[iii]
A GUIDE TO
MODERN COOKERY

If the art of Cookery in all its branches were not undergoing a process of evolution, and if its canons could be once and for ever fixed, as are those of certain scientific operations and mathematical procedures, the present work would have no raison d’être; inasmuch as there already exist several excellent culinary text-books in the English language. But everything is so unstable in these times of progress at any cost, and social customs and methods of life alter so rapidly, that a few years now suffice to change completely the face of usages which at their inception bade fair to outlive the age—so enthusiastically were they welcomed by the public.

In regard to the traditions of the festal board, it is but twenty years ago since the ancestral English customs began to make way before the newer methods, and we must look to the great impetus given to travelling by steam traction and navigation, in order to account for the gradual but unquestionable revolution.

In the wake of the demand came the supply. Palatial hotels were built, sumptuous restaurants were opened, both of which offered their customers luxuries undreamt of theretofore in such establishments.

Modern society contracted the habit of partaking of light suppers in these places, after the theatres of the Metropolis had closed; and the well-to-do began to flock to them on Sundays, in order to give their servants the required weekly rest. And, since restaurants allow of observing and of being observed, since they are eminently adapted to the exhibiting of magnificent dresses, it was not long before they entered into the life of Fortune’s favourites.

But these new-fangled habits had to be met by novel methods of Cookery—better adapted to the particular environment in which they were to be practised. The admirable productions popularised by the old Masters of the Culinary Art of the [vi] preceding Century did not become the light and more frivolous atmosphere of restaurants; were, in fact, ill-suited to the brisk waiters, and their customers who only had eyes for one another.

The pompous splendour of those bygone dinners, served in the majestic dining-halls of Manors and Palaces, by liveried footmen, was part and parcel of the etiquette of Courts and lordly mansions.

It is eminently suited to State dinners, which are in sooth veritable ceremonies, possessing their ritual, traditions, and—one might even say—their high priests; but it is a mere hindrance to the modern, rapid service. The complicated and sometimes heavy menus would be unwelcome to the hypercritical appetites so common nowadays; hence the need of a radical change not only in the culinary preparations themselves, but in the arrangements of the menus, and the service.

Circumstances ordained that I should be one of the movers in this revolution, and that I should manage the kitchens of two establishments which have done most to bring it about. I therefore venture to suppose that a book containing a record of all the changes which have come into being in kitchen work—changes whereof I am in a great part author—may have some chance of a good reception at the hands of the public, i.e., at the hands of those very members of it who have profited by the changes I refer to.

For it was only with the view of meeting the many and persistent demands for such a record that the present volume was written.

I had at first contemplated the possibility of including only new recipes in this formulary. But it should be borne in mind that the changes that have transformed kitchen procedure during the last twenty-five years could not all be classed under the head of new recipes; for, apart from the fundamental principles of the science, which we owe to Carême, and which will last as long as Cooking itself, scarcely one old-fashioned method has escaped the necessary new moulding required by modern demands. For fear of giving my work an incomplete appearance, therefore, I had to refer to these old-fashioned practices and to include among my new recipes those of the former which most deserved to survive. But it should not be forgotten that in a few years, judging from the rate at which things are going, the publication of a fresh selection of recipes may become necessary; I hope to live long enough to see this accomplished, in order that I may follow the evolution, started in my time, and add a few more original creations to those I have already [-9] had the pleasure of seeing adopted; despite the fact that the discovery of new dishes grows daily more difficult.

But novelty is the universal cry—novelty by hook or by crook! It is an exceedingly common mania among people of inordinate wealth to exact incessantly new or so-called new dishes. Sometimes the demand comes from a host whose luxurious table has exhausted all the resources of the modern cook’s repertory, and who, having partaken of every delicacy, and often had too much of good things, anxiously seeks new sensations for his blasé palate. Anon, we have a hostess, anxious to outshine friends with whom she has been invited to dine, and whom she afterwards invites to dine with her.

Novelty! It is the prevailing cry; it is imperiously demanded by everyone.

For all that, the number of alimentary substances is comparatively small, the number of their combinations is not infinite, and the amount of raw material placed either by art or by nature at the disposal of a cook does not grow in proportion to the whims of the public.

What feats of ingenuity have we not been forced to perform, at times, in order to meet our customers’ wishes? Those only who have had charge of a large, modern kitchen can tell the tale. Personally, I have ceased counting the nights spent in the attempt to discover new combinations, when, completely broken with the fatigue of a heavy day, my body ought to have been at rest.

Yet, the Chef who has had the felicity to succeed in turning out an original and skilful preparation approved by his public and producing a vogue, cannot, even for a time, claim the monopoly of his secret discovery, or derive any profit therefrom. The painter, sculptor, writer and musician are protected by law. So are inventors. But the chef has absolutely no redress for plagiarism on his work; on the contrary, the more the latter is liked and appreciated, the more will people clamour for his recipes. Many hours of hard work perhaps underlie his latest creation, if it have reached the desired degree of perfection.

He may have forfeited his recreation and even his night’s rest, and have laboured without a break over his combination; and, as a reward, he finds himself compelled, morally at least, to convey the result of his study to the first person who asks, and who, very often, subsequently claims the invention of the recipe—to the detriment of the real author’s chances and reputation.

This frantic love of novelty is also responsible for many of [viii] the difficulties attending the arrangement of menus; for very few people know what an arduous task the composing of a perfect menu represents.

The majority—even of those who are accustomed to receptions and the giving of dinners—suppose that a certain routine alone is necessary, together with some culinary practice, in order to write a menu; and few imagine that a good deal more is needed than the mere inscription of Courses upon a slip of pasteboard.

In reality the planning of these alimentary programmes is among the most difficult problems of our art, and it is in this very matter that perfection is so rarely reached. In the course of more than forty years’ experience as a chef, I have been responsible for thousands of menus, some of which have since become classical and have ranked among the finest served in modern times; and I can safely say, that in spite of the familiarity such a period of time ought to give one with the work, the setting-up of a presentable menu is rarely accomplished without lengthy labour and much thought, and for all that the result is not always to my satisfaction. From this it may be seen how slender are the claims of those who, without any knowledge of our art, and quite unaware of the various properties belonging to the substances we use, pretend to arrange a proper menu.

