Thicken that sauce!
With most sauces and almost all types of sauce, you will need to use a thickening agent at some point. This can be one of several things.
The most widely used are starches of some kind, because they all have the quality of swelling in whatever liquid they are introduced into. But it is important to note that they also tend to behave differently.
Arrowroot, for example, has an interesting property. It tends to clear up any liquid it gets into.
This is great for fruit sauces, but may not be as effective with a meat-based sauce. It gives an artificial look in my opinion, although you may quite like it and if you like it, use it.
Starch compounds like arrowroot, cornstarch, and potato flour should be mixed with a cold liquid before adding to anything hot. They should be added little by little and allowed to cook for a while after each batch.
This should be done at the end of the preparation, because the thickening effect does not always last as well. Held in the heat, the liquids thickened by the starch tended to dilute again after a while.
Using flour
Don’t worry, the flour will make your sauce lumpy! As long as fat is present, the flour will behave on its own, and even if it doesn’t, it will mix with the sauce or gravy.
The best way to use it is as a roux or as a paprika. These are basically the same but are used in a slightly different way.
Both are a mixture of half flour and half butter (or another fat if you prefer) and both produce the same result: they thicken the liquids.
To make a roux
Put an ounce of butter in a small saucepan and bring to the cooking fire, then add an ounce of all-purpose flour and cook while stirring. The cooking time will depend entirely on the color you want to achieve.
The flour will darken with prolonged cooking, resulting in a more brownish sauce.
Once your mixture is the color you wanted, remove the skillet from the heat and add a half pint of broth while whisking vigorously.
Forget everything you have read about this process. The broth does not need to be cold, hot, or added little by little. Just knock it down and go. Then return the pan to the heat and bring it to a boil.
The resulting sauce should cook for at least two more minutes; otherwise it will tend to have a raw finish, thanks to a little raw starch. Just let it simmer, but cover it to prevent a skin from forming.
Even if one does form, you can usually remix it, and if not, strain it before serving.
Mania butter
Named after the chef who invented it, no one really knows how or why it works, but it works and is very effective if you need to thicken a large amount of liquid, or one that already has food cooking.
Using the same measurements as for the roux, the trick is to soften the butter a bit and mix it with the flour. Then, you drop small nuggets of this mixture into the thickening liquid and bring it to a boil while stirring.
As the flour cooks, it will mix with the liquid and thicken it.
Sweet sauces
A lot depends on the base of your sauce in the first place and whether you want it to be hot or cold. Fruit juices, for example, can be reduced by adding liquid glucose. This will produce a shiny sauce that is very stable when cold.
By stable, I mean that it won’t separate and won’t move around the board much, which is advantageous if you’re trying to produce a particular effect.
Hot sauces are often thickened with cornstarch or arrowroot. The latter will be clear while cornstarch produces a generally cloudy effect. Both should be added with caution. Overdoing it can produce a sauce that is practically inedible.
The rule of thumb is to add little by little, and if the mixture gets too thick, add a little more liquid.
Egg yolks, gelatin, and even cream can be used as thickening agents. Eggs, for example, are used as the base for all kinds of custards, including things like lemon meringue pie.
Again, you need to experiment and see what suits you best. A sauce that is very runny when hot, however, can become thick and sticky as it cools.
Caramel sauce is a good example of this. It is simply a reduction of sugar and water in which the cream is added just as it starts to turn brown. If allowed to cool, it will look, behave and taste much better than bottled caramel topping.
Vanilla sauce is somewhat similar. I make mine with three egg yolks beaten with 2 ounces of sugar, on which I pour 250 milliliters of hot cream. Then it is cooked to the required consistency, without boiling, and a few drops of vanilla essence are added.
For special events I use a vanilla bean instead of the essence. A classic example of using egg yolks as a thickening agent.
Be inventive
As time passes and you gain more experience, you will find yourself developing your own techniques.
Try to think outside the box. For example, why not thicken a lamb sauce with red currant jelly? Or even a mix of mint sauce and jelly (yes, it really works).
Remember, whatever you are trying to do, only you know whether or not you have succeeded. So the consistency of the sauce you serve is exactly the same as it should be when it comes to your guests. Don’t make yourself feel like a failure by apologizing for it.
If it looks good, tastes good, and complements the food it is served with, it has done its job brilliantly. Who cares if it’s a little thin or if you can cut it with a knife? There will be people who like it either way and both ways.
The secret is not to reveal it. Cook it in style, serve it in style.
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