# How difficult would it be to recreate a sauce given the ingredients on the bottle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 28, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185 "2024-05-28T14:22:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/1 "2024-05-28T14:22:15Z")
My favorite marinade has been discontinued and I’m very sad. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/2 "2024-05-28T14:24:13Z")
Given the lack of percentages for a start it’s probably impossible. Orange, How much? Sugar, how much? Assorted flavourings, what? Edit, misread as marmalade, but not going to change it as the point still stands. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/3 "2024-05-28T14:27:58Z")
You can sort-of do it, if you know the amount of nutrients, sodium, etc., in the underlying ingredients. The ingredients will be in order of percent of total. If you know how much sodium, sugar, carbs, etc., that each one contributes, you can mostly back into it. I know a food scientist who was able to very closely back into a well-known marinade using the ingredients, nutrients list, and some guess work. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/4 "2024-05-28T14:47:34Z")
There are a number of websites dedicated to this kind of thing so you might get lucky and find someone who’s already made the effort. It’s pretty difficult to recreate mass market recipes. A big reason is because we tend to severely underestimate how much sugar, salt, and stabilizers are in even the higher quality stuff. They’re important for mass production and bottling, not so much for home cooks. You could make a very tasty marinade with the same basic ingredients that will seem thin and sharp compared to what’s in your memory. Yours will be better, though! It just won’t have corn syrup and xanthan gum and enough salt to pickle a hippo. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/5 "2024-05-28T14:51:37Z")
I’d check the sites like “Top Secret Recipes” and googling around to see if I could find a decent clone recipe. Beyond that, I’d try and see what sort of category it falls into, and maybe you could refine a basic recipe for that sort of thing to match your favorite, or maybe doctor a similar commercial version. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/6 "2024-05-28T14:54:08Z")
I meant to include what it actually is. The ingredients are in the link but I have lost hope. ☹ > **[Southern Creole - Schlotterbeck & Foss](https://www.schlotterbeck-foss.com/signature-products/chef-sauces-marinades/southern-creole/)** > > Southern Creole We combine smooth and tangy buttermilk with traditional flavors of the southern Louisiana Bayou. Signature Creole herbs and spices complete this “N’awlins” classic. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/7 "2024-05-28T15:05:08Z")
Okay, that’s a good start. This stuff’s base is mayonnaise mixed with buttermilk powder. Start there, add a generous dash of premade creole seasoning, garlic and onion powder, salt, sugar, pepper, mustard flour (or just ground mustard), and lemon juice. Then it’s just fiddling until you get something you like. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/8 "2024-05-28T18:40:47Z")
It looks like a remoulade sauce. Maybe google ‘remoulade sauce recipes’ like this one to get ideas, but @Johnny_Bravo’s last post probably gets you 90% of the way there already. > **[New Orleans Remoulade Sauce Recipe](https://www.seriouseats.com/sauced-louisiana-remoulade-recipe)** > > Condiment nerds, please settle in for a saucy lesson! Today we explore the origins of New Orleans remoulade, a bold, centuries-old sauce with a well-stamped passport. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/9 "2024-05-28T18:45:45Z")
This looks nearly perfect. Thanks to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/10 "2024-05-28T22:28:14Z")
In many legislations, ingredients must be declared in decending order. so you already know that you need to have more Ingr.1 than Ingr.2 in the recipe … its a good starting point, especially if something like ingredient 4 is declared as (13% hot peppers) or so … that’s another data point (as you already know that ingredients 1-3 each one must be above 13%, again, respecting their proportionate order). But as mentioned above, rather than shoot for a 1:1 copy of an industrial product (that is normally made as cheaply as they can get away with), see what are the ingredients that actually contribute to taste and leave the others (colorants, xanthan gum, stabilizers,…) out, bc that stuff often subtracts “taste” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/11 "2024-05-28T23:34:01Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > The ingredients will be in order of percent of total. By weight, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2024, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/12 "2024-05-29T11:52:12Z")
That’s a pretty tasty looking recipe! I’ve made remoulade a few times, and I have two suggestions. First, consider adding a little bit of dill pickle brine. Second, replace The mild paprika with smoked paprika. These changes make the recipe more savory and briny, which is what I am looking for in a remoulade. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-would-it-be-to-recreate-a-sauce-given-the-ingredients-on-the-bottle/1002185/13 "2024-05-29T20:41:45Z")
The biggest difficulty is going to come from ingredients like “spices”, or “natural flavors”. They’re probably in quantities low enough that they won’t make a detectable difference in the nutrition facts, and there’s no way to tell which spices or natural flavors. Well, aside from recognizing the flavor, of course.