However difficult the elaboration of a menu may be, it is but the first and by no means the only difficulty which results from the rapidity with which meals are served nowadays. The number of dishes set before the diners being considerably reduced, and the dishes themselves having been deprived of all the advantages which their sumptuous decorations formerly lent them, they must recover, by means of perfection and delicacy, sufficient in the way of quality to compensate for their diminished bulk and reduced splendour. They must be faultless in regard to quality; they must be savoury and light. The choice of the raw material, therefore, is a matter demanding vast experience on the part of the chef; for the old French adage which says that “La sauce fait passer le poisson” has long since ceased to be true, and if one do not wish to court disapprobation—often well earned—the fish should not be in the slightest degree inferior to its accompanying sauce.

While on the subject of raw material, I should like, en passant, to call attention to a misguided policy which seems to be spreading in private houses and even in some commercial establishments; I refer to the custom which, arising as it doubtless [ix] does from a mistaken idea of economy, consists of entrusting the choice of kitchen provisions to people unacquainted with the profession, and who, never having used the goods which they have to buy, are able to judge only very superficially of their quality or real value, and cannot form any estimate of their probable worth after the cooking process.

If economy were verily the result of such a policy none would object to it. But the case is exactly the reverse; for, in the matter of provisions, as in all commercial matters, the cheapest is the dearest in the end. To obtain good results, good material in a sufficient quantity must be used, and, in order to obtain good material, the latter should be selected by the person who is going to use it, and who knows its qualities and properties. Amphitryons who set aside these essential principles may hope in vain to found a reputation for their tables.

It will be seen that the greater part of the titles in this work have been left in French. I introduced, or rather promulgated this system, because, since it is growing every day more customary to write menus in French, it will allow those who are unacquainted with the language to accomplish the task with greater ease. Moreover, many of the titles—especially those of recent creations—are quite untranslatable. As the index, however, is in English, and in every case the order number of each recipe accompanies the number of the page where it is to be found, no confusion can possibly arise. I have also allowed certain French technical terms, for which there exist no English equivalents, to remain in their original form, and these will be found explained in a glossary at the end of the book.

I preferred to do this rather than strain the meaning of certain English words, in order to fit them to a slightly unusual application; and in so doing I only followed a precedent which has been established on a more or less large scale by such authors of English books on French cooking as Francatelli, Gouffé, Ranhoffer, etc.

But the example for such verbal adoptions was set long ago in France, where sporting and other terms, for which no suitable native words could be found, were borrowed wholesale from the English language, and gallicised. It is therefore not unreasonable to apply the principle to terms in cookery which, though plentiful and varied in France, are scarce in this country.

To facilitate the reading of the recipes, all words which are not in common use, and of which the explanation will be found in the Glossary, are italicised in the text.

In concluding this preface, which, I fear, has already [x] overreached the bounds I intended for it, I should like to thank those of my lady clients as well as many English epicures whose kind appreciation has been conducive to the writing of this work. I trust they will favour the latter with the generous consideration of which they have so frequently given the author valuable proofs, and for which he is glad of an opportunity of expressing his deep gratitude.

Before undertaking the description of the different kinds of dishes whose recipes I purpose giving in this work, it will be necessary to reveal the groundwork whereon these recipes are built. And, although this has already been done again and again, and is wearisome in the extreme, a text-book on cooking that did not include it would be not only incomplete, but in many cases incomprehensible.

Notwithstanding the fact that it is the usual procedure, in culinary matters, to insist upon the importance of the part played by stock, I feel compelled to refer to it at the outset of this work, and to lay even further stress upon what has already been written on the subject.

Indeed, stock is everything in cooking, at least in French cooking. Without it, nothing can be done. If one’s stock is good, what remains of the work is easy; if, on the other hand, it is bad or merely mediocre, it is quite hopeless to expect anything approaching a satisfactory result.

The workman mindful of success, therefore, will naturally direct his attention to the faultless preparation of his stock, and, in order to achieve this result, he will find it necessary not merely to make use of the freshest and finest goods, but also to exercise the most scrupulous care in their preparation, for, in cooking, care is half the battle. Unfortunately, no theories, no formulæ, and no recipes, however well written, can take the place of practical experience in the acquisition of a full knowledge concerning this part of the work—the most important, the most essential, and certainly the most difficult part.

In the matter of stock it is, above all, necessary to have a sufficient quantity of the finest materials at one’s disposal. The master or mistress of a house who stints in this respect thereby deliberately forfeits his or her right to make any remark [2] whatsoever to the chef concerning his work, for, let the talent or merits of the latter be what they may, they are crippled by insufficient or inferior material. It is just as absurd to exact excellent cooking from a chef whom one provides with defective or scanty goods, as to hope to obtain wine from a bottled decoction of logwood.

The principal kinds of fonds de cuisine are:—

1. Ordinary and clarified consommés.

2. The brown stock or “estouffade,” game stocks, the bases of thickened gravies and of brown sauces.

3. White stock, basis of white sauces.

4. Fish stock.

5. The various essences of poultry, game, fish, &c., the complements of small sauces.

6. The various glazes: meat, game, and poultry.

7. The basic sauces: Espagnole, Velouté, Béchamel, Tomato, and Hollandaise.

8. The savoury jellies or aspics of old-fashioned cooking.

To these kinds of stock, which, in short, represent the buttresses of the culinary edifice, must now be added the following preparations, which are, in a measure, the auxiliaries of the above:—

1. The roux, the cohering element in sauces.

2. The “Mirepoix” and “Matignon” aromatic and flavouring elements.

3. The “Court-Bouillon” and the “Blancs.”

4. The various stuffings.

5. The marinades.

6. The various garnishes for soups, for relevés, for entrées, &c. (“Duxelle,” “Duchesse,” “Dauphine,” Pâte à choux, frying batters, various Salpicons, Profiterolles, Royales, Œufs filés, Diablotins, Pastes, &c.).

