Five-Star Sauces To Go
By Amy Schauwecker
Contributing Editor
Ready-to-use manufactured gourmet sauces permit shortcuts in the back of the house or in consumers’ kitchens while delivering consistent results. Photo: California Avocado Commission |
Gourmand connoisseurs are in drive-through lanes, wholesale groceries and cafeterias, demanding taste, sophistication and global flavors. This new generation knows the cuisine found in top-notch restaurants—it is no longer absurd to see kids dunking their fries into pear-satay sauce.
Foodies embedded in the U.S. population crave high-quality prepared sauces to accompany their meals. But how do these sauces reach the average consumer so easily? Food manufacturers cut preparation time out of traditional culinary methods to provide sophisticated processed sauces. Adding a prepared sauce to a common protein or starch can instantly transform the concept into a dish with high-end, ethnic, seasonal, traditional and/or healthful flair.
Defining the derivatives
Sauces can enhance a dish’s moisture, flavor, color and aroma as a marinade, dipping sauce, topping or garnish. Most sauces are held in a water phase as opposed to an oil phase. Many sauce varieties stem from five basic mother sauces: velouté, a blond, nonmeat, stock-based sauce; egg-based emulsion sauces like hollandaise; espagnole, a brown, meat and mirepoix stock-based sauce; béchamel, a white, cream-based sauce; and tomato, a red, fruit-based sauce.
Other core sauce variations include demi-glace, gravies, grilling sauces, marinades, salsas, ketchup and pastes. Processed sauces might be frozen, dry, refrigerated or shelf-stable. With most processed sauces, the end-user only needs to open the package and pour the sauce directly onto the meal, or add water or milk.
Federal authorities further classify manufacturer-processed liquid sauces depending on pH and water activity (aw). If a sauce has a pH of 4.6 or less and an aw greater than 0.85, it is considered an acid or acidified food under Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 114. Refrigeration during the entire process, distribution and storage exclude sauces from this clause. Although dependent on the nature of the formulation and end-storage-temperature conditions, acidified sauces are usually thermally treated to maintain quality and extend shelf-life, and to inhibit the growth of pathogenic microbes. Designers also use preservatives to prevent microbial growth. Under 21 CFR 113, sauces are considered low-acid foods if they have a pH greater than 4.6 and an aw greater than 0.85. One exception is tomato products with a pH less than 4.7, which are not classified as low-acid foods. Lowacid foods are vulnerable to anaerobic pathogens and generally require critical thermal processing to ensure safety and prevent spoilage.
High-quality preparation and presentation elevate a standard sauce to “gourmet” status. Processed gourmet sauces tend to have premium ingredients perceived in name as ethnic, exotic, natural, indulgent, contemporary, labor-intensive and/or fresh: fire-roasted pepper pesto, Oaxacan mole, fresh chimichurri, organic cremini mushroom foam, five-cheese Alfredo with apple-wood-smoked bacon, black currant chipotle barbecue, or sugarcane- sake glaze.
Streamlining the sauté pan
 Egg ingredients add rich, natural color and functional emulsification properties to a wide range of classic upscale sauce applications, including hollandaise and béarnaise. Photo: American Egg Board |
For example, in Mexican cuisine, smoked and roasted chiles go into traditional foods, says Jarrettbangs. “Jalapeños are ripened and roasted over smoky embers, then dried,” she says. “All of these different techniques create these flavors that are hard to reproduce in a food-manufacturing setting. Flavors simplify the manufacturing process and deliver authentic taste. Consumers crave complexity.”
Many consumers feel they deserve a little indulgence. Consumption of premium alcohol is on the rise, so it’s no surprise that sauces increasingly feature premium alcoholic ingredients. “Wines have always been associated with gourmet meals,” explains Joe Colucci, regional sales manager, Todhunter Foods & Monarch Wine Company, a subsidiary of Cruzan International, Palm Beach, FL. “Additionally, while white distilled vinegar won’t add that gourmet feel, a nice specialty vinegar, such as a redwine vinegar for an Italian marinade, or a rice-wine vinegar for the Asian finishing sauce, certainly would create the culinary distinction.”
