(The only common exceptions are some vinaigrettes and butter and nut butters, in which fat is the continuous phase.) Those other components are the dispersed phase. The task of giving sauces a desirable consistency is a matter of making the continuous, base phase of water seem less watery, more substantial. The way this is done is to add some nonwatery substance— a dispersed phase—to the water. This substance may be particles of plant or animal tissue, or various molecules, or droplets of oil, or even bubbles of air. And how do the added substances make the water seem more substantial? By obstructing the free movement of the water molecules.