Recipe Archive

Sauces & Condiments

Sauces and condiments carry a surprising amount of technique. Find dressings, marinades, stocks, gravies, relishes, and finishing sauces with clear purpose.

965 recipes

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Recipes

Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa Verde Jalisciense

Chef Lupita

Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa Verde Jalisciense

Jalisco's creamy green taqueria salsa, built from cooked tomatillo, chile serrano, cilantro, and avocado, made to ride over carnitas, tacos dorados, eggs, and warm corn tortillas.

Torta Ahogada Tomato Bath (Caldillo de Jitomate)

Chef Lupita

Torta Ahogada Tomato Bath (Caldillo de Jitomate)

Guadalajara's caldillo de jitomate is the mild tomato bath that soaks a torta ahogada clean through, thin enough to flood the birote and seasoned with garlic, clove, and oregano.

Tortoise-Shell Glaze (鼈甲あん, Bekkō-an)

Chef Takumi

Tortoise-Shell Glaze (鼈甲あん, Bekkō-an)

Bekkō-an is dashi given an amber coat: soy-dark, glossy, and light enough to flatter fried tofu or fish without covering the thing beneath.

Toursi Lachanikon Makedonias (Τουρσί Λαχανικών Μακεδονίας)

Chef Dimitra

Toursi Lachanikon Makedonias (Τουρσί Λαχανικών Μακεδονίας)

Macedonian toursi is the winter pickle jar of northern Greece: cauliflower, carrot, celery and pepper held crisp in vinegar brine, ready for beans, lentils, tsipouro, and fasting tables.

Lanna Fermented Soybean Disc (Tua Nao)

Chef Fai

Lanna Fermented Soybean Disc (Tua Nao)

The Lanna mountains don't have ocean shrimp or river fish in abundance, so the North fermented soybeans instead. Same principle, different protein. The system adapts to what the land gives you.

Turkey Giblet Gravy

Chef Dean

Turkey Giblet Gravy

A deeply savory gravy built from homemade giblet stock and honest pan drippings, the kind that turns dry white meat into something worth fighting over and makes the mashed potatoes disappear first.

Ueong-jangajji (Soy-Pickled Burdock)

Chef Jeong-sun

Ueong-jangajji (Soy-Pickled Burdock)

Earthy burdock root cut thin, held pale in vinegar water, then cured in a soy-vinegar brine until it stays crisp enough to snap beside rice.

Uienconfituur (Dutch Onion Preserve)

Chef Joost

Uienconfituur (Dutch Onion Preserve)

Onions, sugar, vinegar, and the Dutch spice cupboard cooked down into a dark jam, the quiet condiment that makes a cheese board suddenly remember its manners.

Uienjus (Dutch Onion Gravy)

Chef Joost

Uienjus (Dutch Onion Gravy)

The Dutch weekday table keeps its best secret in the pan: onions browned slowly until sweet, then loosened into the dark gravy that makes potatoes worth mashing.

Umeboshi (梅干し)

Chef Takumi

Umeboshi (梅干し)

Umeboshi looks like a preserve with secrets. It is really ripe ume, enough salt, patience through the rains, and three clear summer days to make the fruit honest and sharp.

Valle de Guadalupe Red Wine Vinaigrette

Chef Lupita

Valle de Guadalupe Red Wine Vinaigrette

Baja California's farm-table vinaigrette, built on a Cabernet reduction from Valle de Guadalupe, shallots cooked down to syrup, and olive oil pressed in the same Mediterranean-climate valley. Dresses tomatoes, seafood, and crisp greens.

Vegetable Miso Bed (野菜の味噌床, Yasai no Misodoko)

Chef Takumi

Vegetable Miso Bed (野菜の味噌床, Yasai no Misodoko)

A miso bed asks for patience, not difficulty. Salt the vegetables lightly, keep the paste clean and cool, and by morning it gives you crisp pickles with deep, quiet savor.

Vegetable Stock

Chef Thomas

Vegetable Stock

A clean, golden vegetable stock made from the week's best scraps and a little patience, the quiet foundation that turns a bowl of soup into something worth sitting down for.

Veracruz Brown Salsa for Picadas (Salsa de Chile Seco)

Chef Lupita

Veracruz Brown Salsa for Picadas (Salsa de Chile Seco)

Central Veracruz's brown salsa for picadas, built from toasted chile comapeno, roasted garlic, salt, and hot lard, a dry Gulf chile paste that clings to pinched masa.

Veracruz Garlic Pan Sauce for Fish (Ajillo Jarocho)

Chef Lupita

Veracruz Garlic Pan Sauce for Fish (Ajillo Jarocho)

Veracruz's Gulf coast ajillo, built with olive oil, slow-gold garlic, chile guajillo strips, vinegar, and fish fumet, made to wake up huachinango without burying it.

Veracruz Seafood Fumet (Fumet Jarocho)

Chef Lupita

Veracruz Seafood Fumet (Fumet Jarocho)

Veracruz's Gulf-coast stock, built from white fish bones, shrimp shells, epazote, garlic, and bay leaf, the quiet foundation behind arroz a la tumbada, chilpachole, and every serious jarocho caldo.

Verduras en Escabeche Conventuales

Chef Lupita

Verduras en Escabeche Conventuales

Puebla's convent pantry escabeche, carrots, cauliflower, ejotes, onion, and chiles güeros held in olive oil, jerez vinegar, canela, clavo, and herbs until the jar tastes like Lent and feast day together.

Verduras en Escabeche Jalisciences

Chef Lupita

Verduras en Escabeche Jalisciences

Jalisco's table pickle of jalapeños, carrots, onion, garlic, bay, thyme, and Mexican oregano, simmered in vinegar and set beside birria like it belongs there.

Vinagre de Piña Casero Oaxaqueño

Chef Lupita

Vinagre de Piña Casero Oaxaqueño

Oaxaca's homemade pineapple vinegar, built from skins and piloncillo and patience, fermented in clay for two weeks until it carries the soul of every escabeche the state has ever made.

Vinagreta de Naranja Agria

Chef Lupita

Vinagreta de Naranja Agria

Yucatan's sour orange dressing, built on naranja agria, charred garlic, and toasted oregano yucateco. The little bowl on every Merida table, the one that finishes poc chuc and dresses ensalada xek.

Vinagreta para Fiambre Potosino

Chef Lupita

Vinagreta para Fiambre Potosino

San Luis Potosí's sharp mustard and herb vinagreta, built with apple vinegar and dried mountain herbs, made to soak fiambre potosino overnight until every vegetable and meat tastes seasoned through.

Vinagrete Brasileiro

Chef Juliana

Vinagrete Brasileiro

You don't need a trick here. Chop small, salt early, let the vinegar do its work, and suddenly rice, beans, meat, and greens wake up on the plate.

Vinagrete de Tomate e Cebola

Chef Juliana

Vinagrete de Tomate e Cebola

You don't need a packet to make the plate wake up. Dice small, tame the onion in vinegar, and this sharp little bowl solves rice, beans, grilled meat, even a fried egg.

Vinagrete para Churrasco

Chef Juliana

Vinagrete para Churrasco

You chop, season, wait, and taste. That's it. Tomato, onion, pepper, vinegar, and a little water turn into the sharp fresh spoonful every churrasco plate needs.

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