Those interested in culinary school or a career in the culinary arts often find themselves researching the various roles and opportunities available in the food service and hospitality industries. As you explore the different roles available, you may start wondering, what is a saucier?
A saucier chef is a specialized chef who often focuses on creating sauces for the restaurant’s meals. They may also sauté foods, prepare stews, or create hot hors d’oeuvres.
What Does a Saucier Do?
So, what is a saucier, and what exactly do they do? From fine dining establishments to quick-service restaurants, all kitchens develop a hierarchy system to improve operational efficiency, enhance safety within the kitchen, and ensure that all meals are expertly prepared on time and according to guests’ preferences.
Most kitchens use the French Brigade system to establish a system of kitchen hierarchy and ensure that everything runs smoothly, even during the busiest moments. The chef hierarchy level is as follows:
- The executive chef oversees menu development and operations.
- The sous chef manages daily operations at the restaurant.
- Station chefs report to the sous chef and are responsible for their individual stations.
- Depending on the size of the kitchen, junior chefs and apprentices may report to the station chefs.
A saucier is a specialized chef responsible for the sauce station. In addition to creating and preparing the sauces for the meals, the saucier may also be responsible for sautéing meat and vegetables that need to be included in the meals and preparing stocks and soups that enhance the entrée options.
Saucier Chef Skills
People who truly love food and appreciate the dining experience often gravitate towards restaurants. They love to be served their favorite meals in a decadent and inviting atmosphere, and they also enjoy the fact that food simply seems to taste better when prepared by a chef.
One of the reasons why meals — and sauces, in particular — taste better at a restaurant is because saucier chefs have actively worked to develop an understanding of the French mother sauces from which nearly every other sauce variant used today has been derived. The French mother sauces include hollandaise, tomato, béchamel, espagnol, and velouté.
Those interested in working in the food service industry and who may want to specialize as a sauce chef will want to focus on mastering the following skills for this niche kitchen staff position:
Mastery of Sauce Varieties
If you have ever sat down to a delicious steak dinner with a fresh vegetable and maybe a nourishing potato side dish, you know that the sauce pulls that entire meal together. To become a saucier, you will naturally need to become an expert in various sauces. That requires you to do an intensive study not only of the French mother sauces but also the dozens of different sauce derivatives that have been developed over time.
Developing an extensive knowledge of different sauce types is important because:
- Sauces can be used to extend the menu and develop new dishes in a way that is both cost-effective for the restaurant and appealing to the consumer.
- Sauces help bring out the flavor of any meal and often take center stage in the presentation of the entrée.
- Sauces allow you to customize your menu selections and create something truly authentic for your restaurant, which can help you develop a better brand identity among your target customers.
Proficiency in Sautéing
While the saucier chef primarily works with sauces, they may also have other responsibilities in the kitchen. Sautéing meat, vegetables, and other food products is often the responsibility of the sauce chef. As a result, you will need to gain extensive culinary experience in which you can undergo hands-on training and learn the best sautéing techniques. Developing proficiency in sautéing will allow you to expand your skill set and stand out in the competitive food service industry.
Flavor Profiling and Seasoning
Whether you are working to prepare a new stew for the restaurant menu or you are developing a sauce variety to add to one of the restaurant’s famous homemade pasta dishes, you will need to know how to balance the flavors of the dishes effectively to create a delicious and appealing meal. As a saucier chef, mastering this skill is essential to your success, especially since your responsibilities may extend beyond creating and preparing sauces for meals.
Time Management and Multitasking
Restaurant kitchens are known for being fast-paced, high-stress environments, and it is essential for the entire team to work together effectively to create dishes as quickly as possible and according to the specifications of the individual diner. Given that sauce chefs are critical station chefs, it is very important for anyone who wants to be a saucier to focus on their time management and multitasking skills.
You can improve your time management in the kitchen by:
- Planning out your daily schedule in advance and knowing what tasks need to be performed at specific times.
- Relying on the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize the tasks that need to be done. This matrix breaks down tasks into four categories: urgent and important, important yet not urgent, urgent yet not important, and not important and not urgent.
- Delegate to junior chefs and apprentices when you can so that you can focus on the most important aspects of your role as a saucier.
- Take breaks when needed to avoid burnout and prevent unnecessary mistakes.
Creativity and Adaptability
Perhaps one of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of working in the food service industry and taking on the position of saucier is that you get to play an active role in developing and enhancing the available menu. As a result, you need to be both creative and adaptable. You can rely on your extensive knowledge of sauces and your basic cooking skills to create new and inventive sauces that will complement any meal. In addition, you can monitor the reactions of those dining at the restaurant as well as the ratings and reviews that the facility reviews to make adjustments as needed to the sauces and stocks that you create.
Tools and Equipment Essential for a Saucier
The saucier station is one of the most crucial stations in the kitchen, requiring sauce chefs to have expert tools and equipment. Some of the key tools and equipment required at the saucier station include:
- A saucier pan—This specialized pan combines the traditional saucepan with the sauté pan, making it a versatile tool for preparing sauces and sautéing food.
- Kitchen knives—Sauciers often mince ingredients to prepare their sauces and stocks, making a set of sharp, well-made kitchen knives absolutely essential.
In addition, a sauce chef may work with a variety of other kitchen tools and equipment, requiring a basic understanding of the tools used at every station.
How to Become a Saucier
If you are interested in specializing as a saucier, then these are the steps that you may want to take:
- Attend culinary school or pursue an undergraduate certificate in culinary skills to develop the basic cooking skills required to work in the food service industry.
- Gain professional culinary experience by pursuing entry-level positions in the food service industry. Hands-on training will allow you to develop your skills and become more well-versed in a variety of sauces.
- Explore potential career opportunities that may interest you. Knowing the available roles can help you narrow your focus and plan accordingly.
Start Your Journey to Becoming a Saucier
Before you can begin developing the specialized skills required to become a saucier, you will want to develop a skills-based foundation in the culinary arts. At Johnson & Wales University, we offer a Professional Culinary Skills Certificate that provides aspiring sauce chefs with an opportunity to develop the basic cooking skills required for a career in the culinary arts.
For more information about completing your degree online, complete the Request Info form, call 855-JWU-1881, or email [email protected].