygiene, strict kitchen procedures, economy of
  time, and food cost, the stock pot has lost its
  role as an essential preparation.
• Convenience stocks have taken over and fulfil a
  necessary requirement. However, there is no
  substitute for the freshly made stock and where
  factors allow, a fresh stock will always assist
  in producing a dish of an excellent, original
  flavour.

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Gravy.

• The dictionary describes gravy as.
• the juice that comes from the flesh when
  cooking.
• Explained in French as a Jus. Likewise Jus is
  explained as juice, gravy.
• The traditional English understanding of a gravy
  is a sauce-like preparation which has gained its
  texture by being thickened with a gravy powder
  out of a tin.

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• In good kitchens, the liquid left after roasting
  beef, poultry, veal and game etc, has the grease
  removed, is then boiled down to a concentrate and
  offered as the Jus-rôti (juice from the roast) as
  the accompaniment to the joint.
• Jus-lie is a stock made up from veal
  bones/chicken, bacon pieces, vegetables and
  herbs, fresh stock and tomato purée. This is
  cooked for 1-2 hours before being thickened.
• Hence Jus-lie Juice thickened.

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Glazes.

• The process of making a glaze will normally be
  found in only the most professional of kitchens.
  Good quality stock, one with a definite taste,
  free from grease and clear, is suitable.
• Constant simmering, reducing and straining the
  stock down to a sticky glutinous mass takes time
  and an ever watchful eye, especially over the
  last stages. The original quantity of stock, that
  is 12-15 litres will become no more than ½ litre
  and it is very easy to spoil by reducing too fast
  and burning.
• The time taken can be several hours and the
  consumption of gas or electricity can make this
  process prohibitive.

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• Sometimes this reduction can be left at the stage
  of a concentrated stock called an essence, which
  is much thinner than a glaze and cannot be used
  in quite the same way.
• Essences can be purchased in bottles from good
  quality stockists (mushroom, truffle, anchovy
  etc).
• A finished glaze resembles a dark sticky mass and
  is very strong in flavour. It must be used in
  very small amounts and added to sauces to
  strengthen the flavour, to darken the colour
  slightly, and help to give a shine.

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Oil And Vinegar Based Sauce.

• Vinaigrette or French dressing as it is sometimes
  referred to, is made by mixing together oil and
  vinegar, with seasoning, to produce a sharp
  flavoured preparation used on a variety of
  salads.
• A basic vinaigrette is made using a good quality
  oil groundnut, or a mixture of olive oil and
  groundnut, with white wine vinegar.
• Due to the wide range of oils available and an
  even greater choice of vinegars you can produce a
  dressing to suit every and any combination of
  salads.

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• Mustard can be added to a vinaigrette to add
  further flavour and to help in stabilising the
  dressing.
• Vinegar (sharply flavoured water) and oil will
  not mix as oil is less dense than water and will
  float on the water. Next time you look at a
  bottle of vinaigrette (not commercial but kitchen
  made) you will see that the oil has separated out
  and is on top of the vinegar.
• When mustard is added it helps the oil and water
  mix together and stay together longer. The
  separating out effect has no ill effect on the
  flavour or quality of the vinaigrette. It is
  important though to shake the vinaigrette well to
  remix the ingredients just before using.

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Sour Cream Based Sauce.

• In classical cookery in particular, fruit based
  salads were bound with acidulated cream cream
  mixed with fresh lemon juice. The lemon juice has
  the effect of denaturing the protein of the
  cream. In simple terms the protein was changed so
  that it became thick.
• The use of sour cream or crème fraîche is an
  alternative to acidulated cream. Each one of the
  creams mentioned offers a different flavour and
  acidity to the finished salad.

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• With the change in eating habits, sour cream or
  similar ingredients have been substituted where
  mayonnaise was once the binding agent. A well
  known salad such as coleslaw can be changed by
  using sour cream and adding herbs or spices, such
  as carraway seed or poppy seed.
• The choice and variations are limitless and in
  the hands of a good chef a wide range of
  interesting salads can be developed.
• Using good quality catering reference books
  identify a range of salad preparations using
  acidulated cream/sour cream as their binding
  agent.

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Vegetable/Fruit Coulis.

• The term coulis is a well known term used in
  good quality kitchens. A thin purée of the main
  ingredient, smooth and definite in taste is used
  as a sauce around the plate of the dish to be
  presented.
• This method is very popular in the up-to-date
  presentation of plated dishes because the coulis
  is very much part of the taste of the dish. Its
  colour and style of presentation will enhance the
  appearance of the dish being presented.

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Aspic Jelly.

• Aspic jelly is a savoury jelly used for
  decorative purposes in cold work presentation. It
  can also be found in pâtés, terrines and pork
  pies.
• The aspic jelly used in kitchens in past
  generations would have been produced from veal
  bones, calves feet, shin of beef, to produce a
  well flavoured stock with the natural gelatine of
  the animal. This in turn would be clarified to
  produce a crystal clear gelatinous stock.

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• Today, because of the length of time to produce,
  the cost and in particular the availability of
  some of the ingredients, aspic jelly is even more
  unlikely to be produced in a modern kitchen. For
  example calves feet are difficult to obtain due
  to strict slaughter house regulations as a result
  of BSE.
• It is also worth noting that aspic jelly is high
  in protein and very easily exposed to bacterial
  infection. Due to the fact that it is only warmed
  over a gentle heat before being coated over meat
  or fish etc, it can become an excellent medium
  for food poisoning.
• Convenience aspic is the most commonly used
  savoury jelly used in kitchens. It is still very
  important to remember that this product is high
  in protein but Agar Agar is a safer product to
  use.