[Sauces/Marinades] Vol. 24 No. 2 March/April 2014 ww Short-Cut Sauce Solutions

By Donna Berry, Contributing Editor

Celebrity chefs make cooking from scratch look easy. Today’s consumers know otherwise, but that does not prevent them from getting creative in the kitchen thanks to the many short-cut sauce solutions readily available at most retail food stores.

“Time-pressed consumers recognize that home cooking doesn’t mean everything must be prepared from scratch,” says Eric Fisher, director of innovation, Olam & Vegetable Ingredients, Fresno, CA. “Pre-made, premium sauces help home cooks achieve more complex, flavorful meals.”

Craig “Skip” Julius, manager of culinary services, Sensient Flavors, Hoffman Estates, IL, says: “The growth in the artisan-sauce segment is driven by the desire of fun and adventure. Consumers are looking to try new things.”

According to the report, “Cooking Sauces, Marinades and Dressings—U.S., December 2013,” from Mintel, Chicago, these three categories experienced steady growth between 2008 and 2013, and this is expected to continue. Driving forces include economics, which has more consumers cooking at home, as well as consumers growing interest in all things culinary.

“Products that provide a real cooking experience, but are simple to use, such as prepared sauces, appeal to a sizable portion of consumers,” says Jean Shieh, marketing manager, biopharma and savory flavors, Sensient Flavors.

The insatiable millennial Growth of ready-to-use sauces is further being fueled by the millennial consumer, the demographic born between 1979 and 2000 that entered a world of infinite choices. As the purchasing power of these self-proclaimed foodies increases, the food industry is adapting with products to meet their evolving cravings.

Without a doubt, millennials are the most ethnically and racially diverse generation ever, which drives their desire for globally influenced flavors. Millennials crave layers of flavors, especially when they involve an element of surprise, such as sweet with heat. Sauces are a convenient way to satisfy their insatiable appetite for flavor and culinary adventure.

“Once thought of as the wave of the future, simmer sauces allow busy consumers with discerning palates to create fresh, great-tasting meals at home,” says Mervyn de Souza, general manager, biopharma and savory flavors, Sensient Flavors. “Exciting and authentic flavors make simmer sauces sizzle and allow anyone to enjoy memorable meals without leaving their kitchen.”

Angelina De Castro, marketing manager, savory, Ingredion Inc., Westchester, IL, adds, “The recent boom of cooking sauces suggests that the skillet-meal concept really fits right into the consumer trend www.foodproductdesign.com Page 1

[Sauces/Marinades] Vol. 24 No. 2 March/April 2014 of at-home cooking with ease.” Combining ready-to-use sauces with protein, pasta and vegetables is a convenient way to create a quick, healthy meal in minutes.

Ethnic flavor trends Remember when sauces were simple? When excitement in the red pasta-sauce category was the addition of garlic or maybe some cheese? “Today’s sauces keep getting more sophisticated every year,” says Julius. “There are two major trends now: Latin American and Asian. Specifically, we are looking at regional flavors from , Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, and Thai, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and recently regions of India.

“Yogurt bases and bases are getting more play in sauce development,” adds Julius. “Also, Ponzu, a Japanese, soy-based liquid sauce with citrus notes, and Korean barbecue sauces are gaining traction.”

All of these ethnic cuisines amount to more flavor profiles than one can list. “On top of that, you have fusion—taking pieces of all and skillfully combining them to achieve something that is greater than the simple sum of the parts,” says Julius.

Ethnic foods continue to increase in popularity, agrees Jill McKeague, market development manager, Kalsec Inc., Kalamazoo, MI: “These dishes often have nearly 10 individual ingredients when prepared from scratch. An ethnic sauce, however, greatly simplifies the cooking process, bringing together consumer desire for ethnic flavors along with convenience.”

According to Innova, The Netherlands, 10% of global marinade and sauce new product introductions in 2012 had an ethnic flavor. “The U.S. closely tracked this statistic at almost 8%,” says McKeague. “Spicy sauces are outpacing the growth of the general sauce market, reflecting consumers’ preference for spicy foods.”

Pepper power As American tastes continue to develop and to appreciate global flavor profiles, peppers will continue to be a key element in many formulations. Different peppers represent different ethnic cuisines, and blending them provides culinary complexity that today’s consumers find appealing.

Two of the more common chile peppers are jalepeño and . These are both associated with mainstream Mexican fare. More-authentic Mexican cuisine, as well as many South American dishes, rely on peppers, with the dried version known as ancho, as well as serrano peppers, which are prevalent in . The pimenta malagueta pepper is exclusive to the cuisines of Brazil, and Portuguese colonies in Africa, principally and Cabo Verde. is typical of many Indian dishes, while northeast India’s claim to fame is the bhut jolokia, also called the ghost chile, and is currently recognized as the hottest pepper in the world.

