Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making by James Peterson

  • Dried chile cream sauce (page 83)

    from Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making Sauces by James Peterson

    • Categories: Sauces, general; Vegetarian
    • Ingredients: dried chillies; heavy cream
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Notes about this book

  • rmardel on January 11, 2026

    Red Wine Mustard, page 40

  • nomadchowwoman on January 09, 2010

    Big, unwieldy book, yes, but very thjorough, w/useful photos. A great reference book.

Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Sautéed salmon fillet with sorrel cream sauce

    • rmardel on January 14, 2026

      This is a. simplification of the technique used by Jean and Pierre Troisgros. Peterson uses heavy cream instead of creme fraiche, which softens the tartness of the sorrel somewhat. But this is the base for my regular "everyday" salmon with sorrel sauce, which, I am lucky to make regularly since I have a thriving sorrel bed. I only use the Troisgros technique when I want to be fancy.

  • Caper and cornichon relish

    • ethedens on February 04, 2025

      Pretty good! Would make again. 3.5/5

  • Genoese pesto

    • JKDLady on August 10, 2015

      This was a disaster for me. I tried to use a blender, but it would not purée. Perhaps I should have put the ingredients in the blender in a different order. Any way about it, however, there was way too much for my blender. This is a huge amount of basil. I ended up moving everything to the food processor. I can't imagine the mortal and pestle large enough for this recipe. The taste was fine, but there was too much salt for our palettes.

  • Fettuccine and shrimp with crustacean cream sauce (Fettuccine alla crema di scampi)

    • emiliang on January 22, 2013

      The cream sauce is the real standout here, and I think it's become my favorite go-to sauce for shrimp and pasta dishes. I didn't have time to prepare the "crustacean butter" required by the recipe. Instead I made a quick stock using the shrimp shells and mixed in some butter. Also, I replaced dried thyme for fresh and oregano for marjoram. Still an outstanding sauce!

  • Ponzu sauce

    • ripleypickles on June 05, 2021

      Spot-on recipe. I didn't have bonito flakes so I used a couple of dashes of fish sauce. Worked perfectly.

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  • ISBN 10 0442026153
  • ISBN 13 9780442026158
  • Linked ISBNs
  • Published Jan 01 1998
  • Format Hardcover
  • Page Count 504
  • Language English
  • Edition 2nd
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher Van Nostrand Reinhold

Publishers Text

"After a couple of decades of anarchy and chaos in the kitchen disguised as la nouvelle cuisine, a treatise such as Sauces grounded in common sense, infuses one with renewed faith." So said no less an authority than the late Richard Olney, who as the acknowledged master of the contemporary culinary arts, possessed the perspective to judge what is merely history, and what is truly historic.

Since its publication in 1991, Sauces has proven itself a landmark work, winning The James Beard Foundation's Cookbook of the Year award, and garnering worldwide acclaim for its author, James Peterson, who with his very first book established a reputation as one of the most literate and knowledgeable individuals among the vast ranks of culinary writers. By marrying the best of well-practiced techniques and methods with the adventurous innovation of the contemporary art, Peterson has forged a new direction for sauce making that rings as true for home cooks as it does for professional chefs.

Sauces has been as much a celebration of cooking as it was a teaching volume because it is, at its heart, a reflection of Peterson's romance and devotion in the kitchen. Sauces is firmly dedicated not only to broadening the cook's appreciation and understanding of sauce-making's traditional principles, but also to empowering the reader to become an adept improviser. We are reminded that cooking is an art, and no art can thrive without the freedom to change and evolve.

More than just a compendium of recipes, Sauces explains how and why the ingredients of a sauce are combined. Structured around the framework of classical French cooking, it provides in thorough detail explanations of, and instructions for, preparing both traditional and contemporary versions of most every sauce imaginable. Classic white and brown sauces, both starch-thickened and flourless; popular meat and fish sauces made with drippings and juices; sauces based on egg yolks.

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