The french adore sauces. It may be why their cuisine is so beloved. Who doesn’t love a good sauce? I imagine romances have been launched over the making of a perfect béarnaise.
But the classic French sauces are a subject for another day. Today we are going to lighten things up a little, and give you two spring sauces that will serve you well for the festive summery season ahead (estival in French). Both have endless variations, and can be whipped up in a flash–don't even think about getting that measuring cup out of the cabinet.
The first sauce I discovered at a restaurant, when I was about 20, and we are not going to talk about how long ago THAT was. I was served the simplest of salads: butter lettuce, topped with a sliced boiled egg, a pinkish creamy dressing, and some chopped chives. Magnifique! I rushed home and mixed up a version that was as close as I could get and I've been making that dressing/sauce ever since, pimping it up as desired.
The sauce is great as a salad dressing, a dipping sauce for French fries, and it's really good with cold shellfish or other seafood. The basic ingredients are below. I've since learned that there are as many possible additions as there are chefs, and many cultures make some version of it.
- mayo
- ketchup, or chili sauce
- something acidic to thin it
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper
- Your favorite additions (see recipe below. For my own version, a splash of brandy is the secret ingredient)
The Gullah community in Charleston call it Pink Sauce; they add grated onion to the above.
A Japanese version is happily named Yum Yum sauce. It has a similar base, with some Asian additions, like rice vinegar and sesame oil.
Then there is the famous Mississipi Comeback Sauce, with it's quirky name. This one is over the top and starts with the mayo/ketchup combo but includes lots of spicy additions, like wostershire sauce and paprika.
See my own version of this international pink sauce below. The closest French equivalent to this sauce, by the way, is a remoulade sauce, with similar ingredients but with mustard instead of ketchup. It's a closer relative to what we call tarter sauce.
The second sauce is lighter fare. It's a simple, herby, cilantro vinagerette-type sauce to put over fresh fish or vegetables or meats. Our friends Derek and Debbie, Australian/Canadian expats, served us this recently. Light and fresh and perfect for summer. Below, see what our friends put under that tasty sauce. Bonne fête!
RECIPE: Lynn's Pink Sauce
Mix together: 2 parts mayo to one part ketchup, or use Heniz's chili sauce. Add a splash of brandy. Thin it with lemon juice to the desired consistency. Add sea salt and ground pepper to taste, and a dash of Srirscha or any hot sauce, if you want heat. I stir in some chopped fresh chives if I have them, and a small clove of cushed garlic if I want a stronger flavor, like if I'm serving it with shrimp.
You can also stir in: other favorite herbs, shallots, diced pickles, capers, whatever makes you happy. Start with the basics, and it's a sauce to play with. I make it with lime juice instead of lemon when I serve it with a tuna poké bowl; that recipe is here.
RECIPE: Derek and Debbie's Summer Salmon with Cilantro Sauce
Our second sauce, served with seafood and colorful toppers, is a great one-dish meal for a summer party. The sauce doubles as a marinade. Even if cilantro isn't your favorite, you'll find this combo as fresh as a spring breeze. Still, you could use any soft fresh herbs you like. Use a white fish instead of salmon if you prefer. No measurements needed here, just use les yeux.
For the marinade/sauce: Pour out really good olive oil, add lots of lime juice and tons of chopped cilantro. You could also make it with lemon juice, or orange; add basil or parsley or chives or some of each; throw in some garlic, or mustard, or shallots. You could add just a splash of Worcestershire, fish sauce, soy sauce, or hot sauce.
Make the sauce, reserve half and marinate the fish in the remaining half for about an hour. Sauté, grill, or bake the salmon. Plate the filets and top with roasted peppers and avocado slices. Drizzle the remaining sauce over all.
Favorite READS: Karim, thank you for helping us polish up our French! For anglo reading in French, not too challenging to be discouraging, Karim recommends the author Christian Bobin. You can find some of the titles on Amazon.
