New York's Capital City Has A Tastier Dipping Sauce For Mozzarella Sticks Than Marinara

Isn't it funny how regional quirks can take hold when it comes to eating habits? Cincinnati has its penchant for chili served over spaghetti, and the Canadian city of Halifax has a unique twist on a kebab called donair – it's served with a sweet sauce made from evaporated milk, sugar, and vinegar. In New York's capital city of Albany, they've reinvented how to eat mozzarella sticks, and it involves an unlikely ingredient: raspberries.

In Albany, mozzarella sticks are usually served with a pureed raspberry sauce called Melba sauce — or at least, they give you this option. Many places offer both Melba and marinara sauce as accompaniments, and those willing to take the leap of faith are rewarded. The sweet tanginess of the fruity sauce offers a refreshing contrast to the salty, crunchy cheese stick in a wholly unique way. Interestingly, this pairing doesn't seem to have taken hold in the surrounding cities and remains specific to the capital region.

For some folks, this may seem like an unusual suggestion, but berries and cheese have a long, beautiful history together. Whether you're pairing blueberries with feta or goat cheese, indulging in some of your favorite fruity cheesecakes, or trying Wisconsin's bread cheese topped with sweet, tangy cloudberries in an homage to its Icelandic roots, the more you think about it, the more natural this combination sounds.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Melba sauce started as part of a dessert. Chef Georges Auguste Escoffier was a world-renowned chef who had many profound influences on the culinary world, including helping to codify the five mother sauces of French cuisine. 

In 1893, chef Escoffier created the iconic dessert — originally called "pêche au cygne" or "peach with a swan" — in honor of famed opera singer Nellie Melba when he served her at London's Savoy Hotel. The dish of vanilla ice cream, poached peaches, and sugar threads was plated in a swan-shaped ice sculpture. Escoffier later replaced the spun sugar with raspberry puree when he moved to the Ritz Carlton and officially changed the name to Peach Melba.

The road from peaches at the Savoy to mozzarella sticks in Albany is both long and slightly opaque, but the pairing seems to owe its origins to restauranteur Warren Miller and chef Chris Osborne. Osborne, who traveled the world in search of culinary inspiration, created the concept of battered mozzarella with raspberry sauce in a Virginia restaurant named Fantastic Fritzbe's Flying Food Factor. Miller worked there but later moved to Albany and opened H.P. Mulligans. He brought the recipe with him, while the state of Virginia seemed to forget it completely.

The sauce can be made from the same base as the original dessert – pureed fresh raspberries, lemon juice, and sugar. Some also claim the best way to make it is with raspberries, red currant jelly, sugar, and cornstarch to thicken it.