1.6: Cold Sauces, Salads, and Sandwiches
- Page ID
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What do sauces do for a dish? In short, sauces add color, texture, sheen (shine), moisture, and flavor. Sauces should complement rather than clash with the food; likewise, they should not overpower the food. If you cannot taste the dish because the treatment is overwhelming, it is a failure. Here is an example. We know that white pepper is strong and a little bit goes a long way. If you make a béchamel sauce and go too heavily on the white pepper, you have a white pepper sauce. Your tongue cannot taste the smoothness of the cream or the sweetness of the onion pique. The challenge we face in Cajun and Creole cooking is to balance the spices to accentuate the food and not mask it.
Sauces Relating to the Garde Manger
- Cold emulsion sauces- vinaigrettes and mayonnaise
- Dairy based sauces and dressings
- Contemporary sauces- foams and international
- Salsas
- Coulis and purees
- Coating sauces - aspics and chaud-froid
- Miscellaneous sauces - Cumberland, horseradish, mignonette
Cold Emulsion Sauces
When we make an emulsion sauce, we are combining two polar opposites that do not blend easily. Think of oil and vinegar; they separate right? We need something to stabilize the two so that they can mix. We often do this with Dijon or whole grain mustard, honey, and spices. When making mayonnaise, a little mustard in the vinegar agitated by the whisk will begin the basis of an emulsification allowing minute amounts of oil to be taken in by the vinegar. The same thing happens with a vinaigrette.
There are two types of emulsions- temporary and permanent. If you walk down the grocery isle where the salad dressing are, you will see vinaigrettes and Italian dressing that seem separated into two distinct levels. Shake one up and see that it combines for a while and then separates again. This is a temporary emulsion. Others seem to stay homogenous the entire time. These are known as permanent and have adjuncts like agar or guar gum to keep the ingredients in suspension.
Making a Basic Vinaigrette
As a general rule use one part acid to two or three parts oil when making vinaigrettes. The acid can come from vinegar, apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, sherry vinegar, and or citrus juices. The key is to find a balance of flavor where the oil does not overpower the acid with richness. Sometimes this is achieved aside from the simple ratio by adding stock, water, or sugar.
Once the dressing is made dip a bite of lettuce in and taste until you have the right combination. As with all salads presented in fine dining, dress the greens prior to service and lightly so all the greens are coated but without dressing pooling on the plate.
Making an Emulsified Vinaigrette
Use the same ratios as with basic vinaigrettes, but create a stable emulsion with the addition of adjuncts that will help to keep the emulsion in suspension. Chefs often use egg yolks, mustards, purees, garlic, herbs, honey, or even glace to achieve this. Follow these simple steps when making an emulsified vinaigrette.
- Place the acid, emulsifier (egg yolk, mustard, etc.), seasoning (salt, pepper, dry herbs) in the mixing bowl. (If using fresh herbs wait until service time to add).
- Whisk these ingredients to dissolve the salt and start the emulsion.
- Slowly drip the oil in as you whisk. As the emulsion forms, you may increase the stream gradually but only whisk while adding oil. Whisking alone does no good to the dressing and can cause graying from bowl friction.
- Add any garnishes and check for seasoning by tasting. Refrigerate for service.
Making Mayonnaise
Exercise care when making mayonnaise to avoid cross contamination and time temperature abuse. Remember that each yolk can handle 6-8 ounces of oil. The addition of a little water to the yolks can facilitate the absorption of the oil by the yolks. As with vinaigrettes, add the seasonings before the oil to help with the dissolving of the salt. Follow these steps.
- Select your mise en place- oil, yolks, lemon juice, Dijon, water, oil and salt.
- Place the yolk or yolks into the mixing bowl with a teaspoon of water per yolk.
- Add the salt and a squeeze of lemon juice and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.
- Whisk this until an emulsion starts.
- Slowly drizzle the oil as you whisk.
Tips: The ingredients should all be the same temperature. A wet towel, spun like a whip and tied into a circle will hold the bowl still while you use one hand to whisk and the other to drizzle oil. The more water you add, the whiter the mayonnaise will turn and the more oil will absorb for larger quantities. If the mayonnaise is too thick for your purpose, it can be thinned with acid or water. Mayonnaise can serve as a base and can be varied by the addition of a wide variety of flavors. Store mayonnaise under refrigeration and keep on longer than seven days.
Other sauces such as chaud froid and aspic will be covered later when the subject of terrines, pates, and galantines are made in lab.
Refer to course handouts and or recipes provided by your instructor via the LMS (Learning Management System) ex. Moodle®.
Salads - Green Salads, Side salads, and Composed Salads
Green Salads
Just as the word ‘sausage’ comes from the Latin, salsus, so too we owe the Romans for our word for salad. If fact salads made classically are always salted. Today we enjoy a great diversity of salad greens and styles. Commercially cut, bagged, and mixed salad greens have dominated the market for years. Just remember to rehydrate these greens in a chilled water bath and spin them before holding in the cooler. This will refresh the greens and make for a crisp salad verses a limp dull one. Still there are options for chefs today.
