Sauces help you stay one step ahead in keeping up with menu extension trends

“There is a massive focus on sauces right now across both foodservice and retail as the flavour carrier of the meal,” says consultant chef Adam Moore. “There’s really been a big shift from manufacturers not just in the ingredients of sauces but in the heat level they generate. We’re seeing a lot of chilli-based products now – not just with the obvious ingredients like jalapeno peppers but also ones you mightn’t have heard of like hot honey – honey spiced with chilli – and spicy maple syrup.

“There’s also a lot of black garlic sauces coming onto the market, which have a strong umami flavour, along with gravies and mayos. Fermented citrus is also popular – black limes and calamansi are great for imparting a bit more tartness to round out salty meals which would otherwise be a little bitter.”

Adam adds Japanese style sauces are becoming widely used – “sesame and wasabi are trending flavours, and again that evokes the umami flavour.”

A relative newcomer in this space is sauces which utilise smoked spices along with complementary ingredients including smoked yoghurt and smoked butter. “These are ideal as your base for the sauce component of the dish,” Adam points out. “New Zealand had smoked butter 15 years ago and now we finally have it here – you can make a fabulous lamb ragout with smoked yoghurt, and you’ll find that its flavour will cut through the fattiness of the dish.”

Native Australian flavours are also starting to predominate, especially in the plant-based category: “We’re seeing lots of vegan and vegetarian style sauces coming through, and they’re really ramping up the flavour – the sauce seems to be becoming the hero of the dish, whether it’s a gravy or a mayo, or the hardier style sauces. In the sweet sauce space, we’re moving away from chocolate and salted caramel and towards caramilk – caramelised white chocolate sauce. I’m not seeing as many berry sauces nowadays but recently I have seen matcha dressing for pancakes, which is the Asian influence coming through.”.

Also trending right now, Adam reports, are coffee-based sweet style dressings – “fruit salad with a coffee essence rather than balsamic vinegar. And a lot of buttery sauces are moving into the dessert space.”

Ready to use products help reduce waste and minimise cost

Nor is it necessary to prepare sauces from scratch, as chef Peter Wright points out. “In the old days you’d go to make a classic sauce using bone stock and have to do a reduction to make a glaze, which takes a lot of skill and time. But nowadays there are so many good ready to use products available now from the major suppliers, which is a big time-saver in the kitchen.”

An example is new Maggi RTU (Ready to Use) Gravy from Nestlé Professional which comes in a one litre squeeze bottle and has been designed to simplify back of house preparation and reduce service time, without compromising on quality or taste.

“As gravy is a favourite finish for many dishes, the new MAGGI Gravy RTU is an excellent time-saving solution for smaller kitchens who are short on time, skills and preparation space,” says a Nestlé Professional spokesperson. “It pairs perfectly with chips, beef or chicken rolls or even the classic meat pie! This locally made gravy is bain-marie stable and microwaveable, so it easily works within your kitchen’s needs. It’s also gluten-free so you can serve it to a wider variety of customers.”

This innovative product is part of a broader range of Maggi RTU sauces including popular flavours like Korean Barbecue and Hoi Sin, all of which come in squeeze bottles.

“Given the current shortage of skilled labour in foodservice, many businesses have recognised the need to streamline operations and simplify the menu so as to reduce complexity in meal preparation,” points out the Nestlé Professional spokesperson. “This is where our RTU products can be a big help in ensuring you always have the right ingredients on hand.

“They’re compactly packaged, they’re versatile and they can help you reduce costs and minimise waste while speeding up back of house preparation and cut back on service time – which is particularly important given the increase of takeaway and home delivery orders over the past 12 months.”

Peter Wright adds, “Products which allow you to add your own finishing touches are a great boon for busy chefs. You can put your own stamp on something, with your own saffron sauce or cocktail sauce – often you only need to use a good base and add a little mustard or lemon juice. With a good base product I can make 10 different sauces in five minutes.

“The fact is that there are staff and skills and time shortages and we’re making everything just in time at the moment. But the customer still wants consistency, so you need to start with a great base and then build consistency into the recipe as well.  

“It’s the same for sweet sauces – choose a great base sauce and you’ll find you can thin it down a little, or add some vanilla paste to get a bit of variation. There are some terrific custard sauces on the market right now. And don’t overlook good old-fashioned cream – whipping and flavouring cream can deliver some great results and everybody loves it! Pancakes with whipped cream and vanilla coulis will always sell well – it’s a cheap cost of goods and not a headache for the chef.”

And as customers continue to seek out more exotic flavours, the range of base flavours available from suppliers is ever-widening. An example in the Knorr World Cuisine range from Unilever Food Solutions, which consists of 16 sauces covering international flavours including American, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian and Italian. While the Chinese and Italian ones are more along the lines of cooking sauces, with the latter range including such traditional favourites as parmigiana, napolitana and bolognese, the American selection features contemporary flavours like Chipotle BBQ and Tomato Chilli Relish. The biggest seller in the range, Mexican Mild Chunky Salsa, is ideal for dipping with corn chips or serving with tacos and jacket potatoes.

“They’re all gluten free and we’ve worked hard on the taste to ensure each one was just right. The aim is always to deliver an authentic flavour profile – for example, the Napolitana sauce is 95 per cent tomatoes,” says Unilever Food Solutions Corporate Chef Andrew Ballard.

“For our Asian range, we reached out to our chefs in China to get their input on the flavour profile – we have about 250 chefs worldwide working in Unilever so we’re able to bring in products from overseas and look at how we would adapt them to meet the requirements of the Australian market.”

Rich wine-flavoured sauces back on the menu

As we head into the cooler months, comfort foods like hearty stews are back on the menu, as are rich wine-flavoured sauces and slow-braised marinades for chicken or duck confits, especially in the busy club and pub sector.

ALH Group National Executive Chef Gary Johnson tells us, “One of my favourites is a beautiful Argentinian style sirloin with caramelised onion on the bottom, a little balsamic sliced sirloin over the top, and chimichurri sauce to go down the middle with a red wine jus on the side. You get the spiciness and saltiness of the sauce mixed with the sweetness of the onion and the richness of the jus.

 “The other sauce that comes to mind especially when you think of grilled steaks is classic bearnaise, which is a good add-on especially if it’s made well. And of course you can add your own signature touches – I might take a readymade bearnaise sauce but then I’ll add a bit of my own melted butter, a cup of tabasco, a couple of drops of Worcestershire and hey presto, I've got a distinctive sauce that I’ve pimped with a few spicy touches that I can call my own.”

On the sweet side of sauces, Gary says salted caramels and rich chocolate sauces are still big sellers in pubs – “and once again coming into this time of year there are the butterscotch sauces to go with the rich sticky date puddings.

“We’re also serving fried donuts rolled in caramel and popcorn, beautiful short crust winter fruit pies, like apple and rhubarb with a delicious vanilla custard creme anglaise - those classics never really go out of fashion.

“As we approach the autumn and winter months you'll see a lot of those coming back along with the comfort foods we've had growing up as well. We’re also planning to add some nice roasted fruits with agave syrups to the menu, or rich roasted pears served with pistachio and walnut ice cream on the side, then drizzled with maple syrup or port wine glaze.”