Sauce

“ Sauce′pan, a pan in which sauce or any small thing is boiled; Sauce′pan-fish, the king-crab.—Poor man's sauce, hunger; Serve one with the same sauce, to requite one injury with another, to make to suffer. ”

“ SAUCE FOR BOILED MEAT. The sauces usually sent to table with boiled meat, not poured over the dish, but put into boats, are the following. Gravy, parsley and butter, chervil, caper, oyster, liver and parsley, onion, celery, shalot, and curry. The ingredients for compound sauces should be so nicely proportioned, that no one may be predominant, but that there may be an equal union of the combined flavours. All sauces should be sent to table as hot as possible, for nothing is more unsightly than the [338] surface of a sauce in a frozen state, or garnished with grease on the top. ”

“ If you have not liquor enough, add a little melted butter, or cream (see No. 388) , or milk beat up with the yelk of an egg (this must not be put in till the sauce is done) . Some barbarous cooks add pepper, or mace, the juice or peel of a lemon, horseradish, essence of anchovy, Cayenne, &c.: plain sauces are only to taste of the ingredient from which they derive their name. ”

“ One-half cup of medium cream sauce,
Two tablespoons of white wine vinegar,
Yolk of one egg,
One teaspoon of mustard,
One teaspoon of salt,
One-half teaspoon of paprika.
Beat thoroughly to mix and then heat to the boiling point.
In no other part of cookery does the skill of the cook show to advantage as in the way in which the various sauces are prepared and served. To make a perfect sauce is an art in cooking. Many plain foods, as well as the use of leftovers, may, by the addition of a good sauce, be turned into palatable and attractive dishes. ”

“ Most sauces must be stirred continually while on the fire, and especially white sauces, such as Béchamel, Béchamel with cream or cream sauce, and white sauce.
It is necessary to stir all sauces now and then, to prevent the forming of a kind of skin on the surface.
The onions, shallots, garlics, and vinegar, used in sharp sauces, may be prepared as described for piquante sauce.
Sauces can always be made to suit the taste. A thousand can be made as well as a hundred, by merely adding or subtracting one or more of the compounds, or by proceeding differently. ”

“ These substances combined in different proportions are quite sufficient to make an endless variety of picquant sauces, as pleasant to the palate and stomach, as the most compound foreign sauces in which every thing has the same taste, and none its own taste. The aim of the English cooks, as far as it regards sauces, appears to be to let [159] every sauce display a decided character, so as to taste only of the material from which it derives its name. Compound sauces are seldom employed, but in the learned foreign dishes. ”

“ The philosophy of a sauce, when understood, enables even an untrained cook to make a great variety of every day sauces from materials usually found in every household; to have them uniform, however, flavorings must be correctly blended, and measurements must be rigidly observed. Two level tablespoonfuls of butter or other fat, two level tablespoonfuls of flour, must be used to each half pint of liquid. ”

“ It has been explained before, but I repeat it here, that there must never be too much sauce, however good, to any dish, and that the consistency is most important: it must be thick enough to mask a spoon, yet run from it freely. Nothing can be worse than a dab of white mush being served as sauce, unless it be a quantity of thin, milky soup floating on every plate. This is where the happy medium must be struck. It is perfectly easy to give exact proportions to produce certain degrees of thickness, and this has been done in the chapters on sauces ”

“ You will never get a good white sauce unless you season it well and let it simmer for a quarter of an hour. Strain it, heat it again, and serve it for fish, potatoes, chicken.
SAUCE MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL
Every one likes this sauce for either meat or fish. In a double saucepan melt a lump of butter, flavor it with salt, pepper, some minced parsley that you had first rubbed on a raw slice of onion, and some lemon-juice. Use vinegar instead of the lemon if you wish, but do not forget that it does not require so much vinegar. Mix it with a fork and serve it warm; do not let it bubble. ”

“ In making a brown sauce we put a little butter or olive oil in the frying-pan; let it bubble and sputter, dredge in Allinson wholemeal flour, stir it round with a knife until browned, add boiling water, pepper, salt, a little ketchup, and you then have a nice brown sauce for many dishes. If we wish to make it very tasty we fry a finely chopped onion first and add that to it. White sweet sauce is made from wholemeal flour, milk, sugar, and a little cinnamon, cloves, lemon juice, vanilla, or other flavouring. ”