[3]
Preparation.—Put the meat into a stock-pot of suitable dimensions, after having previously strung it together; add the poultry carcase, five quarts of water, and one-half oz. of grey salt. Place the stock-pot on a moderate fire in such a manner that it may not boil too quickly, and remember to stir the meat from time to time. Under the influence of the heat, the water gradually reaches the interior of the meat, where, after having dissolved the liquid portions, it duly combines with them. These liquid portions contain a large proportion of albumen, and as the temperature of the water rises this substance has a tendency to coagulate. It also increases in volume, and, by virtue of its lightness, escapes from the water and accumulates on the surface in the form of scum. Carefully remove this scum as it forms, and occasionally add a little cold water before the boil is reached in order that, the latter being retarded, a complete expulsion of the scum may be effected. The clearness of the consommé largely depends upon the manner in which this skimming has been carried out. Then the vegetable garnishing is added. The scum from these is removed as in the previous case, and the edge of the stock-pot should be carefully wiped to the level of the fluid, so as to free it from the deposit which has been formed there. The stock-pot is then moved to a corner of the fire where it may continue cooking slowly for four or five hours. At the end of this time it should be taken right away from the fire, and, after half a pint of cold water has been added to its contents, it should be left to rest a few minutes with a view to allowing the grease to accumulate on the surface of the liquid, whence it must be carefully removed before the consommé is strained. This last operation is effected by means of a very fine strainer, placed on the top of a white tureen (clean and wide), which should then be placed in a draught to hasten the cooling of the consommé. The tureen should not on any account be covered, and this more particularly in summer, when rapid cooling is a precautionary measure against fermentation.

It will be seen that I have not made any mention in the above formula of the meat and the vegetables which have helped to make the consommé, my reason being that it is preferable to remove them from the stock-pot only after the [4] broth has been strained, so as not to run the risk of disturbing the latter.

The quality of the meat goes a long way towards settling the quality of the consommé. In order that the latter be perfect, it is essential that the meat used should be that of comparatively old animals whose flesh is well set and rich in flavour. This is a sine quâ non, and the lack of meat coming from old animals in England accounts for the difficulty attaching to the making of a good consommé and savoury sauces in this country. Cattle in England are killed at an age varying from three to four years at the most; the meat thus obtained has no equal for the purpose of roasts and grills, and anything approaching it is rarely met with on the Continent. But when this same meat is used for boiling or braising, it does not contain enough juice or flavour to yield a satisfactory result.

This shortcoming is furthermore aggravated by a fault that many commit who are employed in the making of consommés and stock. The fault in question consists in cooking the bones simultaneously with the meat. Now to extract that gelatinous element from bone which produces the mellowness characteristic of all good consommés, it is necessary that the gelatigenous bodies should be cooked for twelve hours at least, and even after that time has elapsed they are still not entirely spent. On the Continent the quality of the meat easily compensates for this technical error, but such is certainly not the case in England, where five hours’ stewing only results in a flat and insipid consommé.

I therefore believe that, in the case of either consommé or stock, the formulæ of which I shall give later, it would be advisable for the bones to stew at least twelve hours, and this only after they have been well broken up, while the quantity of water used should be so calculated as to suffice exactly for the immersion of the meat that must follow. The contents of this first stock-pot should include half of the vegetables mentioned, and the consommé thus obtained, after having been strained and cooled, will take the place of the water in the recipe, in accordance with the directions I have given above.

White consommé is used in the preparation of clarified consommés, in which case it undergoes a process of clarifying, the directions for which will be given later. It also serves as the liquor for thick soups, poached fowls, &c. It must be limpid, [5] as colourless as possible, and very slightly salted, for, whatever the use may be for which it is intended, it has to undergo a process of concentration.

Quantities for making four quarts.—Five quarts of ordinary consommé, one and one-half lbs. of very lean beef, the white of an egg, one fowl’s carcase (roasted if possible). First, mince the beef and pound it in a mortar with the fowl’s carcase and the white of egg, adding a little cold white consommé. Put the whole into a tall, narrow, and thick-bottomed stewpan; then gradually add the cold, white broth, from which all grease has been removed, that the whole may be well mixed. Then the stewpan may be put on the fire, and its contents thoroughly stirred, for fear of their burning at the bottom. When boiling-point is reached, move the stewpan to a corner of the fire, so that the soup may only simmer, for anything approaching the boil would disturb the contents. A good hour should be enough to properly finish the consommé, and any longer time on the fire would be rather prejudicial than the reverse, as it would probably impair the flavour of the preparation. Now carefully remove what little grease may have collected on the surface of the consommé, and strain the latter through muslin into another clean stewpan. It is now ready for the addition of the garnishes that are to form part of it, which I shall enumerate in due course.

For clarified consommés, even more than for the ordinary kind, it is eminently advisable that the meat should be that of old animals. Indeed, it is safe to say that one lb. of meat coming from an animal of eight years will yield much better consommé than two lbs. would, coming from a fattened animal of about three or four years. The consommé will be stronger, mellower, and certainly more tasty, as the flesh of young animals has absolutely no richness of flavour.

It will be seen that I do not refer to any vegetable for the clarification. If the white consommé has been well carried out, it should be able to dispense with all supplementary flavouring, and, the customary error of cooks being rather to overdo the quantity of vegetables—even to the extent of disguising the natural aroma of the consommé—I preferred to entirely abandon [6] the idea of vegetable garnishes in clarifications, and thus avoid a common stumbling-block.

White chicken consommé is prepared in exactly the same way as ordinary white consommé. There need only be added to the meat, the quantity of which may be lessened, an old hen or a cock, slightly coloured on the spit or in the oven.

For the clarification, the quantity of roast fowl-carcases used may be increased, provided the latter be not too fat. The process, however, is the same as in the clarification of ordinary consommés.

The colour of chicken consommé should be lighter than that of the ordinary kind—namely, a light, amber yellow, limpid and warm.

These consommés are rarely used, for Lenten soups with a fish basis are generally thick soups, for the preparation of which the fish fumet whereof I shall give the formula later (Formula No. 11) should avail. Whenever there is no definite reason for the use of an absolutely Lenten consommé, it would be advisable to resort to one of the ordinary kind, and to finish off the same by means of a good fish essence extracted from the bones of a sole or whiting. An excellent consommé is thus obtained, more palatable and less flat than the plain fish consommé.

If, however, one were obliged to make a plain fish consommé, the following procedure should be adopted:—

Quantities for making Four Quarts.—Four and one-half quarts of ordinary fish fumet having a decided taste; one-half lb. of good fresh caviare, or pressed caviare.

Mode of Procedure.—Pound the caviare and mix the resulting pulp with the cold fish fumet. Put the whole into a saucepan, place it on the open fire, and stir with a spatula until the contents reach the boil. Then move the saucepan to a corner of the fire, and let the consommé simmer gently for twenty minutes, after which strain it through muslin with great caution, and keep it well covered and in the warmth, so as to prevent the formation of a gelatinous film on the surface.

