Sauces & Dips

Sauces and dips often play a decisive role not next to the main plate but within it; the right sauce can change the character of a dish. Tatonia has dozens of sauce and dip recipes; the leading ones include classic béchamel, tomato sauce, pesto (the Genoese classic), hummus, tzatziki, guacamole, tahini sauce, garlic yogurt sauce, a spicy sauce based on pepper paste, demi-glace and vinaigrette. In 1903, Auguste Escoffier systematized the category of five mother sauces (sauces mères): béchamel (milk-based, smooth), velouté (meat or chicken stock, pale white), espagnole (a dark brown sauce based on bone stock), hollandaise (an emulsion of egg yolk and butter) and sauce tomate (tomato). From these five sauces, hundreds of sauce types are derived through variations (for example: béchamel plus parmesan equals mornay; velouté plus fish, cream and garlic equals bercy). Dips are usually served cold and eaten with bread, crackers or vegetable sticks; sauces can be hot or cold, poured directly onto the plate or served alongside it. For hummus, the classic Israeli and Levantine recipe is: 50 g tahini per 100 g cooked chickpeas (the tahini ratio is high, which is critical for a creamy texture), lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and cumin. For pesto, the classic Genoese recipe (Verace Pesto Genovese, registered in 1865): fresh basil, Genoese olive oil, Sardinian parmesan, pecorino, pine nuts, garlic and coarse salt, with the mortar-and-pestle pounding technique as the classic (a blender blade brings out a bitter aroma). For vinaigrette, a 3:1 oil to acid ratio is the golden rule (olive oil with vinegar or lemon). This page offers a wide range, from the classic five French mother sauces to everyday yogurt dips, classic meze for dipping bread and pasta sauces.