To be a good chef one must know the art of preparing a good sauce.

A good steak cooked rare, medium rare or well done requires skill as does a salmon, cooking it just to the point of perfection, to the point of being moist but not raw, and not overcooking it thereby drying it out. But it is the delicacy of the sauce that gives a dish taste. Often we make sauces that are too solid, thickening them with too much flour or corn flour or making them too liquid by not adding enough.

Sauces play a very important part in cooking. Reductions of sauces without adding a thickening agent is another way of cooking. Sauces should complement a dish and not disguise the dish you are cooking. There are so many varieties of sauces - mustard, mushroom, lemon butter, bechamel, bearnaise, hollandaise. And what about a basic vinaigrette that requires good quality olive and salad oil, the ratio of vinegar being important. The best accompaniment to a salad that I personally tasted was on an Italian passenger liner where they provided fresh lemon juice and good quality olive oil to pour over our salads. A good tomato sauce makes a difference to a spaghetti dish. The use of herbs like basil, oregano and thyme adds flavor to the sauce. One of the best books on sauces is from a South African cookery teacher, Pat Jacobson, whose book, "The Perfect Cook", is so clearly written that it is impossible to fail.

THE BASIC BECHAMEL sauce that I make is using my Magimix: 3 tablespoons of flour, 3 tablespoons of margarine or butter, salt to taste, and a dash of white pepper. Process and pour over 1.5 cups of hot milk through the fee tube while the machine is running. Pour this into a saucepan and stir until mixture coats the spoon. For a cheesy mornay, add half a cup of grated cheese and a pinch of mustard to the bechamel sauce. If you would like a meat sauce (called veloute sauce) then substitute chicken stock for the milk. This method may seem complicated, but it never gets lumpy.

A CHAUDFROID SAUCE is a white sauce diluted with gelatin and is a lovely way of coating and decorating a chicken or fish dish. This mixture sets and looks beautiful, decorated with small slices of olives, carrots and other decorative vegetables cut out with small flower-shaped cutters. This is something not seen at many functions. It does require time and effort but it well worth it. Your guests will be delighted with this style of presentation. After all, one does eat with one's eyes.

Enjoy experimenting with sauces, adding a dash of this and that, but be sure that the sauce will enhance and not overpower the dish. Always aim to keep the sauce subtle. Be confident but not overconfident in order to achieve the best results. And most of all, enjoy with love all the pleasures of cooking.