Fish consommés are greatly improved by the addition of [7] such aromatics as saffron or curry, both of which considerably add to their quality.

The necks, breasts, and shoulders of venison and of hare, old wild rabbits, old pheasants, and old partridges may be used in the production of game consommés. An ordinary consommé may likewise be made, in which half the beef can be replaced by veal, and to which may be added, while clarifying, a succulent game essence. This last method is even preferable when dealing with feathered game, but in either case it is essential that the meat used should be half-roasted beforehand, in order to strengthen the fumet.

The formula that I give below must therefore only be looked upon as a model, necessarily alterable according to the resources at one’s disposal, the circumstances, and the end in view.

Liquor.—Five and one-half quarts of water.

Seasoning.—One oz. of salt and a few peppercorns, these to be added ten minutes previous to straining the consommé.

Time allowed for cooking.—Three hours.

Mode of Procedure.—Proceed in exactly the same way as for ordinary consommés, taking care only to half-roast the meat, as I pointed out above, before putting it in the stewpan.

The constituents of the clarification of game consommés vary according to the kind of consommé desired. If it is to have a partridge flavour, one partridge should be allowed for each quart of the consommé, whereas if its flavour is to be that of the pheasant, half an old pheasant will be required per each quart of the liquid. Lastly, in the case of plain game consommés, one lb. of lean venison, hare, or wild rabbit should be allowed for each quart of the required consommé.

Mode of Procedure.—Whatever be the kind of game used, the latter must be thoroughly boned and the meat well pounded, together with the white of an egg per four quarts of consommé. [8] About two oz. per quart of dried mushrooms should now be added if they can be procured, while the bones and the remains or carcases of game should be browned in the oven and completely drained of all grease. The whole can now be mixed with the cold game consommé. The clarification is then put over an open fire (stirring incessantly the while), and as soon as the boil is reached the saucepan must be moved to a corner of the fire, where its contents may gently boil for three-quarters of an hour. The fat should then be removed, and the consommé strained through muslin, after which cover up until wanted.

The consommés whose formulæ I have just given are intended more particularly for dinners. They are always finished off by some kind of garnish, which, besides lending them an additional touch of flavour, gives them their special and definite character when they are served up in the diner’s plate.

But the case is otherwise with the consommés served for suppers. These, being only served in cups, either hot or cold, do not allow of any garnishing, since they are to be drunk at table. They must therefore be perfect in themselves, delicate, and quite clear.

These special consommés are made in a similar manner to the others, though it is needful to slightly increase the quantity of meat used for the clarification, and to add to that clarification the particular flavour mentioned on the menu—to wit, a few stalks of celery, if the consommé is a celery one; a small quantity of curry, if the consommé is given as “à l’Indienne”; or a few old roast partridges if it is to be termed “Consommé au fumet de perdreau”; and so on.

The means by which one may vary the aroma of consommés are legion, but it is highly important, what aroma soever be used, that the latter be not too pronounced. It ought only to lend a distinctive and, at the same time, subtle finish to the consommé, which, besides sharpening the latter, should increase its succulence.

When the consommé is served cold it ought to have the qualities of an extremely light and easily-melting jelly, barely firm; but when it is too liquid, it rarely gives that sensation of perfection and succulence to the palate of the consumer which the latter expects. When too firm and too gelatinous it is positively disagreeable; therefore, if it is to be relished, it should be just right in respect of consistency.

Preparation.—Bone and string the meat, and keep it in readiness for the morrow. Break the bones as finely as possible, and, after having besprinkled them with a little stock-fat, brown them in an oven; also stir them repeatedly. When they are slightly browned, put them in a conveniently large saucepan with the carrots, the onions, and the faggot. Add five quarts of cold water, and put the saucepan on an open fire to boil. As soon as the boil is reached skim carefully; wipe the edge of the saucepan; put the lid half on, and allow the stock to cook gently for twelve hours; then roughly remove the fat; pass the liquid through a sieve, and let it cool.

This being done, put the meat in a saucepan just large enough to hold it. Brown it a little in some stock-fat, and clear it entirely of the latter. Add half a pint of the prepared stock, cover the saucepan, and let the meat simmer on the side of the fire until the stock is almost entirely reduced. Meanwhile the meat should have been repeatedly turned, that it may be equally affected throughout. Now pour the remainder of the stock, prepared from bones, into the saucepan, bring the whole to the boil, and then move the saucepan to a corner of the fire for the boiling to continue very slowly and regularly with the lid off. As soon as the meat is well cooked the fat should be removed from the stock, and the latter should be strained or rubbed through a sieve, after which it should be put aside to be used when required.

Remarks Relative to the Making of Brown Stock.—Instead of stringing the meat after having boned it, if time presses, it may be cut into large cubes before browning. In this case one hour and a half would suffice to cook it and to extract all its juice.

Whether brown or white, stock should never be salted, because it is never served in its original state. It is either reduced in order to make glazes or sauces—in which case the concentration answers the purpose of seasoning—or else it is [10] used to cook meat which must be salted before being cooked, and which, therefore, imparts the necessary salt to its surrounding liquor.

Brown stock ought to be the colour of fine burnt amber, and it must be transparent. It is used in making meat-glazes after reduction, also to moisten meat for braising and to prepare brown sauces.

There is no difference between the game consommés and game stock, or, otherwise stated, ordinary game consommé and brown game stock are one and the same thing. The distinction lies in the ultimate use of this preparation; it is clarified, as we have shown (Formula 5), if it be intended for a clear soup, and it is used in its original state if it is to be used for a thick game soup, for a sauce, or for reducing.

Brown veal stock requires the same quantities of shin and trimmings of veal as white veal stock (Formula 10). The time allowed for cooking is, however, a little shorter, and this operation may be completed within eight hours. This stock is mostly used as the liquor for poultry and poëled game, while it may also serve in the preparation of thickened veal stock. Being quite neutral in taste, it lends itself to all purposes, and readily takes up the aroma of the meat with which it may happen to be combined. It is admirably suited to the poaching of quails, and nothing can supplant it in this particular.

