by C S Slockbower

Created on: April 05, 2007   Last Updated: May 04, 2007

One of the most important arrows a cook can have in his or her culinary quiver is the ability to produce a sauce. Sauces are to main dishes as icing is to cake.

Sauces can be created using a variety of methods, and no one method is necessarily preferable to another. Usually, though not always, the base for a sauce will include the drippings from the main course. For example, when roasting a turkey, fat and some juices from the turkey will accumulate at the bottom of the roasting pan. While you want to skim off the fat, you should retain the juices. Even more importantly, do NOT toss those brown, sticky bits at the bottom of the pan. They may look like ugly "goo," but they hold an enormous amount of flavor!

Whether you've roasted meat in an oven or seared it in a pan on the stove top, you'll want to recover those brown bits (called "fond") and the method is the same. After removing the meat from the pan, turn the burner to high. Then, pour in an quantity of liquid. The simmering action of the liquid will loosen the fond from the pan. As the liquid simmers, scrape the pan (be sure to use wood, nylon or other pan-friendly utensils if you are using a pan with a non-stick surface, as metal will damage the surface of the pan). Continue cooking and stirring until the fond has thoroughly melted into the cooking liquid.

The quantity and type of liquid you use in releasing the fond can vary depending upon the type, amount and consistency of the sauce you are creating, as well as personal taste. The most common liquids used are wine (be sure to use wine you enjoy drinking, not cooking wine which contains a higher concentration of salt and other imperfections which will effect the taste and quality of your final sauce), and broth or stock. Just about any liquid will work, including water, but remember that the flavor of the liquid used will blend with the flavor of the sauce. Water, having no flavor, adds nothing to the sauce. Much better, then, would be a liquid to compliment the flavor of the final dish.

The purpose of sauce reduction is to both concentrate flavor and thicken the original sauce. A watery sauce will run all over the plate and into other items you may not want flavored by the sauce.

Reducing a sauce refers to low-simmer, uncovered cooking for an extended period of time. Typically, a sauce should be reduced to the point that half or less of the original liquid remains. For example, if you begin with one cup of liquid, you'll want to simmer the concoction until

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