A reduced-wine ingredient can save steps and add appeal. “With our wine reductions, we simply take a beverage wine and reduce it 10 fold with heat until there is no alcohol left in the product,” states Colucci. “What you are left with is a distinct and potent flavor profile that is attained exactly the same way a chef would do in a kitchen. It’s the quintessential way to upscale a product.”
Denatured alcoholic ingredients with salt also help manufacturers utilize restaurant-style ingredients, but without operator complexity. “Adding a French brandy, bourbon or dark rum to your product gives it the bite and mouthfeel that most consumers are only used to tasting in a homemade sauce,” explains Colucci. “The flavor is actually enhanced during processing. The only adjustment needed on our products pertains to the salt level in our denatured alcohols. We add the 1.5% salt to our cooking wines and the 3.0% salt to our spirits because the government then recognizes these products as food ingredients rather than beverages and, therefore, does not issue a federal excise tax.” Given that most formulas contain salt, the salt can easily be adjusted for in the final formulation, or it can be masked with another ingredient.
Amino acids found in monosodium glutamate (MSG) and yeast extracts are also effective flavor enhancers. Yolanda Werner, product and application development manager, DSM Food Specialties, Delft, the Netherlands, explains that several of the company’s primary-grown bakers- yeast extracts, which are high in naturally occurring guanosine-5'- monophosphate and inosine-5'- monophosphate, can improve sauce taste, umami, mouthfeel and balance by enhancing saltiness, sweetness and aroma, while masking bitterness, sourness, starchiness and other unpleasant tastes. They also save two to three hours of cooking compared to scratch-made sauces.
Another way to modify gourmet culinary techniques is to use concentrated vegetable and herb ingredients. “I see lots of trends going toward our culinary paste and purée,” explains Scott Adair, director of foodservice and new product development, SupHerb Farms, Brevard, NC. “These are great flavoring agents that could be added to sauces and sandwich spreads to create that gourmet flavor.”
Lookin’ and feelin’ fine
 Specialty sauces that include naturally brewed soy sauce can enhance the flavors of numerous applications—from appetizers to entrées. Photo: Kikkoman International, Inc. |
Popular colors in sauces include shades of brown, red and yellow. “Caramel colors have a strong growth rate with consumer demand for convenient, microwaveable foods,” says Merryweather. “Cooking a meatbased sauce on a stove or in an oven causes a natural Maillard browning to occur.” This is due to the reaction of simple sugars and amino acids from heating the product from the surface inward. “Meanwhile, in a microwave, meat is cooked from the inside out and becomes gray rather than brown. A Class III or IV caramel color used in the sauce, applied over meat, gives that rich, beef-brown color that people are accustomed to seeing from conventional cooked meat,” he explains.
Depending on the region, the world demands different types of caramel color to design sauces. “Caramel Class III is the most-popular color in Asia, because of huge demand in soy-based sauces. Barbecue sauces from southern U.S. states tend to use a reddish- brown Class III caramel-color shade,” explains Merryweather. Developers must watch the salt level in their formulation when using caramel colors. “Caramel colors are colloidal-charged substances and can react adversely by precipitating out into the bottom of a bottle or forming a neck ring. Some Class III caramels can work in a sauce up to 20% salt, but not all Class III caramels are stable in high-salt solution,” he cautions. Caramel colors come in liquid or powder form. “Liquid caramels are usually more economical than powders and are commonly used in sauces; however, the residual sugars allow the caramelization to continue so that the caramel becomes slightly thicker and darker, slowly, over time. In the absence of water, there is no continuation of the caramelization reaction in powders,” explains Merryweather.
