Bland sauce

[Josh71]

So, yesterday, I made this:

 

https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/sous-vide-cream-poached-pork-loin

 

After I read a post about it in the sous vide thread.

 

Here is my question:

 

When making a sauce, it taste very nice. But, after I added it into the dish, it tasted quite bland. Far from what I tasted before adding it.

 

Why is this? Do I need to increase the salt or reduce it more to offset that change?

 

Really, during the reduction process of the sauce, I kept tasting it and it was very very nice, tasty on it's own.

 

Then while the sauce is still warm, I poured into the pork loin (also warm). But I was really surprised the sauce doesn't taste that nice, bland and far from the taste before. The different was very noticeable. 

 

I found this fenomena very ofthen, and cannot figure it out why.

 

Thanks.

[jmacnaughtan]

Your meat may be leaking a lot of liquid into the sauce.  Let it rest properly first, then slice and serve.

 

You probably need to season it more too.  Pork loin can be bland, so you need to compensate for it.

 

Or maybe you just don't like cream sauces.

[gfweb]

This often happens to me.  I compensate by making the sauce stronger tasting. A little more dijon or soy or anchovy paste or whatever. May taste too strong in the pan, but it'll be fine on the plate.

 

 

[Shalmanese]

Sounds like maybe you're not seasoning your meat properly as you cook it? Have you tried tasting the meat on it's own? Is it bland? No amount of salty sauce can cover for drastically undersalted meat.

[gfweb]

25 minutes ago, Shalmanese said:

Sounds like maybe you're not seasoning your meat properly as you cook it? Have you tried tasting the meat on it's own? Is it bland? No amount of salty sauce can cover for drastically undersalted meat.

 

Not in my case. Sometimes the sauce just gets lost on the thin film that clings to the meat.

[Paul Fink]

Ahhh, that recipe seems  like a pretty bland sauce to use with pork. 

[Josh71]

No, the meat was well seasoned and well rested. The sauce was tasted very nice on it's own, before adding it to the meat.

Once added to the meat, the sauce kind of lost it's taste. The difference was very noticeable.

 

But, as gfweb also experienced, I think next time I would make it stronger taste as he suggested.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by Josh71 (log)

[btbyrd]

When you say "before being added to the meat," do you mean before you added it to the SV bag and cooked it or before you added sauce to the finished plate?

 

In any event, I'm in the camp of those who think sauces should taste overseasoned on their own... unless you're serving a boatload of sauce relative to the amount of thing-being-sauced. 

[Paul Fink]

I can't think of anything more bland than pouched pork with cream sauce.

Pork needs to be well seared & complemented with good flavors.

Like apples, mango, carrots, mushrooms, & herbs

 

Sometimes recipes don't turn out because they are poor recipes.

Think about it. Where is the flavor going to come from?

The pouched pork? I don't think so. The cream sauce? Not much there ether.

[Captain]

I always think that a sauce need to be strong in flavour to hold up on the plate. Much like a vinaigrette or dressing.

2c.

[pastrygirl]

There may also be a bit of palate fatigue going on.  Sometimes you've been tasting, tasting, tasting all day and it's hard to enjoy the finished dish because you've already tasted so much. 

 

Or what everybody else said

 

[paulraphael]

Looks like a recipe that needs work. It's a mild cut of meat with a milk and cream sauce, seasoned just with onion. The most obvious fix would be adding an acid. This could be some tart white wine to deglaze the pan (reduce it a lot before adding the other liquids) or just some sherry vinegar stirred in at the end. 

 

That said, a cream sauce on tenderloin seems a bit pallid and unappealing. I understand the desire to add some richness, but suspect that if you got both richness and flavor from the sauce, the meat would just disappear. I like to tart up tenderloins with a relatively lean and bright sauce. Something with acidic fruit or chutney or reduced stock or wine / vinegar—bright flavors that act more as a condiment that complement. Tenderloin needs some kind of accent. 

[Anna N]

20 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

Looks like a recipe that needs work. It's a mild cut of meat with a milk and cream sauce, seasoned just with onion. The most obvious fix would be adding an acid. This could be some tart white wine to deglaze the pan (reduce it a lot before adding the other liquids) or just some sherry vinegar stirred in at the end. 

 

That said, a cream sauce on tenderloin seems a bit pallid and unappealing. I understand the desire to add some richness, but suspect that if you got both richness and flavor from the sauce, the meat would just disappear. I like to tart up tenderloins with a relatively lean and bright sauce. Something with acidic fruit or chutney or reduced stock or wine / vinegar—bright flavors that act more as a condiment that complement. Tenderloin needs some kind of accent. 

 I feel the need to point out it's not a tenderloin it's a loin.   Three people commented on the original recipe all positively. Our own @FrogPrincesse made this and found it very satisfactory.  Apparently different strokes for different folks.  I am quite anxious to make it myself and have a pork loin on order.

[paulraphael]

24 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 I feel the need to point out it's not a tenderloin it's a loin

 

Ahh, sorry. I read that wrong. That doesn't sound as bad. I still suspect a little acid would be a big improvement.

[FrogPrincesse]

I used crème fraîche which has a nice tang, there were plenty of onions and a nice little touch of cognac, so the sauce didn't feel bland to me. It's a bit rich and mild, but still quite flavorful. Thoroughly browning the meat and cooking the onions before putting everything into the sous vide bag greatly helped develop the flavors. And I reduced the sauce at the end.