“ Various appetizing mixtures intended to give relish to meats, fish and soups, and composed of vegetables, fruits and divers spices, are known as sauces. “Roots, herbs, vine fruits and salad-flowers, they dish up various ways and find them a very delicious sauce to their meats, both roasted and boiled, fresh and salt.” No other sauce made compares with genuine East Indian chutney. It is a thick sauce, made from the mango apple, chilies, spices, lemon juice, raisins, figs, salt and sugar. ”

“ To combine desserts and sauces properly requires true artistic skill. As a rule, a rich sauce should be served with a plain pudding and a simpler or neutral sauce with a richer pudding, or with one having a characteristic or delicate flavor. Cream—almond, Brazil nut, cocoanut or dairy is the only thing that will develop the flavor of some desserts, while some puddings are too good to be spoiled with any sauce.
★ Creamy (Apple Dumpling) Sauce 1⁄2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1⁄2 cup milk 1 teaspn. ”

“ Serves 6.
7 CARNATION MILK MAKES RICH SAUCES
Sauces For Fish and Vegetables
How tempting a most ordinary food is made by the addition of an attractive sauce—one that is smooth and creamy, with delicate flavors well blended! The generous use of a variety of sauces is, to be sure, one of the secrets of French cookery. Sauces containing liberal amounts of milk not only stimulate the appetite and cause digestive juices to flow more freely but also are very nutritious.
WHITE SAUCE
1⁄2 tsp. Salt
few grains Pepper
1⁄2 cup Carnation
1⁄2 cup Water
Melt fat in top part of double boiler ”

“ Use of Sauces and Gravies.—Each sauce must possess a distinct flavour and character of its own, and add either richness, piquancy, or flavour without losing its own identity; but unless purposely employed to disguise the absence of flavour in some insipid substance, they should never be allowed to overpower the natural flavour of dishes of game, poultry, meat, etc., with which they are served. The excellence of many entrées depends almost entirely on the sauces which enter largely into their composition. Boiled fish would be insipid without an appropriately flavoured sauce. ”

“ Wilding; "and then, again, the love of the English for pungent-made sauces is another reason for this makeshift practice. 'Oh, a table-spoonful of somebody's sauce will do for the flavouring,' and in goes the sauce, and the flavouring is supposed to be complete. People who eat their chops, and steaks, and fish, and game, after having smothered the natural flavour with the same harsh condiment, may be satisfied with a cuisine of this sort, but to an unvitiated palate the result is nauseous." ”

“ The only advantage in a private family of making it thus thick is when, perhaps, two or three sauces are needed for a dinner; for example, a plain white sauce for a vegetable, caper, lobster, or cardinal for other purposes, and perhaps poulette, d’Uxelles, or other pale sauce for an entrée; but when one sauce only is required, it is best to make that one from the beginning ”

“ It can also be served “à la poulette,” by putting a pint of white sauce in a stewpan; you have peeled and cooked about fifty button onions in white broth, to which you have added a little sugar and butter, and a few mushrooms; add the broth, onions, and sauce together, and when on the point of boiling, add a liaison of two yolks of eggs and the juice of a lemon; stir it well round; it ought to be the thickness of cream sauce; pour over the head and serve. ”

“ Above all, study well your sauce; if it fail, disaster is inevitable; if it succeed, place laurel leaves in your hair, for you will have conquered. "A woman who has mastered sauces sits on the apex of civilisation."
Without fear of anti-climax, pass suavely on from œufs aux saucissons to rognons sautés. In thin elegant slices your kidneys should be cut, before trusting them to the melted butter in the frying pan; for seasoning, add salt, pepper, and parsley; for thickening, flour; for strength, a tablespoonful or more of stock ”

“ Ordinary brown sauce, like ordinary white, is often made without stock—simply an ounce of flour, one of butter, browned together, and half a pint of boiling water added, then boiled till thick and smooth. But it may be safely said that in high-class dark sauces water should play no part; its place must be taken by stock of good quality, which is often enriched by reducing or adding glaze. ”

