“I have a rolodex of pathways in my head,” says LK Hospitality Culinary Director Stephen Nairn. He’s not talking about industry contacts; rather, the chef is talking about his process for devising innovative sauces at award-winning Melbourne bistro Omnia.
When developing a new sauce, Nairn believes creativity is most successful when it comes from a deep understanding of cooking’s foundational principles.
“When you gain experience, you understand that there’s a ratio for every sauce,” he says. “Even if you look at a very simple mayonnaise, the egg yolk needs to be in a certain ratio to the fat component, and the speed that the oil is going to be incorporated to emulsify needs to be within a certain range, otherwise it’s going to split and curdle. There are principles that act as your guidelines.”
This is where the rolodex comes into play. The chef takes the principles of cooking he learned earlier in his career and leans on base techniques and ratios before modifying recipes, depending on what he’s trying to achieve. “What do I need the application to do? Is it something that’s going to be lacquered over the top, is it a vehicle for dipping, or will the sauce cook the protein?” says Nairn.
From there, the chef decides what pathway to take, whether it is the traditional, labour-intensive jus that accompanies Omnia’s signature duck or something more unique like the sea urchin and chorizo butter sauce on the baby octopus escabeche, esplette, and potato confit dish.
According to Nairn, the journey to most traditional sauces (with the exception of cream-based sauces such as hollandaise) begins with a high-quality stock, whether it’s a white chicken stock, a brown chicken stock, a white veal stock, or a brown roasted beef stock. “With no stock, there’s really no sauce,” says Nairn.
He begins by visualising the dish and the attributes a sauce should have. For the dry-aged honey-roasted duck, Nairn says the sauce “has a huge depth of flavour”. The process begins with a basic white chicken stock made from good-quality chicken frames and carcasses, including the feet. Nairn blanches the bones, removes any impurities, and slowly begins imparting other flavours like meat and vegetables before adding herbs and aromatics. Next, part of the basic stock is taken to make a brown chicken stock. Nairn roasts chicken bones, wings, and vegetables and then pours over the white stock. He then cooks it for 12 hours before reducing the liquid by about 70 per cent. “Then we have a reduced brown chicken stock and that’s vital because we need body in the sauce,” says the chef.
The third component is a duck stock, which repeats the brown chicken stock process but uses duck bones instead. Nairn then puts minced duck legs, necks, and wings into a rondeau pot and begins to caramelise them. Once caramelised, he removes the duck and sweats off a mix of white onion, carrot, celery, shallots, and button mushrooms with garlic and thyme. The juices of the vegetables slowly deglaze the pan before the chef adds red wine port, brandy, and sherry vinegar and reduces by half. The duck bones, frames, and trimmings are added back into the pot at this stage.
“Everything nicely caramelises and then we add in a specific ratio of the duck stock, the brown chicken stock, and top it up with the white chicken stock,” says Nairn.
He skims off the impurities and allows it to simmer for about 2.5–3 hours before beginning the gradual reduction process. The jus is then passed so it’s “shiny and fully of body”.
To serve the duck, Nairn adds cherries that have been preserved in an aromatic wine to the jus, which is finished with butter. “For freshness, we add a little touch of lemon thyme and some celery leaf for two minutes and then it’s double strained. There is a decent amount of complexity,” says the chef.
Nairn doesn’t understate the level of skill required and says the sauce isn’t one that can be undertaken on a whim. “You don’t see many of these sauces because they’re very intensive and they require dedication at each stage,” he says. “You can’t just boil, reduce, and express it quickly. You need to be well organised and have the right vessels for the job.”
While the jus for Omnia’s duck is one example of a labour-intensive sauce that undeniably carries its weight, it’s not the only style that garners praise. “There are many different ways with sauces,” says Nairn. “They’re versatile, but the base technique is the principles of extracting flavour. You’re trying to maximise the flavour that comes from each ingredient, and that also comes down to how you cut the vegetables and the protein.”
The sea urchin and chorizo butter that accompanies Omnia’s baby octopus dish is another show-stopper.
“We take sea urchin and blend it into butter, then we caramelise good-quality chorizo while extracting the oil,” says Nairn. “We use the oil and emulsify it back into things before finishing with orange, olive oil, and a hint of saffron. We then cook the potatoes in it.” In the end, the chef says “there are absolutely no shortcuts to make high-quality sauces”.
Achieving premium sauces can prove difficult for venues looking to improve efficiency, whether it is smaller restaurants with less resources and more time constraints, or large groups looking to improve productivity. Frutex Corporate Chef Greg Hurrell discusses how Windsor Farm works closely with restaurant group chefs and franchises to make custom blends for marinades, seasonings, boosters, and coatings. At Windsor Farm, the team develops sauces for chefs who are looking to increase efficiency and ensure consistency. Hurrell says chefs usually approach him asking for one of three things: an exact match to an already-existing sauce; an existing sauce with a twist; or a specific recipe replicated to scale.
“We’ll develop it in-house, test it, and then give them samples, which they then test,” says Hurrell. Chefs also approach Windsor Farm to create sauces or seasonings that exclude allergens like gluten.
The response from chefs has been positive, says Hurrell. “Our products are developed with chefs, so I go in and can explain to them what the trends are at the moment, the flavour profile of a certain region, and also provide authentic products.”
Nestlé Professional Commercial Development Chef Elke Travers says Nestlé Professional’s sauce development is a multi-stage process. “It begins with market research to identify trends and customer preferences,” she says. “Chefs and food technologists collaborate as a team to develop innovative recipes that meet these demands.”
The sauce then undergoes testing for flavour, texture, and safety before feedback is provided by chefs and culinary professionals. Once the final recipe is approved, it is scaled for production. “Throughout the process, stringent quality control measures are in place to ensure each batch meets Nestlé’s high standards for safety and quality,” says Travers.
The chef also points out that Nestlé regularly reviews and updates recipes based on consumer feedback, and designs packaging with both sustainability and withstanding the challenges of a foodservice kitchen in mind.
According to Travers, commercial kitchens use Nestlé Professional products including Maggi Jus Lié Mix or Maggi Rich Gravy Mix to enhance the flavour, texture, and presentation of dishes. “Apart from great bases for chefs to create their own signature sauces, our range of gravies, sauces, and pastes serve as versatile components that can be used in various culinary applications such as marinades, rubs, and bases for soups and stews.”
Products like these allow chefs to quickly add sauces to menus, while maintaining efficiency and delivering high-quality meals, says Travers.
For Nairn, creating a superior sauce is crucial to achieving a refined dish, but it can also be much more than that. For the customer, it can be the difference between a mediocre meal and a memorable feast. “The sauce is the vehicle for how the flavour is going to be carried through the dish,” says Nairn. “I think it’s the sauce that really creates the memories.”
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