The Simple Sauce

Slowly, but surely, savory sauces have disappeared from our cooking, both in restaurants and at home. The latest style in many restaurants is pyramiding or stacking food in layers, so pouring sauce and letting it drizzle down wouldn’t be such a good idea.

Home cooking is very different, however, and I think simple sauces have a greater place than ever in the home kitchen. The late Irma Mazza said it well in her splendid cookbook, “Accent On Seasoning,” (Little Brown, 1957):

“More fluttering housewives were thrown into hysterics by the curdling of the hollandaise sauce. The vaunted French sauces were a demanding field of endeavor; they were the chef’s province, and with him most of them should have stayed, for they were certainly hellish on the housewife.”

Though many sauces are far beyond the scope or need of the American kitchen, some should not be forgotten. They should not dominate our cooking but be a part of it. They should be neither a crutch to the cook nor a mask for bad cooking, just good attendants to good foods.

The best sauces are those gravies created on and by the foods and their condiments during cooking--blends of the dishes’ flavors. The gravy from sautes, stews and pot roasts and the seasoned and buttered juices around vegetables are good natural sauces.

Another type of sauce is that made separately and poured over food before serving. This is where we have to keep our heads, because too much of this sort of thing defeats its own purpose, making the flavors of the food depend too much on the sauce rather than on itself.

The last word Mazza had to say about sauces: “Foods should never be over-sauced, never swim in sauce, but merely be anointed by it. So judge the amounts carefully, remembering the dish to be sauced and the people to be served. Lady Clark of Tillypronie gauged a sauce recipe as ‘enough for two couples or three bachelors,’ if you want to be exact.’ ”

These sauce recipes are ideally suited for home cooks: simple, rustic but very good. They enhance pasta, fish, beef, eggplant and grilled chicken, and a little stirred into mayonnaise makes an excellent salad dressing.

Cunningham’s latest book is “Cooking With Children” (Alfred A. Knopf, 1995).

POOR MAN’S BUTTER

Low-Fat Cooking, It’s a Snap

4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

2 avocados, chopped

2 large cloves garlic

3 tablespoons lime juice or white wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt

This is a James Beard recipe. It will keep in the refrigerator about a week. If you prefer a smooth, creamy sauce, puree the mixture in a food processor.

Combine tomatoes, avocados and garlic and add lime juice. Add olive oil and salt to taste and stir to blend. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours to blend flavors.

About 3 1/2 cups. Each 1-tablespoon serving:

22 calories; 7 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 2 grams fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.19 gram fiber.

MEXICAN GREEN SAUCE

Low-Fat Cooking, It’s a Snap

2 cups loosely packed cilantro leaves

1/2 cup mint leaves

3 cloves garlic

1 Anaheim chile, stemmed, seeded and quartered

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 cup water

Salt

Blend cilantro, mint, garlic, chile, lemon juice, cumin and water in food processor until smooth. Add salt, process briefly and taste. Add more salt if sauce is bland. Refrigerate 2 to 3 hours before using.

About 3/4 cup. Each 1-tablespoon serving:

4 calories; 26 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 0 fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 protein; 0.12 gram fiber.

Tiles from Freehand, Los Angeles