Preparation.—Bone the shins, string the meat, break up the bones as small as possible, and put them in a stewpan with the water. Place on an open fire, allow to boil, skim carefully, and then move to a side of the fire to cook very gently for [11] five hours. At the end of this time put the stock into another stewpan, add the meat and the vegetables, add water, if necessary, to keep the quantity of liquid at five quarts, let it boil, and allow it to cook slowly for another three hours, after which remove all grease from the stock, pass the latter through a fine strainer or a colander, and put it aside until wanted.

Remarks upon White Stock.—One should contrive to make this stock as gelatinous as possible. It is therefore an indispensable measure that the bones be well broken up and cooked for at least eight hours. Veal never yields such clear stock as beef; nevertheless, the consommé obtained from veal should not be turbid. It must, on the contrary, be kept as clear and as white as possible.

Poultry Stock is made by adding two old fowls to the above veal stock, and these should be put into the liquor with the meat.

Preparation.—Butter the bottom of a thick, tall stewpan, put in the blanched onions and the parsley-stalks, and upon these aromatics lay the fish remains. Add the juice of a lemon, cover the stewpan, put it on the fire, and allow the fish to exude its essence, jerking the pan at intervals. Moisten, in the first place, with the white wine; then, with the lid off, reduce the liquid to about half. Now add four quarts of cold water, bring to the boil, skim, and then leave to cook for twenty minutes, only, on a moderate fire. The time allowed is ample for the purpose of extracting the aromatic and gelatinous properties contained in the bones, and a more protracted stewing would only impair the savour of the stock.

Remarks upon White Fish Stock.—The formula which I give above diverges considerably from that commonly used, for, as a rule, fish stock is diluted far too much, and is stewed for much too long a time. I have observed that fish stock may be greatly improved by rapid cooking, and it was this consideration that led me to dilute it scantily, so as to avoid prolonged reduction.

[12]
It is likewise necessary to remember that in order to make perfect fish stock, only the sole or whiting should be used. In a case of emergency, however, i.e., if the supply of the latter were to run short, a quarter of their weight of brill bones might be added to them. But all other kinds of fish should be avoided in the preparation.

This stock is comparatively rarely used, because, in practice, it is naturally obtained in the cooking of the fish itself, as, for instance, in the case of the “Matelotes.” Be this as it may, with the recent incursion of a custom which seems to demand, ever more and more, the serving of fish without bones, the following formula will be worthy of interest, as it is likely that its need will henceforth be felt with increasing urgency.

Fish fumet with red wine may be prepared from all fresh-water fish, as well as from the remains of sole, whiting, chicken-turbot, and brill. It is generally better, however, to have recourse to the bones and remains of that fish which happens to be constituting the dish—that is to say, the bones and trimmings of sole in a stock for fillet of sole, the bones and trimmings of a chicken-turbot in a fumet for a chicken-turbot, and so on. The preparatory formula remains the same, whatever the kind of fish used may be.

Quantities for making Four Quarts of Fumet with Red Wine.—Four lbs. of bones, heads, and trimmings of the fish to be served; three-quarters lb. of minced white onions; three oz. of parsley stalks, two bay leaves, four small sprigs of thyme, and four cloves of garlic; two bottles of red wine and four pints of water.

Mode of Procedure.—Put all the above-mentioned ingredients in a thick and tall stewpan, boil, skim carefully, and allow to cook twenty to thirty minutes on a moderate fire; then strain the stock through a colander into a tureen, to be used when required.

Remarks upon Fish Stock with Red Wine.—This stock stands reduction far better than white fish stock. Nevertheless, I urge the advisability of trying to obtain the required quantity without reduction. In its preparation, one may use some mushroom parings, as in the case of white stock, if these are handy, and they will be found to lend an agreeable flavour to the fish fumet.

As their name implies, essences are stock which hold a large proportion of a substance’s aroma in a concentrated form. They are, in fact, ordinary stock, only less diluted, with the idea of intensifying the flavour of the treated ingredients; hence their utility is nil if the stock which they are intended to finish has been reasonably and judiciously treated. It is infinitely simpler to make savoury and succulent stock in the first place than to produce a mediocre stock, and finally complete it by a specially prepared essence. The result in the first instance is better, and there is economy of time and material.

The most one can do is to recommend, in certain circumstances, the use of essences extracted from particularly well-flavoured products, as, for instance, mushrooms, truffles, morels, and celery. But it would be well to remember that, nine times out of ten, it is preferable to add the product itself to the stock during the preparation of the same than to prepare essences.

For this reason I do not think it necessary to dilate upon the subject of essences, the need of which should not be felt in good cooking.

The various glazes of meat, fowl, game, and fish are merely stock reduced to the point of viscosity. Their uses are legion. Occasionally they serve in decking dishes with a brilliant and unctuous coating which makes them sightly; at other times they may help to strengthen the consistence of a sauce or other culinary preparation, while again they may be used as sauces proper after they have been correctly creamed or buttered.

Glazes are distinguished from essences by the fact that the latter are only prepared with the object of extracting all the flavour of the product under treatment, whereas the former are, on the contrary, constituted by the whole base of the substance itself. They therefore have not only its savour, but also its succulence and mellowness, whereby they are superior to the essences, and cooking can but be improved by substituting them for the latter. Nevertheless, many chefs of the old school do not permit the use of glazes in culinary preparations, or, rather, they are of opinion that each cooking operation should produce them on its own account, and thus be sufficient unto itself. Certainly, the theory is correct when neither time nor cost is limited. But nowadays the establishments are scarce where these theories may be applied, and, indeed, if one does [14] not make an abuse of glazes, and if they be prepared with care, their use gives excellent results, while they lend themselves admirably to the very complex demands of modern customs.

Meat glaze is made by reducing brown stock (Formula 7) in a large stewpan upon an open fire. As often as the stock is appreciably reduced, during ebullition, it may be transferred to smaller stewpans, taking care to strain it through muslin at each change of stewpan. The glaze may be considered sufficiently reduced when it evenly veneers a withdrawn spoon. The fire used for reducing should gradually wane as the concentration progresses, and the last phase must be effected slowly and on a moderate fire.

When it is necessary to obtain a lighter and clearer glaze, the brown veal stock (Formula No. 9) should be reduced instead of the “Estouffade.”

Reduce the poultry base indicated in Formula 10, and proceed in exactly the same way as for meat glaze (Formula 15).

Use the game base (Formula 8), and proceed as for meat glaze (Formula 15).