“Red jalapeño peppers are in high demand because they are an ingredient in the wildly popular Sriracha,” says Barbara Zatto, director of culinary and sales manager, west, food ingredients division, Mizkan, Mt. Prospect, IL. “Green chiles are among the most widely used in the United States, because of their mild flavor, ranging from 0 to 300 Scoville units. www.foodproductdesign.com Page 2

[Sauces/Marinades] Vol. 24 No. 2 March/April 2014

“Green sauces are on-trend and increasing in demand, including green salsas, green enchilada sauces and green moles,” Zatto continues. “Our product line includes green chile, tomatillo, and green and red jalapeños—all available in diced, puréed, frozen and individually quick frozen.”

A product designer chooses the form based on application and desired moisture and solids. While “tomatoes have traditionally been the foundation for many sauces because of their wonderful sweet flavors and textures,” Fisher says, sauces are changing. “Restaurants and consumers are now serving more green sauces and tapenade-type chunky sauces,” he says. “Tomatillo, green tomato and chile pepper purées are popular components because they contribute texture and fresh green, savory notes.”

Chipotle peppers were the workhorses of sauces the past few years, but now poblano peppers, South American peppers, such as aji amarillo and Aleppo peppers from Turkey are getting very popular, according to Julius. “Chefs are just starting to discover fruity Asian peppers,” he says. “Some are really high-heat, so flavor designers and product developers want the flavor profile, but without the heat.” Ingredient companies can offer the flavor of the pepper, without any heat, so product designers can add back the desired amount of for a given application. This lets the fruitiness shine through without an extreme level of burn.

Some peppers bring surprising perks to a formulation. “We have a new aji amarillo pepper purée that we source from our operations in Peru,” says Fisher. “It is quickly becoming one of our more popular flavors this year. This pepper combines sweet with medium-to-hot heat levels (40,000 to 50,000 Scoville heat units). It’s a great tool to eliminate added sugars by achieving sweetness from peppers naturally.”

When it comes to layering flavors, garlic, a prominent flavor in many ethnic cuisines, complements many peppers and continues to be a leading characterizing flavor in sauces. “Garlic is still going strong, and now formulators are adding other flavors to garlic, such as sesame or ginger, plus fruits like mango and plum,” says Julius.

Seeing flavor Visual flavor cues have become increasingly important in sauces, as social media postings of “what’s for dinner” must communicate taste and texture.

“Spices can go a long way to improve visual appeal,” says Meredith Bishop, principal development scientist, Spicetec Flavors & Seasonings, Omaha, NE. “Spices come in a dizzying array of shapes and sizes, from fine grinds to cracked or whole spices. You can get just about any size to add to your sauce.”

For example, a white country gravy may have a few different sizes of ground for visual appeal and for flavor. Pieces of , as compared to powdered versions, can provide authenticity to a sauce. “Using minced garlic or onion contributes flavor and texture to a sauce,” says Bishop. “The powdered versions just provide taste. It is important to identify the right mix of appearance and taste through the use of seasoning blends and flavors in sauces.” Never forget to consider the processing environment, she cautions, as some sizes can clog filling equipment. www.foodproductdesign.com Page 3

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Vegetables and vegetable purées also assist with maintaining color. “We’ve experienced growth with our high-quality, minimally processed, aseptically packed diced vegetables,” says Fisher. “These products add recognizable vegetable pieces to give sauces a desirable chunky texture.”

Ingredient selection can impact flavor during shelf life. “For example, dehydrated garlic and onion ingredients develop flavor as rehydration progresses and later may fade,” says Polly Barrett, director of R&D, applied flavors technology and sensory sciences, Kalsec. “We recommend that sauce formulators choose garlic and onion extracts, as their flavors are fully developed during processing and completely available to the palate upon addition to the food, even in low pH. Garlic and onion extracts also contain no active enzymes, which can impact the texture and color of the sauce.”

Some herbs and spices influence shelf life with their ability to function as antioxidants. “Various herb extracts, such as rosemary, can help maintain freshness (by retarding oxidation) in prepared sauces when used at levels of about 0.05% to 0.10%,” says Roger Nahas, director of R&D, applied antioxidants technology, Kalsec.