Demand is rising for natural colors. “For example, elderberry color concentrate containing anthocyanins extracted from berries can give a sauce application that nice color pop,” says Merryweather. With natural colors, pH and processing temperatures play an important role. “At a low pH, anthocyanins from berries have a red color, but at higher pH they take on a purple tone. Elderberry works better in cold-processed sauces. When a product is heated, anthocyanins lose their intended color, especially above 100°C. Annatto and turmeric are also commonly blended for use in heated cheese-emulsion sauces for their thermal stability and yellow-orange color,” he explains. Annatto also has antioxidant properties.
Viscosity and mouthfeel are also important sensory characteristics of sauce. When sauce formulators are challenged with viscosity, simply adding pasteurized egg may be the solution. “Lipoproteins and lecithin naturally found in eggs makes them one of the best natural emulsifiers around,” explains Glenn Froning, Ph.D., food technology advisor, American Egg Board, Lincoln, NE. “Food manufacturers use nonshelled pasteurized eggs in processing, which also helps to increase viscosity.”
Pasteurized egg is available in number of formats. Depending on convenience and desired use, a manufacturer might choose 10% salted whole egg, 10% salted egg yolk, dry egg (for convenience) or egg white (for fat reduction). In sauces, 10% salted egg yolk is most commonly used. “The salt solubilizes and increases the emulsifying characteristics,” explains Froning. “Viscosity properties are also enhanced both by pasteurization and using egg that is frozen and thawed. Phospholipase-enzyme- modified egg yolk might be used as an alternative to help emulsification properties of the sauce. Lecithin is converted in the egg to phosphatidylglycerol.”
Gums and starches can also give a sauce more stability, suspension, consistency, thickening, shine, fatty mouthfeel and texture. These agents add solids to the liquid, trapping freeflowing water molecules in the sauce. Starch ingredients are selected for: their ability to be instant in a dry or cold-water application, hot-water swelling, thermal resistance, freeze/thaw stability and effect on appearance. Xanthan gum can give a sauce sheen, while guar gum serves well in creamy gravy.
Gums and alginates require quick addition using a high-shear mixer to disperse into the sauce slurry—but avoid aeration. Cross-linked starches are modified for stability in high-temperature, -acid and -shear conditions. These are also effective at withstanding moisture migration, or syneresis. However, they may also bind flavors; sometimes a blend of gum and starch or a less cross-linked starch may then be more appropriate. Certain modified starches also mimic the effect of fat on the palate. Maltodextrins can help with cling and clarity. Some pregelatinized starches can add pulpiness typical of a fruit-based sauce. Many choices exist, depending on the goal, and some combinations of gums and starches exhibit synergies.
Traditionally, chefs use flour as a sauce thickener, but regular wheat flour doesn’t stand up to the stresses encountered in processed-foods manufacture. However, National Starch Food Innovation, Bridgewater, NJ, has developed a line of natural, grainbased ingredients that maintains the positive attributes of traditional flours and expands their use in prepared foods. The line includes three functional wheat flours that can address regular flour’s functional shortcomings, such as lack of freeze/thaw stability, sensitivity to processing and poor cold-water thickening.
“Homecraft™ flours provide a homestyle appearance that you would typically expect from flour,” explains Leslie Drew, food scientist, National Starch. “Unlike starches, which tend to deliver sauces that are shiny and somewhat translucent, soups and sauces thickened with flour are more opaque. The flours also provide a rich, creamy texture, full-bodied mouthfeel and well-balanced flavor.”
The products are used at the same level as regular flour for similar viscosities. However, if additional viscosity is needed, Drew recommends using the flours in combination with the company’s functional native starches to maintain the label-friendly status. “The starch will provide the extra thickening required, and the Homecraft flour will provide the appearance, mouthfeel and texture of a flour,” she says. “Because they label as ‘starch’ and ‘flour’ respectively, this offers a consumer-pleasing label on the finished product.”
