Can you imagine a world without flavourings and sauces? The taste of our meals, the ways we cook, and even how we enjoy our food would be a vastly different experience. We would have bland cuisine no matter where we come from and what our local cuisine is. Think of the humble egg noodles dish in Singapore— you might just realise how ubiquitous condiments and other flavourings are. Cooking and food culture might even be nonexistent without the flavourings we know today.
As soon as you realise this, a whole world of flavour is unlocked for you. Do you know what one of the most popular flavourings for dishes is? You might know that sauces are vital to our cuisine. Many of our favourite dishes have flavours that owe themselves to the sauce placed in our food. The sauce comes in such a variety of flavours that there are neverending combinations you can make for your food. You can put them on savoury meals, sweet food, spicy eats, and more. The sauce is an integral part of almost every food you eat.
You might be thinking of looking for a sauce supplier in Singapore that might house some of your favourites. But you cannot rely on old favourites alone. What if you want to expand your list of favourites? You can easily do this by exploring the possibilities. Take a closer look at sauces and how your dishes may change depending on the sauces you use.
How Does Sauce Affect Our Food?
Food owes much of its flavour to sauces. The definition of a sauce is broad— in terms of cooking, sauces are any liquids, semisolids, or creams used to alter the taste of your food or help prepare them. We do not use most types of sauces on their own. We use them in conjunction with other foods for different purposes. Below is a non-exhaustive list of things people use sauces for.
1) It helps to enhance the appearance of the dish.
You might be wondering why this matters. But aside from taste and smell, appearance also affects how well someone enjoys the food. Even foods considered universally appealing and delicious would not lure in hungry patrons if the food looks unappetising. The sauce does add flavour, but it also adds something else.
They also contribute to the appearance of a dish. Think of various pasta and pizza sauces and what kind of appearance they add to your dish. Think of chocolate sauce and how it makes ice creams and a lot of other desserts look delicious.
2) Helps to ‘water’ dry foods
You will know what ‘moistening dry foods’ means when you’ve tried foods like biscuits or crackers. The dryness of these foods can sometimes tire our palettes. Most people will agree that a few bites of these foods would make anyone sick and tired. Good thing that we do not have to eat foods like these without paired sauces!
Another example is the bread and the various dipping sauces you can encounter for them. For example, an ordinary pizza can have layers of tomato sauce to provide a little moisture to dry dough. This way, you can enjoy flavours without drying out your mouth. There is a reason why most pizza sauces in Singapore look thick, wet, or creamy.
3) Releases a bit of texture to your dish
There is such a thing called ‘mouth feel.’ Mouthfeel is the dish’s texture as you chew or taste them. Without some sauces, some dishes may remain too crunchy or crispy. Some may not be at the desired texture many people are comfortable eating. Those who think that texture is a minor detail would be sorely mistaken.
You’ll be surprised how texture can affect your enjoyment of the dish. For example, some sauces that have a pasty texture can leave a distinct mouth feel. Think of your favourite sauces and what kind of texture it has— some linger on the tongue, others are watery and smooth, and a few may feel heavy or oily. A lot of the time, texture can play a part in how you perceive its flavour.
4) Gives it a pop of colour
Colour is exactly what you need to make a dish look sharp and vibrant. Unfortunately, you cannot usually alter the colour of a dish without changing your cooking methods, or at least adding in some food dye. But you can change the dish’s colour, sheen, and shine without resorting to those methods. You can simply employ the help of some sauces to make your food look more appealing to your senses.
5) Adds some spice to the dish.
What would we be without spiciness in our dishes? Adding a load of heat is one of the reasons why we love sauces, particularly chilli sauces, to our food. The use of spice is widespread—people historically fought wars to gain access to spices. Spice is one of the number one factors for putting sauces in our food. Take XO sauce in Singapore, for example. The spicy paste has many uses in our country. The spicy paste is used extensively in local and Cantonese cuisine, from mixing into seafood stir-fry or as a dipping sauce for our meats.
6) Increases sharpness and tanginess to a dish.
It is hard to describe the zest and sharpness of certain sauces, but we love them all the same. Tanginess is the reason why we love certain foods, and some of that taste does not come from the ingredients of the dish itself, but from the sauce it is paired with.
AmigoSG’s website is the best place to find condiments, sauces, and other fantastic products. Buy ginger candy in Singapore or get noodles through their website.
