Drench, dollop or dunk
Consumers might not consider them to be the most important of ingredients, but sauces and dressings actually play a major role in the construction, presentation and flavour of a dish. Chefs from across the region speak to Caterer Middle East about what makes these flavoursome additions such an essential element of a meal
From tomato to béarnaise to Caesar, sauces and dressing come in a wide variety of styles and flavours offering something different to each dish they complement. Whether as a topping, filling or dip, chefs rely on sauces and dressings to jazz up the simpler dishes on their menus.
Key ingredient
Chefs universally agree on the importance of sauces and dressings as part of a dish.
“They are crucial,” asserts Dusit Thani Dubai’s executive sous chef Gero Rio. “And the reason they are so essential is because they make a statement.
“As a chef I like to create and transform what is normal by making a difference with sauces and dressings — they can really make a dish,” he says.
Dubai Mall’s Assia in Wok Exotic Restaurant executive chef Iqbal Nurul agrees with Rio’s statement. “It is absolutely an essential component; it adds to the presentation of the food, taste, and aroma,” he comments.
“It adds appeal to the dish as a whole and excites the senses; plain dry food would not be nearly as appealing without any sauce or dressing with it.”
Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club executive chef Max Grenard agrees that such additions are important, but suggests that it depends on what dish the sauce is actually being served with.
“It’s purpose varies: it can be to bring additional flavour; it sometimes makes the dish more presentable; but it can also make it more moist and perhaps easier to eat,” he explains.
From a chef’s perspective, one of the great advantages that come with sauces and dressings is their creative value — as Coral Hotels and Resorts corporate executive chef Michel Miraton notes. “You can be quite innovative and use lots of different ingredients to make varied sauces,” he says.
“The thing to remember is that you have to have good basic stocks; this is the essential component and the main rule — good beef, chicken and fish stocks.
“Then you can add cream, or maybe saffron, caviar, blue cheese — lots of different ingredients are suitable for making good sauces, there are endless possibilities,” he comments.
Middle East origin
While dressings such as French vinaigrette and thousand island or sauces such as pepper, barbeque and mushroom remain immensely popular with guests at F&B outlets across the region, many diners do not realise that the Middle East is home to some truly great creations itself.
Popular sauces and dressings from the Mediterranean and the Far East are familiar to people all over the world, but the Middle East, with its rich array of spices and flavours can also claim to have a rich heritage of sauces and dressings.
Assia in Wok’s Nurul explains: “Kabsa is a blend of spices used to make al kabsa or al kabseh, a Saudi Arabian chicken dish.
“Toum is a traditional Lebanese dipping sauce that really packs a punch and goes perfectly with everything, from meat to bread — it contains only a handful of ingredients common to every kitchen and is quick and easy to make.”
Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club’s Grenard adds that the most popular sauces are tomato-based sauces, white sauces and gravy-based sauces. “These are all base sauces and by adding different ingredients to them they can become completely different concotions,” he adds.
Educated customer
The majorityof chefs, it seems, are the drivers of sauce trends themselves, rather than going with changes in customer preferences.
“Customers know what goes with what; they know vinaigrette goes with salads, mayonnaise-based sauces go with seafood and terrines, but really they only know the basics,” says Coral’s Miraton.
“They know it adds something to the dish, but not really the range of sauces that can be made or how many of them can make a dish — or ruin it if the right one isn’t used.”
The role of educating the customer with regards to sauces and dressings is the responsibility of the chef, and it is up to him to experiment and develop the market further, according to Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club’s Grenard.
“I think that the customer is educated, but we can educate them a little more,” he says.
“We have a wide range of dressings and sauces available, but generally the customer will request a classic type of sauce or dressing.
“We have to try and educate their palette more, but we tend to find that the customer is afraid of change.”
Unilever Food Solutions Arabia assistant brand manager Necip Camcigil says working with his customers in making new sauces and dressings is essential during the current economic woes, especially considering who they are.
“Our customers are chefs and in terms of making sauces from scratch I believe they are very educated,” he says.
“In terms of the products available to the market, chefs are aware to varying degrees on what’s out there.
“We try to communicate our own range regularly to our target market and we also devote a great deal of effort in informing chefs how our products can help them in their operations, especially at the moment where efficiency is more important than ever,” he explains.
Customer demand
Although customers might not be very adventurous when it comes to sauces or dressings they are not familiar with, it is still important for chefs to keep track of regional consumer tastes and thereby develop the appropriate new creations for the market.
Assia in Wok’s Nurul notes that lemon and olive oil dressings are very popular in the Middle East.
“Most of our Middle Eastern guests prefer sauces that are sour in taste and light in consistence; they don’t particularly like spicy flavours,” he says.
Dusit Thani’s Rio adds that regional customer preference also lies with local spices and cream based sauces.
“I do believe, however, that European sauces and dressings are popular in the Middle Eastern region,” he notes.
Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club’s Grenard suggests barbeque sauces are the most popular regional varieties.
“The most popular ones in my experience are the barbeque sauces — a category which generally includes béarnaise, pepper sauce and mushroom sauce,” he asserts.
“For the dressings, the popular regional favourites are tartare sauce, cocktail sauce and French dressings; and as for sauces with Middle Eastern origins there are saffron sauces and tahini sauces.”
Dusit’s Rio asserts that the region’s consumers are extremely particular about how their sauces and dressings are prepared and presented to them.
“We need to be ready to accommodate requests,” he says.
Rio also suggests however, that some customers are actually quite interested in thier sauces and dressings, and do want to try new creations.
“Customers here are very knowledgeable about global cuisine; they appreciate their cuisine so it is important to cater to their needs and exceed their expectations,” he asserts.
However Coral’s Miraton maintains that there are no major customer trends to accommodate when it comes to creating sauces and dressings.
“There are not too many trends in sauces really,” he says. “The sauce or dressing adds extra flavour and complements the dish; it is not always an essential component though.”
So where does this put the suppliers and what do they see as the main driving factors behind trends related to these meal-tiome staples?
According to Unilever’s Camcigil, consumers in the region are “far more interested in taste over health aspects, compared to other regions”.
“They have a strong tendency to indulge in great-tasting food, meaning heavier sauces and dressings with more salt are quite popular, especially in Saudi Arabia,” he reveals.
“However the UAE is slightly more health conscious when it comes to food choices and consumers have more sophisticated requirements when they look at dining out, so something original that perhaps involves fusion of different cuisines can also prove quite popular.”