Evolution Of Sauces Research Paper
The Evolution of Sauces “Sauce: (noun) 1. Any flavorful soft or liquid dressing or relish served as an accompaniment to food. 2. Stewed or puréed sweetened fruit often served with other foods.
3. Anything that adds zest, flavor or piquancy to something.” Culinary authors all seem to agree that there was once an insurmountable body of literature on the subject of cooking and gastronomy in ancient Greece. Although, little of it has ceased to survive, possibly due to the catastrophic fire that destroyed the library in Alexandria. However, amidst the written works which did survive was “Art of Cooking” compiled in Syracuse by Mithaecus in the fifth century B.C. In the fourth century B.C. a man known as Archestratus of Gela, from the ancient town of Sicily, traveled throughout the Mediterranean area as a self-proclaimed gastronomic philosopher. He curiously compiled his observations regarding the eating habits of other nations and set them to poetic verse. During this age sauces were more often thick, full of fat and used to smother ill-prepared dishes. However, I find it interesting that “Archestratus’s culinary style essentially called for …show more content…
lightness and simplicity. He only included the use of fresh, seasonal ingredients; minimal use of fat and salt; the revival of regional cooking styles; innovation and inventiveness; and light sauces, consisting of natural reductions prepared to order.” It’s easy to state that Archestratus was ahead of his time and so much for nouvelle cuisine and our current “new” and “lighter” cooking styles. An Imperial Roman by the name of Marcus Gavius Apicius
(80 B.C. – 40 A.D.) lived his life around and spent enormous amounts of money to indulge in rich tasting luxurious food and drink. During such time he commissioned and endowed a school for the teaching and promotion of cooking and culinary ideas. As Apicius’ expensive lifestyle dwindled, he decided that life would not be worth living without his gluttonous indulgences. Therefore, he threw one last feast in his own honor, where he ingested poison as the highlight of the celebration and died. Still it was because of his encouragement into culinary studies that culinarians have paid homage to him by naming cheesecakes and sauces after him. Said sauces are known as Apician Sauces. “The Book of Apicius” authored in the latter part of the third century has been called a gastronomic bible, consisting of ten different volumes and greatly influenced cooking styles on the European continent well into the seventeenth century. Marie Antoine Carème (1784-1833), known as "The King of Chefs, and the Chef of Kings" was an early practitioner and exponent of the elaborate style of cooking known as haute cuisine, the "high art" of French cooking.
It was a grandiose style of cookery favored by both international royalty and by the newly rich of Paris. Carème is often considered as one of the first, internationally renowned celebrity chefs. It’s noted that during Careme’s claim to fame, he never gave any credit to his beloved mentor Laguipie’re. It seems odd as this was (is) the custom in the culinary world. Carème is further quoted as stating, “The Roman cuisine was fundamentally barbaric.” This contributed to Careme’s celebrity status, as well as, lend credence to the refusal of the French to admit any Italian influence on their
cuisine. Still, despite Careme’s staunch personality, he is recorded as one of the most dynamic of all the culinary practitioners and authors of his time. He reveled with talent in the pastry arts as well as the culinary. He is credited for classifying sauces and reasons in his memoirs that speed of service is what prompted him to do so. He further remarks about the ignorant palates of those individuals who might dare to challenge him. Carème classified all sauces into what he called families, with a mother sauce at the head (Espagnole, velout’e, Allemande and béchamel), from which numerous derivations can made called small sauces. Careme’s crude system is noted as the very first system for sauce identification recorded and has become the basis for “the French sauce system.” Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935) seemingly also called the “King of Chefs, and the Chef of Kings,” is famous for several dishes. One of his most notable dishes was “Peches Melba,” created for the Australian opera diva, Nellie Melba. He penned numerous books, including “Le Guide Culinaire” and reorganized the sauce tree under the headings of Espagnole, velout’e, béchamel, Hollandaise and tomato. Said sauce structure has been taught in professional cookery for the better part of the twentieth century. Sauces in modern dining have become less and less important in American dining. They’ve especially lost the importance they once had in commercial kitchens. But a good restaurant can make it or break it over the quality of their sauces. One thing, that pisses off most great chefs is those people who request sauce on the side, or even worse, those who request to hold the sauce/no sauce please. You may as well stay home. This dinner ordering style may fly with Applebee’s or Denny’s. However, if you’re paying real money for real food at a real restaurant and you order your dish without sauce, you’re sadly missing the point. The sauce is there to complete the flavor profile for the painstakingly prepared dish. It’s that cohesive element that brings all the dish’s components together, to bring the flavors to the next level. Stock in French is “fond” which transliterates into the word “foundation.” The foundation to any great sauce or soup is a great stock. We can thank Archestratus of fourth century B.C. for this philosophy simplified into the “garbage in, garbage out” motto. Truly great sauces take time, good technique and a passion for understanding classical cuisine. There’s a common unwritten opinion among professional chefs, that if you can’t make a good basic stock, then you should probably stay out of the kitchen. 1. Sokolov, Raymond “The Saucier’s Apprentice”, (1985) by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, NY
2. Peterson, James “Sauces”, (1998) by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY
3. Larousse, David P. “The Sauce Bible”, (1993) by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY
4. www.freeculinaryschool.com periodic podcasts
3. Anything that adds zest, flavor or piquancy to something.” Culinary authors all seem to agree that there was once an insurmountable body of literature on the subject of cooking and gastronomy in ancient Greece. Although, little of it has ceased to survive, possibly due to the catastrophic fire that destroyed the library in Alexandria. However, amidst the written works which did survive was “Art of Cooking” compiled in Syracuse by Mithaecus in the fifth century B.C. In the fourth century B.C. a man known as Archestratus of Gela, from the ancient town of Sicily, traveled throughout the Mediterranean area as a self-proclaimed gastronomic philosopher. He curiously compiled his observations regarding the eating habits of other nations and set them to poetic verse. During this age sauces were more often thick, full of fat and used to smother ill-prepared dishes. However, I find it interesting that “Archestratus’s culinary style essentially called for …show more content…
lightness and simplicity. He only included the use of fresh, seasonal ingredients; minimal use of fat and salt; the revival of regional cooking styles; innovation and inventiveness; and light sauces, consisting of natural reductions prepared to order.” It’s easy to state that Archestratus was ahead of his time and so much for nouvelle cuisine and our current “new” and “lighter” cooking styles. An Imperial Roman by the name of Marcus Gavius Apicius
(80 B.C. – 40 A.D.) lived his life around and spent enormous amounts of money to indulge in rich tasting luxurious food and drink. During such time he commissioned and endowed a school for the teaching and promotion of cooking and culinary ideas. As Apicius’ expensive lifestyle dwindled, he decided that life would not be worth living without his gluttonous indulgences. Therefore, he threw one last feast in his own honor, where he ingested poison as the highlight of the celebration and died. Still it was because of his encouragement into culinary studies that culinarians have paid homage to him by naming cheesecakes and sauces after him. Said sauces are known as Apician Sauces. “The Book of Apicius” authored in the latter part of the third century has been called a gastronomic bible, consisting of ten different volumes and greatly influenced cooking styles on the European continent well into the seventeenth century. Marie Antoine Carème (1784-1833), known as "The King of Chefs, and the Chef of Kings" was an early practitioner and exponent of the elaborate style of cooking known as haute cuisine, the "high art" of French cooking.
It was a grandiose style of cookery favored by both international royalty and by the newly rich of Paris. Carème is often considered as one of the first, internationally renowned celebrity chefs. It’s noted that during Careme’s claim to fame, he never gave any credit to his beloved mentor Laguipie’re. It seems odd as this was (is) the custom in the culinary world. Carème is further quoted as stating, “The Roman cuisine was fundamentally barbaric.” This contributed to Careme’s celebrity status, as well as, lend credence to the refusal of the French to admit any Italian influence on their
cuisine. Still, despite Careme’s staunch personality, he is recorded as one of the most dynamic of all the culinary practitioners and authors of his time. He reveled with talent in the pastry arts as well as the culinary. He is credited for classifying sauces and reasons in his memoirs that speed of service is what prompted him to do so. He further remarks about the ignorant palates of those individuals who might dare to challenge him. Carème classified all sauces into what he called families, with a mother sauce at the head (Espagnole, velout’e, Allemande and béchamel), from which numerous derivations can made called small sauces. Careme’s crude system is noted as the very first system for sauce identification recorded and has become the basis for “the French sauce system.” Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935) seemingly also called the “King of Chefs, and the Chef of Kings,” is famous for several dishes. One of his most notable dishes was “Peches Melba,” created for the Australian opera diva, Nellie Melba. He penned numerous books, including “Le Guide Culinaire” and reorganized the sauce tree under the headings of Espagnole, velout’e, béchamel, Hollandaise and tomato. Said sauce structure has been taught in professional cookery for the better part of the twentieth century. Sauces in modern dining have become less and less important in American dining. They’ve especially lost the importance they once had in commercial kitchens. But a good restaurant can make it or break it over the quality of their sauces. One thing, that pisses off most great chefs is those people who request sauce on the side, or even worse, those who request to hold the sauce/no sauce please. You may as well stay home. This dinner ordering style may fly with Applebee’s or Denny’s. However, if you’re paying real money for real food at a real restaurant and you order your dish without sauce, you’re sadly missing the point. The sauce is there to complete the flavor profile for the painstakingly prepared dish. It’s that cohesive element that brings all the dish’s components together, to bring the flavors to the next level. Stock in French is “fond” which transliterates into the word “foundation.” The foundation to any great sauce or soup is a great stock. We can thank Archestratus of fourth century B.C. for this philosophy simplified into the “garbage in, garbage out” motto. Truly great sauces take time, good technique and a passion for understanding classical cuisine. There’s a common unwritten opinion among professional chefs, that if you can’t make a good basic stock, then you should probably stay out of the kitchen. 1. Sokolov, Raymond “The Saucier’s Apprentice”, (1985) by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, NY
2. Peterson, James “Sauces”, (1998) by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY
3. Larousse, David P. “The Sauce Bible”, (1993) by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY
4. www.freeculinaryschool.com periodic podcasts