Looking for Bloggers and Authors in the Southern Fried French community! Are you a blogger or an author who writes about anything related to the South or to France? Many of our readers are–and if you are one of them, I'd love for you to share with us. Drop me an email about it, I'd love to talk to you about a guest post.
27 thoughts on “Gettin’ Saucy With It”
I’m not a blogger nor am I an author but I am from the South and want to share someone with you. If you aren’t familiar with Sean of the South please do check him out. He will tug at your heartstrings, make you laugh and sometimes make you cry – when he writes about his blind coon hound Marigold, get out the tissues. Just google Sean of the South. I think you’ll be drawn into his humor and wisdom quickly.
Loving the recipes today – can’t wait to try them!! Thanks!
I’m not a blogger nor am I an author but I am from the South and want to share someone with you. If you aren’t familiar with Sean of the South please do check him out. He will tug at your heartstrings, make you laugh and sometimes make you cry – when he writes about his blind coon hound Marigold, get out the tissues. Just google Sean of the South. I think you’ll be drawn into his humor and wisdom quickly.
Loving the recipes today – can’t wait to try them!! Thanks!
I’m not a blogger nor am I an author but I am from the South and want to share someone with you. If you aren’t familiar with Sean of the South please do check him out. He will tug at your heartstrings, make you laugh and sometimes make you cry – when he writes about his blind coon hound Marigold, get out the tissues. Just google Sean of the South. I think you’ll be drawn into his humor and wisdom quickly.
Loving the recipes today – can’t wait to try them!! Thanks!
Sean of the South is my AM read to start the day! Wonderful! Today he thanks librarians.
Sean of the South is my AM read to start the day! Wonderful! Today he thanks librarians.
Sean of the South is my AM read to start the day! Wonderful! Today he thanks librarians.
Sauces can make all the difference with the entree. I have saved a couple of these Lynn so thank you for sharing these recipes. Great title to this blog!
Sauces can make all the difference with the entree. I have saved a couple of these Lynn so thank you for sharing these recipes. Great title to this blog!
Sauces can make all the difference with the entree. I have saved a couple of these Lynn so thank you for sharing these recipes. Great title to this blog!
Yummy saucy sauces! The pink sauce is great for French fries (imo). The British and Irish versions add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and call it Marie Rose sauce. Hungry now!! 😊
Yummy saucy sauces! The pink sauce is great for French fries (imo). The British and Irish versions add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and call it Marie Rose sauce. Hungry now!! 😊
Yummy saucy sauces! The pink sauce is great for French fries (imo). The British and Irish versions add a dash of Worcestershire sauce and call it Marie Rose sauce. Hungry now!! 😊
Wonderful post today,Lynn,as always!! These recipes–and the pictures!– are wonderful! I especially
appreciate that they come together so quickly and really take the dishes a new level of yumminess.
Thank you!! I’m off to the kitchen!!
Wonderful post today,Lynn,as always!! These recipes–and the pictures!– are wonderful! I especially
appreciate that they come together so quickly and really take the dishes a new level of yumminess.
Thank you!! I’m off to the kitchen!!
Wonderful post today,Lynn,as always!! These recipes–and the pictures!– are wonderful! I especially
appreciate that they come together so quickly and really take the dishes a new level of yumminess.
Thank you!! I’m off to the kitchen!!
Je recommande en français par Antoine Laurain.
Je recommande en français par Antoine Laurain.
Je recommande en français par Antoine Laurain.
Bonjour Lynn
Je ne suis pas blogueuse mais je suis autrice d’un livre de cuisine française familiale et j’ai grandi en Bourgogne. Si vous avez besoin de quelque chose faites moi signe et je suis à vous!!
Francine
Bonjour Lynn
Je ne suis pas blogueuse mais je suis autrice d’un livre de cuisine française familiale et j’ai grandi en Bourgogne. Si vous avez besoin de quelque chose faites moi signe et je suis à vous!!
Francine
Bonjour Lynn
Je ne suis pas blogueuse mais je suis autrice d’un livre de cuisine française familiale et j’ai grandi en Bourgogne. Si vous avez besoin de quelque chose faites moi signe et je suis à vous!!
