Etcetera

We’re so impressed with local chefs, and chefs from across the country, cooking up superb sauces and making them available to us, so if you could have restaurant quality sauces without leaving your home, why would you buy sauce from anywhere else? Here are four from Alberta and one from Quebec to tempt your tastebuds.

We’re always on the hunt for good new food products - if you make something you think we should know about, please email us at info@culinairemagazine.ca!

The Curryer Butter Chicken Sauce

We’re no strangers to Butter Chicken; having eaten scores of dishes in 2021 to find Calgary’s Best, I feel qualified to recognise a good one with complexity and a depth of flavour that comes from long simmering, without added sugar to sweeten a rushed one. The good news is we’ve found it here in the Curryer’s sauce! They hadn’t opened when we ran the contest as it would have been a major contender - simmered for five hours, rich and deep; creamy from the cashews, butter, and cream; and with a lovely heat from the red chili and black pepper – and no sugar! 500 mL $10 at Uproot Collective and The Curryer, thecurryer.ca.

Stefano Faita Pasta Sauces

Montreal’s Stefano Faita’s range of Italian sauces are now available in Alberta at Sobey’s, Co-op, and specialty food stores. Based on his family’s recipes, he uses only natural ingredients with no added preservatives, sugar, or water, and they’re completely gluten-free. Alfredo (405 mL) is decadent! Enjoy with bacon, chicken, or scallops; Tomato Basil is fresh-tasting and flavourful, definitely restaurant quality; Marinara is thick, creamy and rich, with a piquancy from lemon and garlic; and Arrabbiata has a bit of a bite from crushed chillies and basil - tomato sauce with a kick! 648 mL $8.

Secret Foods Yuzu Tamari Ginger Tahini Finishing Sauce

The original flavours of Calgary’s Secret Foods’ finishing sauces - Smoked Paprika and Lemon Herb – are very popular and available in more than 300 stores across Western Canada. Now their creator, Anna Jane Daklala, has released a new flavour - Yuzu Tamari Ginger. This Mediterranean-Japanese fusion is full of umami, with yuzu citrus and spicy ginger. Made from a base of tahini, tamari, lemon juice, and EVOO, with its own (secret!) blend of spices – it contains no dairy, eggs, sugar, gluten, or nuts. 245 mL $9-10 at naturamarket.ca and well.ca, and soon at Community Natural Foods and Sobeys.

GR8 Thai Sauce

Talerngpong Charoenpan (TJ to us) was an engineer in Thailand before coming to Canada and he’s been a chef at the Calgary Zoo for six years now. His range of authentic Thai sauces are gluten- and dairy-free, vegan, and made from scratch. They’re frozen to keep them fresh, so all we have to do is defrost them and add our favourite meat, seafood, veggies, noodles – whatever takes you fancy – and heat for five minutes. We already love TJ’s red and green coconut milk curries but his slightly sweet and spicy yellow curry is new to us, and it’s absolutely restaurant quality. 500 mL $13, online at gr8thaisauce.ca or at cultivatr.ca.

Centini Foods Three Cheese and Vodka Sauces

Chevonne Centini of Calgary’s Centini Foods/Restaurant has two new flavours to add to her range of sauces and dressings – and they’re as good as you’d expect - ie. excellent! Three Cheese has Romano, Parmesan, and Asiago, and tastes freshly made, super thick and cheesy, and would be terrific with any protein. Vodka Sauce, the ‘Mother sauce’ with cream and vodka, is rich and creamy, tomatoey, with a little warming spice from the black pepper. Penne would be ideal for this sauce, but it would be wonderful with any wide noodle and protein or veg. $8-10 at Centini Restaurant and Co-op stores.