Making a sauce that stands out!
Guest blog written by Da Whipp
In all of my years working in kitchens of all kinds, I’ve learned that making a memorable sauce is one of the most meaningful skills to cultivate.
Just the other day, I was making a gluten free mac’n cheese dish for friends that needed a vegan cheese vibe so I whipped up a variation of my classic Boss Sauce. It was a hit. They loved it so much that they were talking about it the next day, so I decided I should share my passion for sauce with you!
The key to creating a banger sauce is to care enough to go beyond buying pre-made jars and making it from scratch. Of course there’s great products in some stores, and I do buy them occasionally, but it usually comes down to either convenience or quality.
I’ve seen a lot of people over the years skimp on the sauce in dishes, and I think the main reason is because sauces usually have low quality ingredients that make people feel unhealthy. So there’s a guilty association with going heavy on the sauce. It’s like dressings on salads; the voice in the back of the head says, “whoa there, take it easy now”!
I’m going to share the basic recipe of my Boss Sauce with you. The flavor profile is unique, yet familiar. It’s usually a cross somewhere between Alfredo Sauce, Honey Mustard, or Thai Sauce. The tagline I came up with for it is, “Kick ass on everything!”
It’s a versatile sauce, so feel free to play around with it. Here’s the basic foundation and then I’ll offer some variations.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Tahini
1/2 cup Olive oil
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup Aminos
1/8 cup Lemon juice
1 Tbls Nutritional yeast
1 Tbls Honey
1 or 2 pinches of salt and pepper
I never measure ingredients and only go by intuition, so these amounts are approximate. Add all these to a bowl and stir. Or use a food processor. The end result should be fairly smooth.
Here’s something I often like to do that will give you more options when preparing this sauce for a variety of dishes. For each ingredient, I’ll usually combine a couple different ones. For example…
Tahini here could be a combination of tahini and either, almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower butter, and pumpkin seed butter, or all of these together. I find myself going with the tahini and almond butter combo most of the time.
Olive oil here could be a combination of olive oil, rice bran oil, liquified coconut oil, or any other liquid oil you prefer.
The vinegar could be balsamic, or something else, but I really prefer apple cider vinegar.
The aminos here is for that soy sauce flavor. You can use whichever one you have or prefer. That’s going to be, coconut aminos, Bragg’s liquid aminos, or soy sauce.
The lemon juice is optional, but I usually like to add some in if I have it, and the dish would be complimented by it.
Nutritional yeast is optional. Sometimes I add it, and sometimes I don’t. Again, if you think the dish would be complimented by it, then use it. For example, this mac’n cheese I mentioned at the beginning was vegan, so I went really heavy on it, so the dish had a cheesy flavor.
Sweetening this sauce is optional. Some people avoid sugars for various reasons. But I like to add a little sweetness in most sauces because a bit of sugar combined with savory, spicy, etc, adds a gourmet depth to a dish. A good local raw honey is always a good way to go. I really like combining maple syrup and coconut sugar too.
It’s my experience that when all of these different ingredients are paired with similar variations, the flavor profile is ultra enhanced and becomes full spectrum. The difference between using a single ingredient or pairing two or three can be just a subtle nuance, and might only be noticed on the subconscious level. But it’s little differences like this that can lead to the difference between a mediocre chef and a memorable one.
So remember, sauce doesn’t have to be subordinate to the salad or entree. It can be a main focus point, as a whole food unto itself. The key to a guilt-free saucy indulgence is using high quality ingredients that are real foods themselves. So when we mix them together into a smooth sum total that tastes so good, we can literally drink it or spoon it straight out of the jar.
Now I’ll be honest with you, I’m not going to give all of my trade secrets away to you for free here in my Boss Sauce recipe. But I will tell you one more thing that works really well in it. Spices.
I like to take some whole spices and grind them fresh in a mortar and pestle. Spices that compliment this sauce are ones like cumin and coriander. I also like to use powdered cayenne, chipotle, or paprika.
There are many more that pair nicely, but I’ll leave it to your imagination to play around with. And if you have any ideas of how you might improve this recipe, please feel free to share them with me.
Reach out if you have any questions. The True Food team is here for you, and we wish you and your loved ones all the best!
Contributed by David Whipple
David Whipple is a health strategist and digital nomad. He’s been experiencing lifestyle improvements for 20 years and loves to share his learning process. He also offers creative services on his website.