Where sauce goes depends on the texture of the food. Put it under crispy food or serve it in a separate bowl, since sauce poured on top softens the crust. Grilled meat and meatballs can sit on top of the sauce, or it can be drizzled over them in a thin line. Rice and mashed potatoes absorb sauce, so serve it beside them instead of on top. Sauce should complement each bite, not drown the food.
Crispy food is crispy because its crust is dry. Sauce poured on top brings moisture to the crust, softening it quickly; breaded chicken, fried foods, crisp pastries, and crisp bread can turn into a soggy mass within a few minutes under sauce. That is why sauce for crispy foods should either be spread on the plate where the food will sit or served in a separate small bowl. With sauce spread underneath, only the bottom of the food gets wet while the top and sides stay crisp; from a bowl, each bite can be dipped separately.
Foods such as grilled meat, meatballs, and steak have a browned surface rather than a thin crust, and that surface does not soften immediately when it touches sauce. These foods can be placed on top of the sauce, or the sauce can be drizzled over them in a thin line. If sliced meat is being served, spread the sauce underneath the slices so the cut sides face up and their color and juices remain visible. Covering the meat completely with sauce hides both its appearance and its own flavor, so diners taste the sauce rather than the meat.
Rice, mashed potatoes, and bulgur absorb sauce, so serve it beside them rather than on top. Serve kuru fasulye (stewed white beans) beside the rice instead of pouring them over it; with a saucy meat dish, place the meat and sauce beside the rice so diners can mix in as much sauce as they like. This keeps the rice fluffy and lets each person decide how much sauce to have with each bite. Mashed potatoes can make a well for sauce: use the back of a spoon to hollow out the center and pour the sauce into the hollow; the mashed potatoes will hold it without letting it run out.
The temperature of the sauce also affects where it should go. Hot butter and cream sauces thicken and set quickly on a cold plate, so serve them on a warmed plate and do not let them sit there. Do not spread cold sauces under hot food: they warm up underneath, thin out, and spread across the plate. Serve them beside the food or in a separate bowl instead. If a cold sauce is going on hot food, add it just before eating; yogurt served with hot food is the best-known example, and is a separate tip of its own.
Use enough sauce to complement the food without drowning it. Food floating in sauce disappears beneath it, and the plate cools quickly; a thin layer of sauce, on the other hand, accompanies each bite. At a large gathering, the safest approach is to serve sauce separately beside the serving dish or in a sauce bowl, since everyone prefers a different amount. If sauce is put on the plate, use only enough that it will not run over the edge, and wipe the rim with a clean cloth before serving. Give the sauce bowl its own spoon, and do not let anyone dip a personal fork into the sauce; leave any extra sauce in the bowl.