The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Learning cooking with grandmothers yields saucy delights
AubSauce creator’s first try came via friendly challenge.
Q: One of our friends took the Unexpected Atlanta virtual tour of Juneteenth and in the ATL treat box was a small bottle of the original AubSsauce that we thought was good. Can you tell us about the creator and the sauce?
A: Lenyard Aubrey is the maker of AubSauce and describes the sauces as being for more than just dips or meat.
Aubrey came to Atlanta by way of Birmingham, Alabama, where he was raised. From a single-parent home, the women in his life laid much of the groundwork for what Aubrey was to become.
“I was lucky. I had my mother’s mother, and her mother was still alive, and
I had my father’s mother,” Aubrey said. “So, sometimes, it’s just easier for me to say grandmothers, or sometimes I just say my grandmother referring to one of the three.”
Countless hours were spent in their kitchens, learning about provision food, South- ern soul food and desserts. Sundays were for the gath- ering of families, friends and good food around the table.
Graduating in design from the American College for the Applied Arts, dupioni silk, duchess satin and Indian taffeta led Aubrey to start his own custom evening gown and bridal gown company.
He placed a “traveling” sign on his mailbox copied from one of his favorite movies, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” and closed the shop for the summer. Aubrey said he had the best time, “but that was the dumbest thing I could have done.”
Aubrey’s creative side l anded him back in t he kitchen.
Through a conversation about a peach sauce to pair with a pork loin grew a friendly challenge. Aubrey began in his back yard, smok- ing peaches. Within months of tasting, tweaking and feed- back, his spicy peach barbecue sauce was a hit.
Aubrey said it was just organic to add sauces.
Wanting something fresh-tasting, his pineapple-mango smoothie recipe became his second flavor. “It was perfection from the first time out,” he said.
“The sauce that pays homage not just to my grand- mother, but to all the grand- mothers is the original,” Aubrey said.
His fourth flavor, strawberry balsamic-rosemary, was one of the finalists for the 2020 University of Georgia Food Product Contest.
“Over the years, when I’ve had discussions with friends about childhood and favorite foods,” he said. “… The favorite meals made by all of their grandmothers reflects what I wanted to do with my sauces — create something that would remind people of the best part of a good meal: to have fun with family and friends while sharing wonderfully good food.”
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