Sauces have the ability to transform any food from dull to delectable; they are food enhancers that define national cuisines. They can be savoury or sweet, simple or complex, served as a side dish or presented as the main event. Sauces: A Global History takes readers on a journey from fermented sauces in fifth-century China to present-day cuisine, where sauces that are barely recognizable as such – foams, ices, smokes – are found in the increasingly popular world of molecular gastronomy.
This book examines sauce as a globe-crossing phenomenon, a culinary concept that followed trade routes from East to West and helped seafaring explorers add flavour to their monotonous rations. Tracing the evolution of food technology through the centuries, Sauces explores the development of this gastronomic art, from the use of simple bread thickeners to the smooth sauces we know today. It examines the controversies that sauces have created over the years, including debates about salsa overtaking ketchup in popularity and disputes over the Indian roots of British ‘Worcestershire’ sauce. It also relates the history of American ketchup and Tabasco sauce, which remain globally popular today.
For sauce experts and novices alike, this book will encourage readers to take part in the debate over the definition of sauce, and to give sauce its due as an essential part of our eating habits.