Two Essential Lemony Summer Sauces

One Italian and one French, both as quick and simple as can be + a bit of sauce philosophy (for paid subscribers)

For the French, sauces are a whole branch of cooking, to the point that in classical professional kitchens a “saucier” is a role unto itself — not to mention a prized and respected one, because you can’t trust sauces just to anyone (only to the boss of the sauces).

Said the great 20th-century gastronomy writer Curnonsky (Maurice Edmond Sailland), “Sauces comprise the honour and glory of French cookery. They have contributed to its superiority, or pre-eminence, which is disputed by none. Sauces are the orchestration and accompaniment of a fine meal, and enable a good chef or cook to demonstrate his talent.”

Well, how terribly highfalutin! Don’t worry, that’s not what I’m coming to you with today, because sometimes we just want a simple sauce on the table (French or not) to tie the various elements of a plate together and help them get along, and we want to be able to produce it in under five minutes. Certainly on a hot day, nobody wants to start reducing stocks and wine and pressing things laboriously through sieves.

Two simple, versatile sauces that deliver on this promise are the Italian Salmoriglio and a simple French Lemon Cream Sauce that starts out as mayonnaise but then does a switcheroo.