Getting fresh with nature
Another component of gourmet sauces is visible, high-flavor impact and distinguishable particulates, and additions that lend the perception of “freshly made from scratch.” John Walter, director of research and development, Unilever Foodsolutions, Lisle, IL, notices a shift in sauces from practical, basic flavors to contemporary expansion of the basic sauces. “Operators in the foodservice sector are not as reluctant as they once were to finish off a strong base sauce with fresh fine herbs, a dollop of cream or seasonal vegetables,” he notes. “Enhancing a solid base sauce that stems from one of the core five mother sauces helps restaurateurs to enhance and embellish flavors while advancing the value of the products delivered. For example, adding sun-dried tomatoes to a marinara base now may be described on a menu as, ‘Fresh, sun-dried tomatoes in a zesty marinara with a splash of extra-virgin olive oil.’ Expanding the basic sauces allows consumers and chefs to go outside of the box, become creative, explore new ethnic flavors, augment portion-controlled meals and feel good about themselves.”Individually quick-frozen (IQF) vegetables and herbs can save time in the plant. “Being that our herbs and specialty vegetables are precut, this takes out all the labor issues,” states Adair. “We freeze the herbs, and that locks in your volatile oils that create the great flavors in each herb. Fresh herbs are dying as soon as they are cut, because as the herb is dying, it is losing flavor. We lock in that great, fresh-harvested flavor. We have 95% of the flavor locked in. Fresh has 60% flavor, and dry has 5% flavor left in the herb.”
One technical note: The enzymes found in some IQF ingredients, like onions, require inactivation with either a thermal or acid blanch step to prevent flavor and syneresis in the finished sauce.
Processing conditions can sometimes be too harsh on certain fresh ingredients. “When you cook, process or hold ginger on a steam table, it diminishes and changes in character,” says Jarrettbangs. She notes that “fresh ginger flavor can help stabilize the product, deliver a fresh taste and meet consumer expectations. Consumers’ expectations are higher today. They are more in-tune with authentic, fresh taste. Another example of a difficult flavor to deliver in a fresh profile is cilantro. Ginger and cilantro cross from Asian to Latin cooking. Both cuisines are important at the moment, so the flavors are in high demand.” She continues by noting that cilantro flavor “can maintain fresh cilantro taste throughout the processing and holding time to deliver a great-tasting product.”
Organic and natural are also connected with processed gourmet sauces. “We have seen huge interest in our certified-organic products,” states Merryweather. Federal organic-labeling regulations have four categories for organic claims based on a product’s ingredient content, excluding salt and water (see Tech Support, “Inside Organic Ingredients,” in this issue of Food Product Design for more information).
Natural and fresh exhibit a clean label declaration and can also have a certain health connotation. When considering some of the biggest ingredient challenges that her customers face, Werner answers: “Reduction of sodium and calories and fat without sacrificing taste, and clean label. Clean/natural label, obesity, allergens, high blood pressure will remain issues in the near future.” Products in the marketplace are reflecting this statement. For example, a reduced-sodium soy sauce from Kikkoman International Inc., San Francisco, now has 37% less sodium than the standard variety.
“The growing foodservice arena is requesting more condiment sauces either in portion-pack or side-dish accompaniment and bulk dispensers, because their consumers want more freedom to choose their own portion, variety and nutritional fat, calorie, salt content,” says Walter.
Sauces that use fat replacers and contain additional functional health benefits may also be on the rise. Whole egg is becoming a substitution for hydrogenated fats in sauces. “Eggs are free of trans fats and also a natural source of choline, important in neurotransmission. Egg whites may have an application in functional food by treatment of hypertension,” notes Froning, citing a study that concluded egg white hydrolyzed with pepsin enzymes significantly decreased blood pressure in lab animals (Miguel, et al., British Journal of Nutrition, 2005; 94(5):731-737).