“ And as one takes a certain simple base for a sauce, and, by adding various flavors or acids, produces innumerable different sauces, so to that natural manner he, by adding a touch of dignity or sternness or jollity or deprecation, came very near making himself all things to all men. ”

“ For sauce take a few oysters, shred them, and put them into a little gravy, with a lump of butter, a little lemon-peel shred and a little juice, thicken it up with a little flour, lie the fowl on the dish, and pour the sauce upon it; you may fry a little of the forc'd-meat to lay round. Garnish your dish with lemon; you may set it in the oven if you have convenience, only rub over it the yolk of an egg and a few bread crumbs. ”

“ Sauce Tartare (a Cold Sauce) .
To a scant half pint of Mayonnaise sauce (made with the mustard added) mix in two table-spoonfuls of capers, one small shallot (quarter of a rather small onion, a poor substitute) , two gerkins (or two ounces of cucumber pickle) , and one table-spoonful of parsley, all chopped very fine. This sauce will keep a long time, and is delicious for fried fish, fried oysters, boiled cod-fish, boiled tongue, or as dressing for a salad. ”

“ Ordinary sauces, served in a sauce tureen, should be fairly thick; the proportions taken should be 1 oz. of butter; 3⁄4 oz. of flour; 1⁄2 pint of milk. If the sauce is to be used to coat anything very thinly (new potatoes, for example) , 1⁄2 oz. of flour, instead of 3⁄4 oz., would be sufficient. If a sauce is required to entirely mask a small piece of fish, or chicken, &c., 1 oz. of flour should be used, with the proportions of milk and butter already given. Every ingredient should be properly weighed or measured. Carelessness in this respect is a mark of ignorance, and must occasion failures. ”

“ Sauce Pan continued: It is somewhat the same way with
No. 10.—Hard-boiled Eggs.
1. Put eggs in sauce pan.
2. Cover them with boiling water.
3. Place on fire where the water will boil but very gently 20 minutes.
[62]
"Thinks he knows it all," grumbled Coffee Pot; "he'll be like the frog; he'll burst with pride if he keeps this up."
"Well, well, well!" said Mary Frances, "I certainly am surprised at what you know."
"A Sauce Pan is a funny thing,
Needed by every lassie,—
Although it may be full of sauce
It may not yet be sassy,"
sang the little fellow, dancing on the stove. ”

“ It is well worth remembering that a sauce of average thickness is made by allowing two tablespoons each of butter and flour to one cup liquid, whether it be milk, stock, or tomato. For Brown Sauce a slightly larger quantity of flour is necessary, as by browning flour its thickening property is lessened, its starch being changed to dextrine. When sauces are set away, put a few bits of butter on top to prevent crust from forming. ”

“ Who has not eaten calf's head au naturel, simply boiled with the skin on, its flavour heightened by sauce just a little sharp? It is a dish as wholesome as it is agreeable, and one that the most inexperienced cook may serve with success. ”

“ Cream Sauce
Blend together butter and flour, and add to hot milk; keep stirring until the whole has boiled for at least one minute. Add seasonings to taste, at the beginning of cooking. The proportions for a thin, a medium, and a thick sauce are, respectively: One, two, and four tablespoonfuls of flour to one cup of milk. And an equal volume of butter, or one-third less than the flour, is called for. ”

“ A little Harvey's sauce or catsup. A little burnt sugar, if necessary, for colouring.
Method.—Put the trimmings into a saucepan with the onion and water, and simmer gently while the heart is cooking.
Then melt the butter in a stewpan.
52 Mix in the flour smoothly; add the liquor strained.
Stir and boil three minutes; add the sauce, pepper and salt, and colouring.
Put the heart on a hot dish, remove the paper, and pour the gravy round it.
If preferred, the heart may be baked.
53
SAUCES. Sauces are often failures, chiefly because they are not made of a proper consistency ”

“ If the milk or water is hot, of course the sauce will be cooked all the more quickly. Let the sauce boil for a minute, stirring all the time, then season with a level teaspoonful of salt for a pint of sauce, a quarter of a saltspoonful of pepper, remembering what I have said about using white pepper. Drain the carrots from the cold water and put them into the sauce to heat. While they are heating—and that will only take three or four minutes—chop a tablespoonful of parsley fine, and stir it among the carrots; then serve them as soon as they are hot. ”