Francine
Hi. I’m originally from the South and thinking about retiring to France in a few years with my Wyoming husband. We live in Colorado, but the house prices here have more than tripled. And with the violence here, we want to leave. Each year, we visit France, and have grown to love it and the people. We’ve passed the French A1 language exam. Not very good with French, but we’re trying to learn. Any words of encouragement? We’re scared of being left out of life there for lack of knowing much French. We can order at a restaurant fairly well but that’s about it. I’ll be 61 when we retire. We’re both engineers, so math inclined but shy and not very social. Comes with being engineers – as the hubby says – Good with numbers, not so good with people. But we love France. Any thoughts on a fulltime life in France for newbie older shy Americans?
Carol
Hi. I’m originally from the South and thinking about retiring to France in a few years with my Wyoming husband. We live in Colorado, but the house prices here have more than tripled. And with the violence here, we want to leave. Each year, we visit France, and have grown to love it and the people. We’ve passed the French A1 language exam. Not very good with French, but we’re trying to learn. Any words of encouragement? We’re scared of being left out of life there for lack of knowing much French. We can order at a restaurant fairly well but that’s about it. I’ll be 61 when we retire. We’re both engineers, so math inclined but shy and not very social. Comes with being engineers – as the hubby says – Good with numbers, not so good with people. But we love France. Any thoughts on a fulltime life in France for newbie older shy Americans?
Carol
Hi. I’m originally from the South and thinking about retiring to France in a few years with my Wyoming husband. We live in Colorado, but the house prices here have more than tripled. And with the violence here, we want to leave. Each year, we visit France, and have grown to love it and the people. We’ve passed the French A1 language exam. Not very good with French, but we’re trying to learn. Any words of encouragement? We’re scared of being left out of life there for lack of knowing much French. We can order at a restaurant fairly well but that’s about it. I’ll be 61 when we retire. We’re both engineers, so math inclined but shy and not very social. Comes with being engineers – as the hubby says – Good with numbers, not so good with people. But we love France. Any thoughts on a fulltime life in France for newbie older shy Americans?
Carol
Lynn, When my daughter was little she used to rave about her best friend’s Mom’s cooking. The French family ate a multi-course meal, nightly, just the three of them. But the kicker was the sauce. My daughter loved the French sauces, something I never made, ever. Now a grown-up Jackie is coming home for the weekend, and when I told her I’d make her homemade fries….she asked if I would make a sauce to go with them. That old French family that had stolen my daughters gastronomic heart came back to haunt me! “But you know I don’t make sauce!” I protested. “Well, why not look up a recipe?” Jackie challenged. I’d been stubbornly putting it off until I read your post today. I’m going to give your pink sauce a try. Thank you!
Lynn, When my daughter was little she used to rave about her best friend’s Mom’s cooking. The French family ate a multi-course meal, nightly, just the three of them. But the kicker was the sauce. My daughter loved the French sauces, something I never made, ever. Now a grown-up Jackie is coming home for the weekend, and when I told her I’d make her homemade fries….she asked if I would make a sauce to go with them. That old French family that had stolen my daughters gastronomic heart came back to haunt me! “But you know I don’t make sauce!” I protested. “Well, why not look up a recipe?” Jackie challenged. I’d been stubbornly putting it off until I read your post today. I’m going to give your pink sauce a try. Thank you!
Lynn, When my daughter was little she used to rave about her best friend’s Mom’s cooking. The French family ate a multi-course meal, nightly, just the three of them. But the kicker was the sauce. My daughter loved the French sauces, something I never made, ever. Now a grown-up Jackie is coming home for the weekend, and when I told her I’d make her homemade fries….she asked if I would make a sauce to go with them. That old French family that had stolen my daughters gastronomic heart came back to haunt me! “But you know I don’t make sauce!” I protested. “Well, why not look up a recipe?” Jackie challenged. I’d been stubbornly putting it off until I read your post today. I’m going to give your pink sauce a try. Thank you!