Sauce – How to remove whole peppercorns from a sauce after cooking

peppersaucespices

I've heard that whole black pepper is put in sauces for flavour, but it is not supposed to stay there in a finished dish, because it's quite unpleasant to bite on one during a meal. But how does one remove all of it from a sauce / gravy, especially a thick one?

Best Answer

One way to steep peppercorns in a sauce is to put them in a tea ball or a tied up piece of cloth which is submerged into the sauce and then removed before serving. If they are just dropped into the sauce they'll have to be strained out, which only works if the sauce is smooth.