Top 5: Sauces To Learn Now For Better Hostel Cooking

I call each of these the new mother sauces for cooking on the road. Hollandaise, béchamel and the rest of the French mother sauces take time to enjoy life on the road. Learn the following and improve anything you’re cooking or spice up the communal BBQ. Room doesn’t allow me to write out full recipes but it’s easy to see the utility, ease and need for each of these.

Learn them before you hit the road and feel free to modify them based on what is available.

Basic pesto sauce can improve chicken, pasta, fish and steak. Any leftovers can be spread on sandwiches you make to hike a mountain the next day or make respectable pasta the next day in 30 seconds more than it takes to cook the pasta.

Basic herb salsa, a bit of just about any vinegar, olive oil, heaps of parsley, olive oil and lemon zest, is all you need to make a sauce that will dramatically improve nearly any protein, roasted vegetables or even grains. Oh, and don’t forget garlic.

Simple yogurt sauce requires nothing more than a clove of garlic, salt, a bit of mint and lime juice to improve nearly everything it touches. Add some chili flakes if you fancy it or thin it with a bit of oil, water or both to create a reasonably healthy salad dressing.

Simple tahini sauce can help chicken, beef and a number of vegetable dishes simply by adding ground cumin, garlic, lemon juice and garlic to tahini and mixing well with a big pinch of salt.

Simple chili sauce: You should already be traveling with dried chili especially if thinking Argentina is an option on your yet decided itinerary. Toast a bit of (any) chili, add water, sufficient tomatoes, salt and garlic to get home with this one.

You needn’t be a French chef to master the (new) traveler’s five mother sauces.