🥫 Sauce Recipes — Homemade & Classic
Homemade sauce recipes — from simple tomato sauce to rich meat marinades. Make your dishes more delicious with the right sauce.
Green Fig Preserve (Sladko ot Smokini)
Bulgaria's spoon sweet of small green figs — blanched twice to draw out their bitter milk, then simmered in syrup with lemon until glassy and whole, and served by the spoonful with a glass of cold water.
Rose Petal Preserve (Sladko ot Rozi)
The preserve of Bulgaria's Rose Valley — petals of the oil-bearing Damask rose rubbed with sugar and lemon and cooked into a fragrant ruby syrup, made in late May when the roses are picked at dawn.
Homemade Wholegrain Mustard
Yellow and brown mustard seeds soaked for two days in cider vinegar and water, then half-ground with salt, sugar and turmeric — a coarse, sharp mustard that mellows over a week in the fridge.
Bulgarian Plum Jam (Marmalad ot Slivi)
The Bulgarian autumn plum jam — ripe blue plums cooked down for hours with little sugar into a thick, dark spread that won't run off the spoon, used to fill pastries and spread on bread all winter.
Dulce de Leche
The milk caramel of Argentina and Uruguay — milk and sugar simmered for over two hours with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda until reduced to a thick, deep-amber spread for alfajores, pancakes and ice cream.
Lemon Curd
The British teatime spread — lemon juice and zest cooked gently with sugar, eggs and butter into a thick, glossy curd for scones, tarts and pavlova, sharp enough to cut through cream.
Berry Coulis
A bright, pourable sauce of mixed berries cooked briefly with sugar and lemon and pushed through a sieve — the partner of cheesecake, panna cotta and ice cream, made from frozen fruit in winter.
Seville Orange Marmalade
The British breakfast preserve — whole bitter Seville oranges simmered soft, shredded and boiled with sugar to a set, the pips' pectin doing the work. January, when the bitter oranges arrive, is its only season.
Whipped Feta Dip
Greek feta whipped with thick yoghurt, lemon and olive oil into a light, salty cream, swirled into a bowl under chilli-warmed honey — the modern mezze dip, done in ten minutes.
Labneh
The Levantine strained-yoghurt cheese — salted yoghurt hung in muslin overnight until thick enough to spread, then finished with olive oil, zaatar and dried mint for breakfast or the mezze table.
Bagna Cauda
Piedmont's “hot bath” — garlic softened in milk, then melted with anchovies into olive oil and butter and kept warm over a flame at the table for dipping raw and roasted autumn vegetables.
Spinach and Artichoke Dip
The American game-day dip — spinach and artichoke hearts baked in cream cheese, soured cream, mozzarella and Parmesan until bubbling and browned, scooped up hot with tortilla chips or toasted baguette.
Honey Mustard Dressing
A sweet-sharp dressing of honey, Dijon and wholegrain mustard and cider vinegar shaken with olive oil — for green and chicken salads, and thick enough to double as a dip.
Dijon Vinaigrette
The French house dressing — Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and a shallot whisked with olive oil at three to one, sharp enough for bitter leaves and the base of a hundred variations.
Queso Dip (Chile con Queso)
Tex-Mex chile con queso — melted cheese in evaporated milk with jalapeño, onion and tomato, kept silky by a little cornflour and served hot with tortilla chips.
Thousand Island Dressing
The pink American dressing named after the islands of the St Lawrence River — mayonnaise and ketchup with chopped gherkins, onion and hard-boiled egg, for iceberg wedges, Reuben sandwiches and burgers.
Acılı Ezme
The fiery Turkish kebab-house relish — tomato, peppers, onion and parsley chopped with a knife almost to a paste and sharpened with pomegranate molasses, sumac and pul biber, served with grilled meat and warm flatbread.
Mojo Verde
The green sauce of the Canary Islands — coriander, parsley, garlic and green pepper pounded with cumin, vinegar and olive oil, spooned over salt-crusted wrinkled potatoes and grilled fish.
Mango Chutney
The sweet-sour Anglo-Indian preserve — firm green mangoes simmered with sugar, vinegar, ginger and nigella seeds into a glossy, spiced jam that sits beside curries, rice and cheese.
Sambal Oelek
The plain Indonesian chilli paste — fresh red chillies pounded with salt and a little vinegar, with no garlic or shrimp paste, kept in the fridge as the hot base for stir-fries, noodles and dipping sauces.
Pesto Rosso
Southern Italy's red pesto — sun-dried tomatoes, toasted almonds, basil and pecorino blitzed with olive oil into a sweet-sharp sauce for pasta, made in ten minutes from the store cupboard.
Sichuan Chilli Oil
The red oil of Sichuan cooking — oil slowly infused with star anise, cinnamon, bay and ginger, then poured hot over chilli flakes and Sichuan pepper so they sizzle, toast and dye it deep red.
Satsivi
The Georgian walnut sauce of the New Year table — walnuts ground with garlic, blue fenugreek and coriander and thinned with chicken stock into a pale, spiced cream, served cold over poached chicken or turkey.
Zacuscă
Romania's autumn jar — roasted aubergines and peppers cooked slowly with onions and tomato into a thick, smoky spread, put up in October and eaten on bread all winter.