William Penn Life, 2006 (41. évfolyam, 2-12. szám)

2006-03-01 / 3. szám

The Hungarian Kitchen

with Főszakács Béla

Simple sauce making

FÁRADJON BE A MAGYAR KONYHÁBA.

This year is really moving fast but I'm not complaining. We are getting closer to warmer weather, gardening and golf. Yes, I know the groundhog saw his shadow, and we still have plenty of winter left, but I'd rather think warm thoughts!

This past weekend the flu bug caught me along with a major snowstorm in the northeast, and I never made it to Detroit and the White Rose Ball. I'm sure a good time was had by all. Next year I will try again to make this fine event.

Speaking of fine events, this year marks the 120th anniversary of the William Penn Association. Congratulations on 120 years of helping Magyars help themselves through fellowship and fratemalism and strong family values. It's a great feeling being part of a fine organization like the William Penn and having the opportunity to make a difference by being fraternal. I tip my chef's hat to you all!

Over the last two months we learned about noodles and pasta, how they are made and how you can make your own. I hope you enjoyed the recipes and tried them all. Homemade fresh pasta is a very tasty and

Practical Pointer

When making any pie or Danish pastry that has butter in the recipe, use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to combine the ingredients instead of using your hands.

Your hands add warmth to the mixture which will melt the butter creating a situation where the dough will not rise into layers. Utensils stay cool when mixing, allowing the butter to layer in the dough which will create layers in the finished product

nutritious meal. To complement a great pasta or noodle dish there is nothing better than a tasty, flavorful sauce. Without further hesitation let's get cooking and learn about sauce making.

SAUCES are flavorful liquids designed to accompany food in order to enhance or bring out its flavor. This liquid can be hot or cold. Sauces are a significant part of cooking and play an important role. They may complement a special dish, add color and flavor or just enhance an entrée.

There was a time, however, when sauces were used to hide the taste of foods that were starting to spoil. Before proper refrigeration was available, sauces were used to mask foods beginning to turn sour. Since food was (and often still is) an expensive commodity, you could use a sauce to help cut your losses. Yes, I'm sure we all have experienced finding food about to spoil and throwing it out.

The French refined the art of sauce making. Chef Antonin Careme was the father of the "mother sauces," classifying them into five categories. Each category is called a "Mother Sauce" because from this basic mother sauce we can make many more sauces. The mother sauces are:

1. ESPAGNOLE, which is a brown stock based sauce;

2. VELOUTE, a white stock based sauce;

3. BECHAMEL, which is milkbased;

4. ALLEMANDE, an egg-enriched sauce; and

5. EMULSION, which is a mixture of two mutually insoluble liquids such as oil and water. Emulsions need to be stabilized with certain ingredients, like egg yolks or mustard.

Basically speaking you need a

good base to make a good sauce. You wouldn't build a house on a weak foundation or in the middle of a lake. Think of sauce making as having a solid base, platform or scaffold you can work from to continue building or making a superior sauce for your meal. Some sauces are used to moisten food, tenderize meats and bind ingredients together. Sauces may be served hot or cold, alone or with food. They may be savory, sweet or sweet and sour. They may be very simple or complex with many ingredients.

GRAVY is a type of sauce that is made with specific ingredients. Gravy is made from meat juices usually combined with other flavored liquids and a thickening agent. It could also be the simple juices left in a pan after meat has been roasted or cooked.

Okay, let's review what we have learned so far. To make a sauce you need a very good base that is flavorful. You then need a thickening agent to bind your sauce together. Some of those thickening agents can be dry or in powder form. Here are the most common thickening agents, or FLOURS, used in sauce making.

• CORNSTARCH is a fine ground com product that is gluten free. It has a light, smooth texture and produces a velvety, smooth, lump-free sauce. Very popular in the kitchen and most suitable when you're thickening sweet or white sauces and those that coat foods.

• ARROWROOT is a ground powder that comes from the root of a tropical tree in South America. It produces a smooth clear, translucent appearance to sweet or savory sauces. It does not change the color or the flavor of the sauce it is added to.

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William Penn Life, March 2006