Four Essential Sauces

This week it’s all about sauces here at The Local Cook. We’ll start out by discussing the four essential sauces that Alice Waters talks about in her cookbook  The Art of Simple Food.

First, why would one want to learn how to make their own sauces? For starters, it’s a great way to perk up any vegetable, meat, or grain. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked DH to grill something, and told him I’d make some quinoa and vegetables, and he says, “what kind of sauce will we use? I hate eating dry food.” That’s the main part I get stuck on, and I’m often off searching the internet and cookbooks for something that will work.

Of course, you could just go to the store and buy just about any kind of sauce you can think of. But what’s the fun in that? Not to mention it is pricey and one more thing to take up room in your cupboard. So, a frugal and simple cook learns how to make some of the basic sauces with ingredients that are normally on hand. No more last minute trips to the store!

The sauces that Waters lists as essential are not the “mother sauces” with fancy sounding French names (I’ll talk about those later this week). No, these are what Michael Ruhlman calls “fat-based sauces” in his book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking. Don’t worry, these are healthy fats! And, they are perfectly suited to cooking with fresh ingredients such as vegetables and local grassfed meats.

The four sauces according to Waters:

1. Vinaigrette
2. Salsa Verde
3. Aioli
4. Herb Butter

I posted a basic vinaigrette recipe with the coleslaw post last week, but for a more thorough explanation visit my post How to Make Vinaigrette Dressing. It’s super versatile, as you can use it on salad as well as vegetables. Rule of thumb: 1 part vinegar to 3-4 parts oil.

I never would have tried Salsa Verde if I hadn’t decided to try all four of the essential sauces, but I think it’s one of my favorites now. I was used to the tomatillo salsa verde, but this is Italian and the green is from capers and parsley. So fresh, and sooo good!

Aioli is pretty much just mayonnaise with garlic. Yes, you can make homemade mayonnaise – if I can do it, anyone can! Here is a recipe for spicy fish tacos with garlic-chive aioli, just to get you inspired. It’s also very versatile. You can flavor it lots of different ways, and I’ve had it in restaurants with so many things, from burgers to fries to fish. Rule of thumb: 1 egg yolk to 1 cup olive oil

Herb Butter is a wonderful way to add freshness to your baked potatoes, vegetables, or meats. You can use just about any culinary herb that you might have in your garden or refrigerator.

Have you made any of these four sauces? Which is your favorite? Which is intimidating?

This post shared at Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Simple Lives Thursday