- Delicate or mild greens- red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, iceberg, Boston, and romaine lettuce
- Bitter greens- escarole, frisée, arugula, watercress, mache, radicchio and endive
- Peppery or spicy greens- watercress, mizuno, tot-soi, amaranth, and mustard greens
- Prepared mixed greens- Mesclun mix, Field Mix (baby mix), Romaine and iceberg blends with or without color (the addition of shredded carrots and red cabbage) Oriental mix
- Herbs and flowers (edible)
- Micro greens- especially used for garnish
Caring for Salad Greens
- Wash lettuce greens, but be careful. Often gently plunging them into a chilled water bath will allow dirt and grit to fall away to the bottom. Be certain to remove any remaining ice particles left behind so they do not melt in the plate of bowl later.
- Dry the greens completely to remove excess water and aid the dressing in clinging to the greens. Use the large spinners for sturdy hearty greens and the smaller hand spinners for the delicate greens.
- Store in the cooler with a moist covering to stay crisp, being careful not to weight down. Keep fluffy and use within two days.
- Remember that cutting often leads to discoloration, especially with commercial cutters. Tearing is preferred but is a matter of preference.
Dressing Salads for your Guests
Mise En Place - Mixing bowl, salt, greens, garnish, dressing, serving vessel
- Place a portion of salad greens in the mixing bowl and lightly season with salt.
- Drizzle a small amount of dressing over the greens- 2oz. greens to ½ or ¾ oz. dressing.
- I prefer to use gloved hands to lift and toss the greens so that all the leaves are lightly coated with the dressing. Place on the serving vessel.
Garnish Options
- Seasonal vegetables
- Textured components like crackers or croutons or baked vegetable chips
- Toasted nuts and or dried fruits
- Shaved cheese
- Micro greens
Side Salads
Side salads are made with a wide variety of ingredients from legumes, grains, pastas, fruits, and vegetables. They offer the chef a palate to create choices that can cater to international flavors or offer a direction into nutritional requirements.
Side Salad example: Flickr
Legume Salads
It is important to note that different bean varieties cook at different rates and you should account for this by cooking beans separately. Cook them until they are tender and have a creamy center when tasted. Try to dress legume salads no more than a few hours before cooking, as they tend to become tougher in vinaigrette dressings. Perhaps you could use a batch method and prepare smaller quantities of dressed legumes as needed so that if any are leftover they may be used the next day without ill effect of resting in the dressing too long.
Potato Salads
In the Deep South, we enjoy an American style creamy potato salad made with copious amounts of mayonnaise and or mustard. Often boiled eggs, pimentos, and sometimes finely diced onions and celery can be found in potato salad. It is a favorite in the Bayou Region of Louisiana with gumbos and stews served also with rice. Remember when boiling the potatoes that waxy varieties hold their shape better than starchy varieties so monitor their doneness during the cooking process.
Be open to trying recipes for potato salad that have their roots in Europe also because they offer a variety of delicious options to expand your palate and culinary repertoire. Most of these utilize a vinaigrette, are dressed, served warm, and are especially delicious with German dishes.
American and German Potato Salads- Commons.Wikimedia.org
Pasta and Grain Salads
Grains and pastas should always be fully cooked but not overcooked. Al dente is good when making a pasta dish but not a salad. Pastas and grains will absorb the dressing readily and therefore you may need to re-dress the salad if serving leftovers later.
Pasta salad and grain salad of couscous and bulgur- commons.wikimedia.org
Fruit Salads
Use care when making fruit salads. Certain fruits oxidize and turn brown; avoid this by using acidulated water or lemon juice on fruits like apples once they are sliced. Learn the supreme cut when using citrus so that the flesh of the fruit gives its best presentation and is absent of pith. Remember that fruit salads are highly perishable so the batch production method will avoid loss of product and food cost.
Several herbs are complimentary with fruit; they include basil, tarragon, lemongrass, and lemon verbena. Taste and create your own dish.
Fruit Salad-commons.wikimedia.org
Composed Salads
Composed salads are carefully arranged salads that often have a protein element. We see them mostly as entrée salads today and a favorite seen all the time is a grilled chicken salad. Above the Salad Nicoise features tuna that is lightly seared and served with blanched haricot verts, tomatoes, olives, boiled eggs, potatoes and a vinaigrette. Be careful to utilize color well, offer complimentary components, and make you composition pleasing to the eye.
A composed salad classic- Salad Nicoise (French) Commons.wikimedia.org
Refer to course handouts and or recipes provided by your instructor via the LMS (Learning Management System) ex. Moodle®.
Sandwiches
John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich- Wikipedia
We owe the sandwich to John Montague, the fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1782). The Earl was an infamous gambler who in an effort to keep his winning streak going, ordered his servant to fill some bread with meat. Webster’s Dictionary defines a sandwich as two or more pieces of bread with a filling in between. Today the sandwich has come a long way from salted meat between two pieces of bread. We now see a sandwich as an edible encasement, usually starchy in nature and filled, keeping the fingers clean while holding the other components together.
