Allen Gary J. - Sauces reconsidered: après Escoffier

Sauces Reconsidered

Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy

General Editor: Ken Albala, Professor of History, University of the Pacific ()

Rowman & Littlefield Executive Editor: Suzanne Staszak-Silva ()

Food studies is a vibrant and thriving field encompassing not only cooking and eating habits but also issues such as health, sustainability, food safety, and animal rights. Scholars in disciplines as diverse as history, anthropology, sociology, literature, and the arts focus on food. The mission of Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy is to publish the best in food scholarship, harnessing the energy, ideas, and creativity of a wide array of food writers today. This broad line of food-related titles will range from food history, interdisciplinary food studies monographs, general interest series, and popular trade titles to textbooks for students and budding chefs, scholarly cookbooks, and reference works.

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Sauces Reconsidered: Aprs Escoffier , by Gary Allen

Sauces Reconsidered

Aprs Escoffier

Gary Allen

Rowman & Littlefield

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Published by Rowman & Littlefield

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Copyright 2019 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Allen, Gary (Gary J.), author.

Title: Sauces reconsidered : aprs Escoffier / Gary Allen.

Description: Lanham, Maryland : the Rowman & Littlefield, [2019] | Series: Rowman & Littlefield studies in food and gastronomy | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018029461 (print) | LCCN 2018032723 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538115145 (electronic) | ISBN 9781538115138 (cloth : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Sauces. | SaucesHistory. | Escoffier, A. (Auguste), 18461935. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX819.A1 (ebook) | LCC TX819.A1 A37 2019 (print) | DDC 641.81/4dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018029461

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

For my wife, Karen Philipp, who is saucy in a good way.

Acknowledgments

I t would be unthinkable not to thank Harold McGee for doing so much to make the science of the kitchen accessible to cooks. More than anyone else, he stripped away the untested assumptions and accepted facts about what we do when we cookand replaced them with methods that actually work (and explained why they work).

Nor can I omit my friend Robert DelGrosso, since this book grew directly from conversations we shared when we both worked at the Hyde Park campus of The Culinary Institute of America (The CIA). Bob is one of those rare individuals who combines scientific outlook and artistic ability with a broad knowledge of the humanitiesand manages to bring all that experience into the kitchen.

Speaking of The CIA, the Conrad N. Hilton Library and its wonderful staff have been generous (and patient) with their time and knowledge. Ive availed myself of their largesse many times, for most of my books and several of my articles, and Im immensely appreciative.

Ken Albalamy editor, collaborator, and friendhad faith in this project when it was little more than an idea. He and the rest of the production staff at Rowman & Littlefield, especially Suzanne Staszak-Silva and Patricia Stevenson, have literally made this book what it is. That said, it is only fair to admit that any errors, egregious blunders, and unforgivable oversights encountered herein are entirely my own contributions.

Introduction

W hat is a sauce? Everyone knows the answer, right? Its that fluid substance we pour over our food to make it taste better.

Naturally, the real answer is a bit more complicated (or this book could be reduced to just those last fourteen words) and poses some interesting questions. For example, some of those fluid substances are by-products of the cooking process that serve to reinforce the flavor of the main ingredient ( jus and pan gravy are familiar examples), while others are made separately and provide a culinary counterpoint to the primary ingredient. The latter include, among others, the marinara that coats a pizza, the hollandaise atop eggs Benedict, and a vast array of condiments, either freshly prepared or commercially madefrom mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise to Worcestershire and sriracha .

Then there is the question of viscosity. How much viscosity is too much? When does a sauce cease to be a sauce and become better described as a paste? And what if an ingredient, like Chinese sesame pastewhich is more solid than Middle Eastern tahiniis thinned with other, more liquid ingredients to make something that is clearly sauce-like? Does that make it a kind of proto sauce?

Still more issues add complexity to the discussion: How does the intended usage of one of these flavorful liquids affect its position in a hierarchy of sauces? Where do we even place the sauce relative to other foodstuffs? Do we pool it under, pour it over, mix it thoroughly throughout, serve it on the side (in condiment bottles or little bowls of dipping liquid), or even encapsulate it inside (like the agar-covered pearls of molecular gastronomy or Shanghai-style soup dumplings)?