| Eat Local - Sauces, Dressings and Pickles |
For a lot of cooks "just add flavour" now means ripping open a sachet or taking the lid off a something simmer sauce and emptying it into a pan.
The cheaper option is to have a well stocked cupboard of basic sauces, dressings and pickles to call on. Many you can make yourself and all of them you can recognise the ingredients in. It also gets you cooking, not just mixing! |
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Like I said earlier, if you're eating local you cook more from scratch and having these basic sauces and dressings in the cupboard greatly expands your recipe repertoire.
And I guarantee you'll find it just as quick to cook with them as stir frying something and emptying a jar of coloured goo on it.
(... and they taste better)
So here are my favourite pickles, sauces and dressings, the ones I use often.
You can download all my recipes in this little booklet. Click here . |
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Sauces I Make:
Mint Sauce
Plum Sauce
Spicy Apricot Sauce
Tomato Sauce
Mayonnaise
English Mustard
Sweet Chilli Sauce
Basil Pesto
Hummus
Horseradish Sauce
Curry Pastes |
Preserved Lemons
Pickled Onions
Gherkins
Sauerkraut
Tomato Relish
Mustard Picallili
Pickled Capers
Satay Sauce
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Sometimes I use vinegar when making sauces, dressings and pickles. Cider vinegar in particular is really useful to have in your cupboard.
I'm lucky to live close to Redwood Cellars who make a full range of vinegars from local apples and grapes. You can also buy them in most supermarkets here and around the country.
Apparently making your own vinegar is easy but with these guys just up the road I haven't got round to that one yet.
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If you're looking for local hot and spicy sauces try the established team at Village Green Mustards.
They're the ones who make the "Hellish Relish" range of Chilli Sauces. Replace the bottle of Tabasco - this stuff is much better. Order online or at the Nelson Sat. market.
They also make a range of lovely hot and spicy mustards. Their French Supreme Mustard is well worth a try too. |
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Not being a hypocrite I have to tell you that there are also a few foreign visitors in my cupboard for making sauces and dressings.
- Fermented Soy Sauce
- Sesame Tahini Paste
- Cold Pressed Sesame Oil
- Anchovies
- Orange Blossom Water
- Mirin, Wasabi & Miso
- Coconut Milk
- Maple Syrup
- Fish Sauce
Does that make me evil? I'll let you decide. |
But a decidely local ingredient in a lot of my dips, sauces and dressings is lovely Tasman Ridge Olive Oil.
Purchased at the Med Food Warehouse in Nelson by the Library from their great big vat. You can bring the bottle back and refil it.
$20 per litre which is not much more than imported extra virgin olive oil and the flavour of this stuff is a lot fresher. |
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