At the very base of ‘sandwich types’ there are hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches, and finger or tea sandwiches. Today, we have a modern approach to sandwiches that includes:
- Multi-decker sandwiches- like the classic Club Sandwich
- Open faced sandwiches- like the Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwich
- Tea of Finger sandwiches
- Wraps
- Mini or Slider sandwiches
Examples of sandwiches by type- Wikipedia and Flickr
Sandwich Components
Sandwiches, for our discussion, concentrate on these primary ingredients: bread, spread or flavoring base, filling, and garnishes that harmonize with the filling. Above all else follow this rule. Use Quality Ingredients!
Breads
Today we enjoy a tremendous array of breads to use in sandwich making. Many are specific to sandwich styles. Pullman loafs are wonderful for most cold sandwiches including tea sandwiches because they are sturdy breads which can be sliced thinly. Similarly, prepared sliced moist sandwich breads can easily be separated from their crusts and used to make delightful finger and tea sandwiches. One of my most fond memories from childhood was when my mother would bring home a little box of tea sandwiches from one of her teas or luncheons. Some were finger sized and narrow while others were in tiny circles with chicken salad or ham salad fillings. Here are some choices available to the chef today:
- Pullman loaves - shaped like a railcar and normally unsliced
Pullman loaf, Wikipedia.org
- Rolls, hard, soft, hot dog, hamburger, Po boys
- Ciabatta
- Whole wheat
Whole wheat bread- Wikipedia.org
- Rye and Pumpernickel
Rye bread- Wikipedia.org
- Pita bread
Pita bread- Wikipedia.org
- Focaccia
Focaccia Bread- Wikipedia.org
- Nut and fruit breads
Banana Bread- Wiki commons
Best practices for breads
- purchasing daily when possible
- keeping soft breads tightly wrapped
- avoiding wrapping of hard breads (but serve one day only)
- store at room temperature if used in one day
- may be frozen but not refrigerated
Sandwich Spreads and Their Purposes
- Spreads add flavor and harmony to the sandwich
- Spreads compliment the ingredients used in the sandwich
- Spreads add moisture and mouthfeel
- Spreading soft butter prior to the spread keeps the bread from becoming soggy if making ahead of service.
Popular Spreads in Sandwich Making
- Pesto
- Flavored Mayonnaise varieties
- Tapenade - Muffaletta
- Hummus
- Guacamole
- Romesco
- Various mustards
- Liver Pate- the authentic Bahn Mi
Muffaletta-Wikimedia.org, Bahn Mi- Wikimedia.org
Sandwich fillings should be the focal point of the sandwich. Today chefs let their imagination run wild when picking ingredients for sandwich making. Many popular focal points include cheeses, meat, seafood, poultry, fish, salads, and vegetables. Communities around the country have special contests for prize winning sandwiches. Decatur, Georgia hosts the best Grilled Cheese Sandwich cook-off among local chefs each fall season.
Popular Protein Fillings
- Roast beef
- Small steaks
- Corned beef/Pastrami
- Ham, Bacon
- Roast pork
- Barbeque Meats or seafood
- Roast Turkey
- Chicken breast
- Cured meats
- Liverwurst
The now famous “Media Noche” or “Cuban” utilizes both ham and roasted pork with pickle and mustard on a hoagie style bread.
Popular Cheeses
- Cheddar
- Swiss
- Provolone
- Cream cheese
- Mascarpone
- Process cheese
- Cheese spreads
Fish and Shellfish
- Tuna
- Shrimp
- Fried fish such as Clams or Soft Shell Crab
- Grilled fish
- Sardines
- Smoked Salmon
Shrimp Po Boy- Wikimedia.org
Bound Salad Sandwiches
- Tuna salad
- Egg salad
- Chicken, or Turkey salad
- Ham salad
- Shrimp salad
- Lobster Salad
Tuna Salad Sandwich-Wikimedia.org
Garnishes add flavor, texture, and moisture to a sandwich, setting it far apart from John Montague’s first sandwich of salted meat and bread. Popular ones include bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, avocados, pickles, and pickled vegetables. Vegetarian options are very popular today and one could create a terrific such sandwich from most of the ingredients above.
Refer to course handouts and or recipes provided by your instructor via the LMS (Learning Management System) ex. Moodle®.
Cold Sauces, Salads, and Sandwiches
- What four things do sauces do for a dish?
- When making cold emulsion sauces we are combining polar opposites, therefore we need something to ________________________ the two.
- A moist towel that is spun and tied into a circle allows you to do what?
- Describe the steps in “Caring for Salad Greens”.
- Name three bitter salad greens
- When making salads from legumes it is important to do what two things?
- Which type of potatoes fold their shape better when boiled for salads, waxy or starchy?
- Because pasta salads tend to absorb dressing, what can we do to help it before serving the next day?
- What do we call a carefully arranged salad that often has a protein element?
- Whom do we owe the sandwich too?
- Name five types of sandwiches.
- Above all else, follow this rule when making sandwiches
- Pullman loaves are normally
- What does a soft butter spread do for a sandwich?
- Name three bound salad fillings.