1. Tomato sauce
Your ticket to great pizza and pasta, ragu and stews. Soften sliced garlic in olive oil, add tinned tomatoes and basil and simmer for 5 minutes. Or sweat onions for 7 minutes, add tomatoes, oregano, thyme or sage and simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Tartare sauce
To lift fried fish to new heights, simply stir finely chopped shallots, gherkins, capers, parsley and a squeeze of lemon into good shop-bought mayonnaise.
3. Flavoured yoghurt
Tangy and cool yoghurt or creme fraiche make great vehicles for flavour to offset savoury and spicy dishes. Add finely chopped herbs such as coriander with seasonings such as crushed garlic, or experiment with mint and lemon juice, or chives and grated horseradish.
4. Herb pesto
Blitz fresh basil with grated Parmesan, toasted pine nuts and a little garlic before loosening with olive oil and seasoning to taste. Or swap some or all of the basil for coriander, parsley, mint, tarragon, dill, chive, rocket or your garden herb of choice.
5. Salsa verde
Bring zing to grilled fish or meat with this fresh green sauce. Finely chop parsley and basil, garlic, capers and anchovies. Bind with olive oil, a dash of red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard to taste.
6. Chimichurri sauce
For an Argentinian take on a green salsa, blitz lots of parsley with a little oregano, some chopped garlic and shallot and a pinch of chilli flakes. Loosen generously with olive oil and sharpen to taste with lemon juice and red wine vinegar. Keep it tangy to cut a juicy steak.
7. Simple gravy
To deglaze the pan after roasting chicken or meat, pour off most of the fat and add half a glass of wine to the pan, stirring over a stove-top heat to incorporate the tasty pan scraps and reduce to a sauce consistency.
8. Fruit compote
Gently cook fruit with sugar and a little water until softened, perhaps with spices and herbs such as cinnamon, ginger or mint. Use for simple desserts or to pour over porridge.
9. Caramel sauce
Cook an unopened tin of condensed milk in simmering water for an hour or two (longer makes it thicker). Allow to cool a little before opening and digging in.
10. Chocolate sauce>/b>
Gently melt milk, dark or white chocolate in a bain marie (heatproof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water) and stir in some cream, if desired. Instant chocolate deliciousness.