Sauces can make the simple sublime. Whether they’re sweet or savoury, basic or complex, based on butter, oil or purée, they dress our meat and vegetables to create a memorable dish. Here are my favourite sauce recipes.
Sauce Gribiche Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class! I love this deliciously easy variation on tartare sauce, made using cooked egg yolk instead of the usual raw egg. Parsley is traditional but you can add other herbs – I take inspiration from Matt Moran who uses chervil in his sauce gribiche; […]
Thai Chilli Jam(Nahm Prik Pao) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Thai cooking class inspired by David Thompson! Chef David Thompson taught me to make this Thai chilli jam (nahm prik pao), which is a great addition to any stir-fry. He also taught me that it’s much easier to snip dried chillies open with […]
Rouille (Spicy Mayonnaise) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class featuring the food of Provence! The more I research rouille the more confused I become. Even the most respected experts seem to disagree on what should go into this classic Provençal sauce that’s traditionally served with bouillabaisse. The only thing I can […]
Pistou (Provençal Pesto) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class featuring the food of Provence! Pistou is the Provençal cousin of Liguria’s pesto, though it doesn’t contain any cheese or nuts and – unlike a classic pesto alla Genovese – the garlic in pistou packs a real punch. On its own as […]
Pesto alla Genovese Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Italian cooking class featuring the food of Liguria! Although pesto means ‘to pound’, the classic Ligurian pesto alla Genovese, from the port city of Genoa, is traditionally made by crushing – rather than pounding – the ingredients in a marble mortar using a wooden pestle. […]
Coriander Pesto Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Caribbean cooking class! I love classic basil pesto alla Genovese (see video below). Pesto means ‘pounded’ – the same as Provençal pistou – so when I had a couple of bunches of coriander leftover in the fridge I wondered what other ingredients might be added for […]
Crème Anglaise (Vanilla Custard) Master Kitchen Basics & Explore New Cuisines & Ingredients with My Online Cooking Classes Crème Anglaise (a.k.a. vanilla custard) is a versatile pouring custard that’s typically served with fruit desserts, such as crumbles and pies, and often poured into sweet soufflés at the table. As the name suggests, French speakers consider […]
Dashi Soy Sauce Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Japanese cooking class! While you can serve plain soy sauce alongside sushi, it can be quite salty. Master Sushi Chef Hideo Dekura introduced me to this more subtly flavoured dashi soy sauce blend (see video below). Dashi soy sauce is delicious as a dipping sauce […]
Tomato Sauce Master Kitchen Basics & Explore New Cuisines & Ingredients with My Online Cooking Classes A good tomato sauce is a basic in every Mediterranean cuisine. Use it to poach Lebanese stuffed zucchini, to dress a simple pasta or gnocchi (see video below), layer into eggplant Parmigiana or lasagne or add a pinch of […]
Laban Matboukh (Yoghurt Sauce) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Cooked yoghurt sauces are popular in the Levant, Turkey and parts of Central Asia. Some are stabilised with cornflour, but Middle Eastern food expert Anissa Helou recommends egg, which I prefer as it gives a very stable result without changing the […]
