Saucy facts

Sauce is to pasta what sugar syrup is to Roshogollas. The choice of sauce determines the flavour and taste of the dish to a great extent. Here's a run-down of basic pasta sauces:

~Bolognaise sauce: A minced beef sauce seasoned with onion, garlic, red wine, rosemary, etc.

~Cream sauce: With white sauce as a base, it contains a lot of cream and cheese.

~Cheese sauce: A combination of white sauce and cheese.

~Basil sauce: Again, it has a white sauce base, with basil and cheese.

~Carbonara sauce: Diced bacon combined with egg yolk, onion, garlic, cream and chopped leeks. Finished with the ubiquitous parmesan cheese.

~Seafood sauce: Primarily has a béchamel base to which assorted seafood is added.

~Pesto sauce: Apart from parmesan cheese, it has basil, garlic, pine nuts and olive oil.

~Napoli sauce: A favourite among vegetarians, it has a tomato base, along with basil, garlic, olive oil, onions and paprika powder.

~Puttensca sauce: This takes the Napoli sauce as a base, to which olives, capers (a herb) and anchovy (a salty fish) are added.

~Primavera sauce: Napoli sauce to which juliennes (vegetables cut into thin strips) are added.

~Arabiata sauce: A favourite with those who love spicy food, this takes Napoli as the base, supplemented with chilli flakes and parmesan cheese.

~Moily sauce: An interesting sauce that can suit the Indian palate, it contains curry leaves, onions, green chillies and ginger blended into coconut milk.