This glaze is used less often than the preceding ones. As it is only used to intensify the savour of sauces, it is sufficient for this purpose to prepare a white fish stock (Formula 11), which may be diluted with the stock already prepared, and which may be reduced according to the requirements. The name of fish fumet or fish essence is given to this preparation; its flavour is more delicate than that of fish glaze, which it replaces with advantage.

Warm sauces are of two kinds: the leading sauces, also called “mother sauces,” and the small sauces, which are usually derived from the first-named, and are generally only modified forms thereof. Cooking stock only includes the leading sauces, but I shall refer to the small hot sauces and the cold sauces at the end of the auxiliary stock.

Experience, which plays such an important part in culinary work, is nowhere so necessary as in the preparation of sauces, for not only must the latter flatter the palate, but they must also vary in savour, consistence and viscosity, in accordance with the dishes they accompany. By this means, in a well-ordered dinner, each dish differs from the preceding ones and from those that follow.

Furthermore, sauces must, through the perfection of their preparation, obey the general laws of a rational hygiene, wherefore they should be served and combined in such wise as to allow of easy digestion by the frequently disordered stomachs of their consumers.

Carême was quite justified in pluming himself upon the fact that during his stay at the English Court his master—the Prince Regent—had assured him that he (Carême) was the only one among those who had served his Highness whose cooking had been at all easy of digestion. Carême had grasped the essential truth that the richer the cooking is, the more speedily do the stomach and palate tire of it. And, indeed, it is a great mistake to suppose that, in order to do good cooking, it is necessary to be prodigal in one’s use of all things. In reality, practice dictates fixed and regular quantities, and from these one cannot diverge without upsetting the hygienic and sapid equilibrium on which the value of a sauce depends. The requisite quantities of each ingredient must, of course, be used, but neither more nor less, as there are objections to either extreme.

Any sauce whatsoever should be smooth, light (without [16] being liquid), glossy to the eye, and decided in taste. When these conditions are fulfilled it is always easy to digest even for tired stomachs.

An essential point in the making of sauces is the seasoning, and it would be impossible for me to lay sufficient stress on the importance of not indulging in any excess in this respect. It too often happens that the insipidness of a badly-made sauce is corrected by excessive seasoning; this is an absolutely deplorable practice.

Seasoning should be so calculated as to be merely a complementary factor, which, though it must throw the savour of dishes into relief, may not form a recognisable part of them. If it be excessive, it modifies and even destroys the taste peculiar to every dish—to the great detriment of the latter and of the consumer’s health.

It is therefore desirable that each sauce should possess its own special flavour, well defined, the result of the combined flavours of all its ingredients.

If, in the making of sauces, one allowed oneself to be guided by those principles which are the very foundation of good cookery, the general denunciation of sauces by the medical faculty would be averted; and this denunciation no sauce deserves if it be carefully prepared, conformably with the laws prescribed by practice and its resulting experience.

The roux being the cohering element of leading sauces, it is necessary to reveal its preparation and constituents before giving one’s attention to the latter.

Three kinds of roux are used—namely, brown roux, for brown sauces; pale roux, for veloutés, or cream sauces; and white roux, for white sauces and Béchamel.

Quantities for making about One lb.—Eight oz. of clarified butter, nine oz. of best-quality flour.

Preparation.—Mix the flour and butter in a very thick stewpan, and put it on the side of the fire or in a moderate oven. Stir the mixture repeatedly so that the heat may be evenly distributed throughout the whole of its volume.

The time allowed for the cooking of brown roux cannot be precisely determined, as it depends upon the degree of heat [17] employed. The more intense the latter, the speedier will be the cooking, while the stirring will of necessity be more rapid. Brown roux is known to be cooked when it has acquired a fine, light brown colour, and when it exudes a scent resembling that of the hazel-nut, characteristic of baked flour.

It is very important that brown roux should not be cooked too rapidly. As a matter of fact, among the various constituent elements of flour, the starch alone acts as the cohering principle. This starch is contained in little cells, which tightly constrain it, but which are sufficiently porous to permit the percolation of liquid and fatty substances. Under the influence of moderate heat and the infiltered butter, the cells burst through the swelling of the starch, and the latter thereupon completely combines with the butter to form a mass capable of absorbing six times its own weight of liquid when cooked.

When the cooking takes place with a very high initial heat the starch gets burned within its shrivelled cells, and swelling is then possible only in those parts which have been least burned.

The cohering principle is thus destroyed, and double or treble the quantity of roux becomes necessary in order to obtain the required consistency. But this excess of roux in the sauce chokes it up without binding it, and prevents it from despumating or becoming clear. At the same time, the cellulose and the burnt starch lend a bitterness to the sauce of which no subsequent treatment can rid it.

From the above it follows that, starch being the only one from among the different constituents of flour which really effects the coherence of sauces, there would be considerable advantage in preparing roux either from a pure form of it, or from substances with kindred properties, such as fecula, arrow-root, &c. It is only habit that causes flour to be still used as the cohering element of roux, and, indeed, the hour is not so far distant when the advantages of the changes I propose will be better understood—changes which have been already recommended by Favre in his dictionary.

With a roux well made from the purest starch—in which case the volume of starch and butter would equal about half that of the flour and butter of the old method—and with strong and succulent brown stock, a Spanish sauce or Espagnole may be made in one hour. And this sauce will be clearer, more brilliant, and better than that of the old processes, which needed three days at least to despumate.

The quantities are the same as for brown roux, but cooking must cease as soon as the colour of the roux begins to change, and before the appearance of any colouring whatsoever.

The observations I made relative to brown roux, concerning the cohering element, apply also to pale roux.

Same quantities as for brown and pale roux, but the time of cooking is limited to a few minutes, as it is only needful, in this case, to do away with the disagreeable taste of raw flour which is typical of those sauces whose roux has not been sufficiently cooked.

Quantities Required for Four Quarts.—One lb. of brown roux dissolved in a tall, thick saucepan with six quarts of brown stock or estouffade. Put the saucepan on an open fire, and stir the sauce with a spatula or a whisk, and do not leave it until it begins to boil. Then remove the spatula, and put the saucepan on a corner of the fire, letting it lean slightly to one side with the help of a wedge, so that boiling may only take place at one point, and that the inert principles thrown out by the sauce during despumation may accumulate high up in the saucepan, whence they can be easily removed as they collect.

