You Should Always Taste Your Steak Before Adding Sauce To It. Here's Why

Whether or not to add sauce to a steak at a restaurant has always been a contentious subject of dispute. Team sauce vehemently defends accenting their favorite cuts with a luscious flavor enhancer, while the other side bemoans the act of saucing steak as the best way to ruin a savory piece of meat. Both sides make fair points, so in an attempt to settle the debate once and for all, The Takeout spoke with Jonathan Bautista, executive chef at Ember & Rye. However, his refined opinion was quite congenial, straddling the line between both sides of the argument.

"I don't think there's a right or wrong when it comes to using a steak sauce," says Bautista. Still, he isn't a fan of dumping it all over the beef immediately after it arrives at your table. "Depending on the cut of beef or steak you choose, I like to savor the quality and nuances of the meat — whether it's a wet-aged hanger steak or a dry-aged ribeye," he says. "You can really taste the level of dry aging and seasoning before adding any sauces."

The beef and sauce should work hand-in-hand to provide you with a balanced taste. Without first sampling the steak on its own, there's no way to comprehend what unique flavors it brings to the palate. That knowledge is critical when pairing it with a sauce that will enhance your overall eating experience.

Sometimes, a steak isn't of the best quality. Whether you fell for the sneaky parking lot steak scam or just came home with a piece of meat that tastes fishy after cooking it, slathering it in sauce can be a last resort to make your dinner somewhat palatable. Yet, as Jonathan Bautista notes, this should never be the case when ordering beef from a professional establishment. "Restaurant steaks should be cooked to be enjoyed on their own," he explains. "A sauce should be an enhancement and accessory to a great steak; it should never mask poor quality or insufficient seasoning."

Still, it isn't necessarily a crime to augment a perfectly seasoned piece of meat, if that's what you like. "That said, people love their sauces and variety of accompaniments with their steaks — and I'm not mad at it, because I'm one of those guests," says Bautista. "If both the steak and sauce are properly balanced and seasoned, there shouldn't be any issues."

As for the best steak sauce to accent your meal, that falls under the "you do you" category. "It could be a house-made signature sauce, a classic bottle of A-1, or even ketchup," states Bautista. If you happen to be one of those folks who gets some side-eye from others because you like your steak well-done and drenched in ketchup, don't be ashamed. After all, you paid for it, and you should eat it in whatever manner pleases you the most. "If the guest enjoys it the way they want, I'll never frown upon it," says Bautista. "It's about the experience, whatever makes people happy. It's their steak."