 

At the end of the day though, taste is quite a subjective, so maybe this recipe just isn't your thing...

Had you tried similar dishes before? It reminded me a bit of blanquette de veau which is one of my favorite dishes, so I knew I was going to like this one! Or the Italian classic, milk-braised pork, which it seems directly inspired by.

If you feel that acid is lacking, I think you could add a bit of lemon juice to make the flavors pop. Probably the most important is to salt properly, so make sure to adjust the seasoning at the end as necessary.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'm fond of chicken allemande myself.  I suggest sauce allemande would go well with pork loin.  Often as not I flavor my allemande with Calvados rather than Cognac.  And don't forget the mushroom liquor.

 

Perhaps accompanied by sautéed apples and wild rice.

 

[FeChef]

Your sauce is too thin. Reduce and thicken.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

16 minutes ago, FeChef said:

Your sauce is too thin. Reduce and thicken.

 

How do you infer this?  Pictures possibly might help.

[FeChef]

5 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

How do you infer this?  Pictures possibly might help.

I have had this problem when i was learning to make sauces. It took a long time wondering why my sauces were so bland. I learned from trial and error that #1 I was not reducing enough, and #2 the sauce was no thick enough to coat the meat. Sorry i dont have any pictures, but a simple google search will tell and show you a good reduction sauce should (thin) coat a vertical spoon and not fall off.

Edited March 28, 2017 by FeChef (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

24 minutes ago, FeChef said:

I have had this problem when i was learning to make sauces. It took a long time wondering why my sauces were so bland. I learned from trial and error that #1 I was not reducing enough, and #2 the sauce was no thick enough to coat the meat. Sorry i dont have any pictures, but a simple google search will tell and show you a good reduction sauce should (thin) coat a vertical spoon and not fall off.

 

 

I meant pictures of the original poster's problem.

 

[Josh71]

13 hours ago, btbyrd said:

When you say "before being added to the meat," do you mean before you added it to the SV bag and cooked it or before you added sauce to the finished plate?

 

In any event, I'm in the camp of those who think sauces should taste overseasoned on their own... unless you're serving a boatload of sauce relative to the amount of thing-being-sauced. 

 

I meant the sauce after taken out from the SV bag, and then reduced, as said in the recipe. So, just right before added the sauce to the finished plate.

That tasted very nice, not bland at all.

 

So yes, I would take your advice to over-season the sauce!

[Josh71]

11 hours ago, Paul Fink said:

I can't think of anything more bland than pouched pork with cream sauce.

Pork needs to be well seared & complemented with good flavors.

Like apples, mango, carrots, mushrooms, & herbs

 

Sometimes recipes don't turn out because they are poor recipes.

Think about it. Where is the flavor going to come from?

The pouched pork? I don't think so. The cream sauce? Not much there ether.

 

There are onion sauteed with cognac added into the sauce mixture, cooked together with the pork in the SV bag. The sauce is very nice

[Josh71]

6 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

I used crème fraîche which has a nice tang, there were plenty of onions and a nice little touch of cognac, so the sauce didn't feel bland to me. It's a bit rich and mild, but still quite flavorful. Thoroughly browning the meat and cooking the onions before putting everything into the sous vide bag greatly helped develop the flavors. And I reduced the sauce at the end.

 

At the end of the day though, taste is quite a subjective, so maybe this recipe just isn't your thing...

Had you tried similar dishes before? It reminded me a bit of blanquette de veau which is one of my favorite dishes, so I knew I was going to like this one! Or the Italian classic, milk-braised pork, which it seems directly inspired by.

If you feel that acid is lacking, I think you could add a bit of lemon juice to make the flavors pop. Probably the most important is to salt properly, so make sure to adjust the seasoning at the end as necessary.

 

I wrote down your modifications (chreme fraiche, more onions, more cognac), because I want to make this again some times.

 

So, the problem I posted here, it is not that the sauce was not tasty, no, it is not that.

 

But, the (taste) differences before and after added to the finished dish.

 

Thanks for all the advice by the way. 

[nickrey]

A sauce is a flavour modifier. If the original dish is strong, a well-balanced but subtle sauce is going to be swamped.

 

The sauce will need to either fill a hole in the main dish or add something entirely new. 

 

The sauce as stated in the recipe seems incredibly bland.

 

Try simmering the cream with some bacon prior to bagging and then putting it through a sieve to collect only the cream for use in the bag. The bacon will give strength to the dish.

 

Season it by all means, but also think outside the "throw lots of salt in it" camp.

 

I like the Asian mantra of sweet - sour - salty - hot. If you think of this, what is missing from your sauce?

 

Have you tried adding some form of acid to the sauce before serving? This adds high notes; although reading the recipe it would probably also need some low notes: how about prunes or dates?

 

Look at successful pork dishes and what gives them their flavour and see how you can incorporate the profiles into your dishes.

[FrogPrincesse]

6 hours ago, Josh71 said:

 

I wrote down your modifications (chreme fraiche, more onions, more cognac), because I want to make this again some times.

To clarify, I used the amount of onions and cognac specified in the recipe.