It is advisable during despumation to change saucepans twice or even three times, straining every time, and adding a quart of brown stock to replace what has evaporated. At length, when the sauce begins to get lighter, and about two hours before finally straining it, two lbs. of fresh tomatoes, roughly cut up, should be added, or an equivalent quantity of tomato purée, and about one lb. of Mirepoix, prepared according to Formula No. 228. The sauce is then reduced so as to measure four quarts when strained, after which it is poured into a wide tureen, and must be kept in motion until quite cool lest a skin should form on its surface.

The time required for the despumation of an Espagnole varies according to the quality of the stock and roux. We saw above that one hour sufficed for a concentrated stock and starch roux, in which case the Mirepoix and the tomato are inserted from the first. But much more time is required if one is dealing with a roux whose base is flour. In the latter case six hours [19] should be allowed, provided one have excellent stock and well-made roux. More often than not this work is done in two stages, thus: after having despumated the Espagnole for six or eight hours the first day, it is put on the fire the next day with half its volume of stock, and it is left to despumate a few hours more before it is finally strained.

Summing up my opinion on this subject, I can only give my colleagues the following advice, based upon long experience:—

1. Only use strong, clear stock with a decided taste.

2. Be scrupulously careful of the roux, however it may be made. By following these two rules, a clear, brilliant, and consistent Espagnole will always be obtained in a fairly short time.

This is the Espagnole sauce, having reached the limit of perfection by final despumation. It is obtained by reducing one quart of Espagnole and one quart of first-class brown stock until its volume is reduced to nine-tenths of a quart. It is then strained into a bain-marie of convenient dimensions, and it is finished, away from the fire, with one-tenth of a quart of excellent sherry. Cover the bain-marie, or slightly butter the top to avoid the formation of a skin. This sauce is the base of all the smaller brown sauces.

Practical men are not agreed as to the need of Lenten Espagnole. The ordinary Espagnole being really a neutral sauce in flavour, it is quite simple to give it the necessary flavour by the addition of the required quantity of fish fumet. It is only, therefore, when one wishes to conform with the demands of a genuine Lent sauce that a fish Espagnole is needed. And, certainly in this case, nothing can take its place.

The preparation of this Espagnole does not differ from that of the ordinary kind, except that the bacon is replaced by mushroom parings in the Mirepoix, and that the sauce must be despumated for only one hour.

This sauce takes the place of the ordinary Espagnole, for Lenten preparations, in every case where the latter is generally used, in Gratins, in the Genevoise sauce, &c.

Quantities Required for Four Quarts.—One lb. of pale roux (Formula 20), five quarts of white veal stock (Formula 10).

Dissolve the roux in the cold white veal stock and put the saucepan containing this mixture on an open fire, stirring the sauce with a spatula or whisk, so as to avoid its burning at the bottom. Add one oz. of table-salt, a pinch of nutmeg and white powdered pepper, together with one-quarter lb. of nice white mushroom parings, if these are handy. Now boil and move to a corner of the fire to despumate slowly for one and a half hours, at the same time observing the precautions advised for ordinary Espagnole (Formula 22). Strain through muslin into a smaller saucepan, add one pint of white stock, and despumate for another half hour. Strain it again through a tammy or a sieve into a wide tureen, and keep moving it with a spatula until it is quite cold.

I am not partial to garnishing Velouté Sauce with carrots, an onion with a clove stuck into it, and a faggot, as many do. The stock should be sufficiently fragrant of itself, without requiring the addition of anything beyond the usual condiments. The only exception I should make would be for mushroom parings, even though it is preferable, when possible, to replace these by mushroom liquor. But this is always scarce in kitchens where it is used for other purposes; wherefore it is often imperative to have recourse to parings in its stead. The latter may not, however, be added to the stock itself, as they would blacken it; hence I advise their addition to the Velouté during its preparation.

This is identical with ordinary Velouté, except that instead of having white veal stock for its liquor, it is diluted with white poultry stock. The mode of procedure and the time allowed for cooking are the same.

Velouté is the base of various fish sauces whose recipes will be given in Part II.

Prepare it in precisely the same way as poultry velouté, but instead of using poultry stock, use very clear fish fumet, and let it despumate for twenty minutes only. (See fish fumet No. 11.)

Allemande Sauce is not, strictly speaking, a basic sauce. However, it is so often resorted to in the preparation of other sauces that I think it necessary to give it after the Veloutés, from which it is derived.

Mode of Procedure.—Put the various ingredients in a thick-bottomed sauté-pan and mix them carefully. Then put the pan on an open fire, and stir the sauce with a metal spatula, lest it burn at the bottom. When the sauce has been reduced to about one quart, add one-third pint of fresh cream to it, and reduce further for a few minutes. It should then be passed through a fine strainer into a tureen and kept moving until quite cold.

Prepared thus, the Allemande Sauce is ready for the preparation of the smaller sauces. Butter must only be added at the very last moment, for if it were buttered any earlier it would most surely turn. The same injunction holds good with this sauce when it is to be served in its original state; it should then receive a small addition of cream, and be buttered so that it may attain its required delicacy; but this addition of butter and cream ought only to be made at the last moment, and away from the fire. When a sauce thickened with egg yolks has any fat substance added to it, it cannot be exposed to a higher temperature than 140 degrees Fahrenheit without risking decomposition.

Preparation.—Pour the boiling milk on the roux, which should be almost cold, and whisk it well so as to avoid lumps. Let it boil, then cook on the side of the fire. Meanwhile the lean veal should have been cut into small cubes, and fried with butter in a saucepan, together with the minced onion. When the veal has stiffened without becoming coloured, it is added to the Béchamel, together with salt and the other aromatics. Let the sauce boil slowly for about one hour in all, [22] and then pass it through a tammy into a tureen; butter the top, lest a crust should form.

When Béchamel is intended for Lenten preparations, the veal must be omitted.

There is another way of making the sauce. After having boiled the milk, the seasoning and aromatics should be added; the saucepan is then covered and placed on a corner of the stove, so as to ensure a thorough infusion. The boiling milk must now be poured on to the roux which has been separately prepared, and the sauce should then cook for one quarter of an hour only.

