Overview

• Chefs interviewed across the UK say to avoid shop-bought granules and start with real ingredients for superior flavour.
• Mark Poynton calls pan and roasting juices a nonnegotiable base, built out with good stock and the browned bits from a hot tin.
• Sean Blood stresses patience, advising a slow reduction so collagen concentrates into richness, complexity and a natural sheen.
• Jack Stein recommends a modern quartet—soy sauce, Marmite, cider vinegar and mirin—while Mark Hearthstone favours dried fungi for woodland depth.
• Matt Fletcher endorses a small splash of Worcestershire for tangy punch, though some note it is ultra-processed, and Dean Harper finishes with a modest knob of butter for silky texture without greasiness.