Flavors to Increase Richness of Beef
Flavors that Sell: Matching Sauces with Meats
Matching Sauces with Meats
By John Koch
S auces are the ultimate vehicles for taking the ordinary to extraordinary. Sauces allow a chef or product designer more opportunities to work with flavor, texture and appearance than any other aspect of cooking. But, how do you determine which sauce is the right one for your specific meat dish? The answer lies in defining your objectives. Start by asking the following:
- Should the sauce be used to complement or contrast?
- Do you need to enhance the flavor of the meat or add depth?
- Is the menu or product line's ethnicity a consideration?
- Is there a particular flavor that is hot right now?
- Do you need to change color or texture?
- Who is the end user?
Complement or contrast
A sauce is rarely eaten alone; it is typically used to complement a food's natural flavor. Similarly when pairing with meat, sauces extend or enhance meat's flavor. A reduction sauce will complement the meat from which it is derived. On the other hand, a commonly used contrast of meats and sauces is using tangy horseradish as a balance to the richness of prime rib of beef.Enhance flavor or add depth
One consideration for designing a sauce for a particular dish is to match strengths. Think about this the way you would think about picking a wine to go with the meal. For instance, when pairing wine and food, you consider the relative strengths of each. Just as you would never pair a peppercorn-crusted strip steak or a garlicky ratatouille with a gentle white wine, you would not pair a powerfully flavored meat dish with a very delicate and subtle sauce. Instead, you would choose a sauce that enhances or extends the food's intrinsic flavor. Think about how other basic wine and food rules apply to pairing meat and sauce.Also remember that opposites attract. Consider a lightly sweetened sauce with a spicy food - as is often the practice in Asian cooking. Also, consider the richness or fat content of the meat. A citrus- or acid-based sauce or a mustard sauce offers the perfect balance to rich pork, beef, or lamb dishes. A luxurious butter or cream sauce can be used to enhance the flavor of a lean or drier cut of meat, such as pairing a sweet red-pepper butter with grilled swordfish or an exotic-mushroom cream sauce with veal.
Remember to pair a simple sauce with complex food: You don't want the entree and the sauce to compete for attention. As a rule of thumb, if the entree has complex flavors, then it would be wise to keep the sauce simple. For instance, an herb-and-garlic-crusted rack of lamb might be enhanced when served with a simple stock reduction. A complex sauce would be overkill. The reverse is also true. Simple meat is an opportunity for a complex sauce to be showcased.
Regional or ethnic affinity
If the product line or menu item is ethnic or regional in its origin, then serious consideration should be given to traditional flavors. For example, Southwestern items would pair well with pepper, citrus or mole sauces. To arrive at authentic Italian, items are often paired with the tomato-based sauces in southern Italian cuisine, whereas cream sauces are more often used in northern Italy. And who can overlook the multitude of regional barbecue sauces found here in the United States?What's hot or not
Don't overlook the obvious. If you have reliable information that a particular flavor or ingredient is in demand with consumers, use it to your advantage. Recent examples of hot trends in dining include roasted garlic, mesquite, Bourbon, smoked, portobello and fire-roasted anything. This doesn't mean that the previous guidelines don't apply, it just means it's okay to add a twist of creativity, such as a grilled veal chop topped with roasted garlic-enhanced demi-glace. Whatever you do, keep up with current trends; serving a dated sauce is like wearing a white tux in the winter - a huge food "fashion don't."Color and texture
Like pairing flavors and strengths, the same rules apply when considering color and texture. Enhance or contrast. Balance plain or light-colored food with a boldly-colored sauce. Viewing a white sauce on a pale-fleshed poached fish is boring.Contrasting textures also add excitement. Use a chunky sauce to provide texture where none exists.
Start with the end in mind
Remember to consider the skill level of the end user. For many applications, some preparation or assembly is allowable or even desirable as a method to help control the cost of the final product. However, in some situations, whether you're working with a time constraint or a skill constraint, only a ready-to-use product will do. Take the time to fully understand who will be preparing the product and how. Even if it won't ultimately change your final choices, you'll still get credit for understanding their needs.Remember the right sauce can make the meal and add tremendous value to the final offering.
John Koch , senior vice president of research and development, Applebee's, Overland Park, KS is responsible for menus, recipes and purchasing decisions for Applebee's nearly 1,200 restaurants worldwide. Prior to Applebee's, Koch served as senior vice president of food and beverage for Olive Garden Italian Restaurant, Orlando, FL.
Koch's professional career began when he lied about his age to get his first job as a restaurant cook at age 14 and "cooked" his way through school..
Koch relaxes by developing new recipes and cooking at home, reading food magazines and watching food shows on television.
Appropriately enough, his last name is pronounced 'cook,' and is the German word for cook.
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Source: https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/business-resources/flavors-sell-matching-sauces-meats#:~:text=Also%2C%20consider%20the%20richness%20or,%2C%20beef%2C%20or%20lamb%20dishes.
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