Scaling-up upscale
Processing time, order of addition, and temperature are all careful design elements in sauce processing. It is critical not to over-process a premium sauce beyond what is required for safety, quality and shelf life.The order of ingredient addition is always formulation- and process-specific. However, a basic rule of thumb is to first add water and preservatives to fully dissolve and disperse them without concern that any fat is coating them. The next step is to add dry ingredients. If some ingredients, like some yeasts, are known to clump in water, a preblend with other dry ingredients is suggested. Preblends also ease complexity on the plant mixing floor by consolidating steps. Next, add stabilizers such as, egg, gums and starch. Stabilizers may also require a carrier to prevent clumping. Concentrates, like tomato paste and purées come next. Add acids near the end, when the batch is nearly diluted, in case they react with other ingredients and cause them to precipitate, or denature. Finally, add particulates either at the beginning of the process if they need to be acid-blanched or at end, depending on how high the shear is on the mixing equipment. After the product is thoroughly mixed, the next step is fully dependent on the nature of the formulation, required foodsafety steps and processing equipment available. Effective product developers are always aware of their analyticals, like acidity, pH, Brix, moisture, aw, salt and viscosity, so they can determine the next appropriate processing step.
If a sauce is already designed to avoid the thermal step based upon acid, moisture, end-use conditions and/or desired shelf life, all that remains is to fill, pack and store at frozen, chilled or ambient temperatures. Product developers may try to formulate more-robust products that don’t require extreme thermal steps by controlling titratable acidity, pH, salt, Brix, moisture and aw. In some cases, product designers can hurdle standard processes with nonconventional technologies, such as highpressure processing of an acidified salsa, to extend the refrigerated shelf life. Most of the time, sauces cannot bypass the thermal step. The varieties of equipment to heat-process sauces can include kettles, heat exchangers, inline pasteurization, scraped-surface heat exchangers, HTST or UHT processing, or retort. Standard product filling for sterilization includes hot-fill and hold, aseptic fill, or hot-fill and cool.
The end use of the product determines the packaging. If the sauce is meant for a frozen prepared meal, it may be applied directly on top of the finished meal or portion packed. New technologies at Air Liquide America Corporation, Houston, include a recently introduced cryogenic process that applies a sauce coating to frozen food pieces and uses injections of liquid nitrogen to quickly freeze sauce layers. In other sauce-packaging formats, aseptic packing is going beyond the tin can. Tetra Pak, pop-ups and other packaging formats are flooding retail sauce markets. Additionally, sauces for restaurant use may be packed in a pouch retrofitted for the operator’s dispenser.
Nuts about these
Global influences and experimentation with ingredients that consumers didn’t grow up with in their homes are contributing to trends in gourmet-sauce development. Asian flavors from India, Indonesia, Thailand, China and beyond are contributing to premium sauce varieties. “We sell a lot of Latin- and Asian-flavored items—they are very popular now,” says Adair. “Asian has so many versions, whether it is Thai or French Vietnamese.”Consumers are also seeking comfort sauces with a twist. “The whole idea of adding sweet flavors to savory is based on traditional ethnic cuisine,” says Jarrettbangs. “Some current popular fruit flavors are plum, berry, pineapple, raisin, mango and citrus, which in combination with traditional savory flavors such as onion, beef, garlic and chicken, deliver complexity —as well as a familiar taste for consumers. In spite of flavor exploration from increased travel, Americans still like to have some familiar element in their foods. The sweet flavor of fruit can provide that familiarity.”
Another method for predicting trends is to frequent the hottest restaurants and see what the chefs are doing with sauces. For example, Daniel Olivella, executive chef, B44, San Francisco, describes his use of almond paste in sauces in the Oct. 3, 2005 issue of Nation’s Restaurant News: “We use lots of nuts, but almonds most of all. In the traditional cuisine, almonds are toasted and pounded in a mortar to use as a flavorful thickener for soups and sauces— it’s called picada.”
As U.S. consumers develop a palate for wider varieties of cuisine, manufacturers will develop sauces that allow restaurants and consumers to experience new flavors. Chefs may set the trend, but food scientists recreate this magic with sophisticated designs for the everyday user.
Amy Schauwecker has an M.S. in Food Technology from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She works on global business development projects at Unilever Foodsolutions in Lisle, IL. She may be contacted at
amyschauw@yahoo.com.