Because looks do matter, some sauces require the addition of colorful ingredients. “Heat processing can degrade the intensity of color in a sauce,” says Carol Locey, director of product management, colors, Kalsec. “There are many highly concentrated, naturally derived colors that are stabilized for use in sauces.” For example, colors such as anthocyanins from vegetable juice or extracts can return a desirable fresh red hue to tomato-based red sauces.

In addition to flavor, vegetable purées can also contribute viscosity, eliminating the need for thickening ingredients.

Balancing body When formulating any type of sauce, you need the right balance of solids along with cling, mouthfeel, texture and viscosity. “All of these characteristics-work together to create the overall sensation and performance of the sauce,” says Bishop. “Flavors can be used to increase the perception of mouthfeel or increase the overall flavor so that any texture challenges may be minimized or not as noticeable.”

Texture and viscosity contribute to the palatability of a sauce, making stabilization just as important as flavor. “The selection of the correct system is determined by the type of sauce being formulated,” says Janae Kuc, research and development manager, Gum Technology Corp., Tucson, AZ. “For example, emulsification is not very important in pesto sauce, but can make or literally break an Alfredo sauce.”

Research suggests that the mouthfeel and texture of a sauce impacts accessibility of flavor compounds to taste buds and olfactory neurons. “There is extensive research published that links increased viscosity through the addition of thickeners to a decrease in perceived intensity of volatile and nonvolatile components,” says de Souza. “This should be considered when using appropriate flavors to get to the desired profile in the prepared sauce.”

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Before selecting ingredients that contribute to texture and mouthfeel, formulators should also decide on the finished sauce’s attributes. “Gums and starches are obvious ingredients to create texture and mouthfeel, but vegetable and juice purées are also being used to enhance flavor and texture,” says Zatto. “Our pepper purées can add flavor and some particulates to the end sauce.”

Esmond Joseph, research and development director, Mizkan, adds, “In sauces, we typically use various hydrocolloids, such as starches and gums, to provide texture and mouthfeel. Emulsifiers are used to form a bridge between the oil and water phases and prevent separation, and they are also used in tandem with gums and starches to make stronger emulsions and prevent separation.” In many sauce applications, egg yolks, or their powerhouse emulsifying component, lecithin, as an isolated and purified ingredient, are used when a manufacturer is going for an all-natural product positioning.

“Starch selection is based on how the sauce will be prepared and handled,” says Celeste Sullivan, technical manager, Grain Processing Corp., Muscatine, IA. “For example, cross-linked and stabilized starches, when properly hydrated during cooking, provide freeze-thaw stability by preventing ice crystal formation that leads to a grainy texture.

“Some starches may be screened to a particle size that provides a pulpy texture,” continues Sullivan. “This often helps to build viscosity and extend and enhance the appearance of more-expensive ingredients, such as tomato solids.”

Partial replacement of expensive ingredients with hydrocolloids is a common cost-savings tactic. De Castro concurs that some specialty starches can partially replace tomato solids in sauces. “The finished sauce has the same premium texture and consistency that one expects with a full-tomato- solids sauce,” she says.

When characterizing flavorful ingredients are reduced or omitted for cost reduction or shelf-life extension, flavor and mouthfeel can be jeopardized, says Angela Sabbe, savory applications technologist, Sensient Flavors. Some hydrocolloid systems can help create better-for-you products by reducing fat or oil. These systems mimic the organoleptic properties of fat and maintain premium texture. “We offer a line of specialty starches that works with standard thickening starches to improve desirable sauce attributes, such as cling, creaminess, lubricity and mouthfeel,” says Diana Nieto, senior food technologist, Ingredion. “Improvements are obvious at use levels between 0.5% and 1.5%.

“For clean-label sauces, functional native starches deliver the processing benefits of traditional modified starches, such as heat resistance for superior cooking performance, with the advantage of a simple, consumer-friendly label declaration,” says Nieto. “We also offer a clean-label texturizer that provides sauces with an authentic, natural and rich appearance, with an indulgent, smooth texture and creamy mouthfeel.”

In some instances, the hydrocolloid system must emulsify and keep seasonings in suspension. “This is important in a spicy, high-oil sauce, such as buffalo wing,” says Kuc. “In this situation, a combination of xanthan gum, gum arabic and carrageenan works quite well.” www.foodproductdesign.com Page 5

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As the range of desired flavors and textures grows in the sauce category, suppliers will continue to identify ingredients that assist with producing premium, quality products. This is one category that will spread its wings and continue to soar.

Donna Berry, president of Chicago-based Dairy & Food Communications, Inc., has been writing about product development and marketing for 20 years. She has a B.S. in food science from the University of Illinois in Urbana- Champaign. She can be reached at [email protected].

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