Preparation.—Fry the pork with the butter in a tall, thick-bottomed saucepan. When the pork is nearly melted, add the carrots, onions, and aromatics. Cook and stir the vegetables, then add the flour, which should be allowed to cook until it begins to brown. Now put in the tomatoes and white stock, mix the whole well, and set to boil on an open fire. At this point add the seasoning and a crushed clove of garlic, cover the saucepan, and place in a moderate oven, where it may cook for one and one-half hours. At the end of this time the sauce should be passed through a sieve or tammy, and it should boil while being stirred. Finally, pour it into a tureen, and butter its surface to avoid the formation of a skin.

Remarks.—A purée of tomatoes is also used in cookery; it is prepared in precisely the same fashion, except that the flour is omitted and only one pint of white stock is added.

Quantities Required for One Quart.—One and one-half lbs. of butter, the yolks of six eggs, one pinch of mignonette pepper and one-quarter oz. of salt, three tablespoonfuls of good vinegar.

Preparation.—Put the salt, the mignonette, the vinegar, and as much water in a small saucepan, and reduce by three-quarters on the fire. Move the saucepan to a corner of the fire or into [23] a bain-marie, and add a spoonful of fresh water and the yolks. Work the whole with a whisk until the yolks thicken and have the consistence of cream. Then remove the saucepan to a tepid place and gradually pour the butter on the yolks while briskly stirring the sauce. When the butter is absorbed, the sauce ought to be thick and firm. It is brought to the correct consistence with a little water, which also lightens it slightly, but the addition of water is optional. The sauce is completed by a drop of lemon juice, and it is rubbed through a tammy.

Remarks.—The consistence of sauces whose processes are identical with those of the Hollandaise may be varied at will; for instance, the number of yolks may be increased if a very thick sauce is desired, and it may be lessened in the reverse case. Also similar results may be obtained by cooking the eggs either more or less. As a rule, if a thick sauce be required, the yolks ought to be well cooked and the sauce kept almost cold in the making. Experience alone—the fruit of long practice—can teach the various devices which enable the skilled worker to obtain different results from the same kind and quality of material.

Remarks.—In order that the classification of the small sauces should be clear and methodical, I divide them into three parts.

The first part includes the small brown sauces; the second deals with the small white sauces and those suited to this part of the classification; while the third is concerned with the English sauces.

This sauce is principally used to accompany braised and poëled ducklings. In the first case, the duckling’s braising stock, being thickened, constitutes a sauce. In the second case, the stock is clear, and the procedure in both cases is as follows:—

1. After having strained the braising sauce, completely remove its grease, and reduce it until it is very dense. Strain it once more through muslin, twisting the latter; then, in order to bring the sauce to its normal consistence, add the juice of six oranges and one lemon per quart of sauce. Finish with a small piece of lemon and orange rind cut regularly and finely, Julienne-fashion, and scalded for five minutes.

2. Strain the poëling stock, for ducklings or wild ducks, through linen; entirely remove the grease, and add four pieces of caramel sugar dissolved in one tablespoonful of vinegar per one-half point of stock, the juice of the oranges and the lemon and the Julienne of rinds, as for the braised-ducklings sauce indicated above.

Put into a vegetable-pan two oz. of very finely minced shallots, one-half pint of good red wine, a pinch of mignonette pepper, and bits of thyme and bay. Reduce the wine by three-quarters, and add one-half pint of half-glaze. Keep the sauce simmering for half an hour; despumate it from time to time, and strain it through linen or a sieve. When dishing it up, finish it with two tablespoonfuls of dissolved meat glaze, a few drops of lemon-juice, and four oz. of beef-marrow, cut into slices or cubes and poached in slightly salted boiling water. This sauce may be buttered to the extent of about three oz. per pint, which makes it smoother, but less clear. It is especially suitable for grilled butcher’s meat.

Peel and mince six medium-sized mushrooms. Heat one-half oz. of butter and as much olive oil in a vegetable-pan; put in the mushrooms, and fry the latter quickly until they are slightly browned. Now add a coffeespoonful of minced shallots, and immediately remove half the butter; pour one-half pint of white wine and one glass of liqueur brandy into the stewpan; reduce this liquid to half, and finish the sauce with: one-half pint of half-glaze, one-quarter pint of tomato sauce, and one tablespoonful of meat-glaze. Set to boil for five minutes more, and complete with a teaspoonful of chopped parsley.

Put one quart of half-glaze into a sauté-pan with one-fifth pint of truffle essence. Put the pan on an open fire, and reduce its contents; while making same add to the sauce, in small quantities at a time, one and one-half pints of jelly.

The degree of reduction in this sauce is a good third, but, to be quite certain, a test of its consistence may be made by allowing it to cool a little. After the reduction, carefully taste, and rectify the seasoning if necessary; mix a little Madeira or Port with the sauce, away from the fire, and strain through muslin or, preferably, through a Venetian-hair sieve. Stir the sauce now and then while it cools, until it is sufficiently liquid, and at the same time consistent enough, to coat immersed solids evenly with a film of sauce. Its use will be explained among the formulæ of the different kinds of Chaud-froids.

For Ducks.—Prepare the sauce as above, adding to it (for the prescribed quantity) one-half pint of duck fumet obtained from the carcases and remains of roast duckling, and finish it, away from the fire, with the juice of four oranges and a heaped tablespoonful of orange rind, cut finely, Julienne-fashion, and scalded for five minutes.

For Feathered Game.—Treat the Chaud-Froid sauce as indicated in No. 34, adding one-half pint of the fumet of the game constituting the dish in order to lend it that game’s characteristic taste. Observe the same precaution for the cooling.

For Fish.—Proceed as in No. 34, but (1) substitute the Espagnole of fish for the half glaze; (2) intensify the first Espagnole with one-half pint of very clear fish essence; (3) use Lenten jelly instead of meat jelly.

Remarks upon the Use of Chaud-Froid Sauces.—The chaud-froid sauce may be prepared beforehand, and when it is wanted it need only be gently melted without heating it too much. It ought simply to be made sufficiently liquid to give a good coating to substances immersed in it.

Put in a vegetable pan two oz. of sliced shallots and one-third pint of white wine. Reduce the latter to two-thirds, add one-half pint of half-glaze, reduce to two-thirds, season strongly with cayenne pepper, and strain through muslin. This sauce may be served with grilled fowls or pigeons. It also forms an excellent accompaniment to re-dished meat which needs a spicy sauce.

This sauce, which may be bought ready-made, is admirably fitted to accompany grilled fish and grills in general. In order to make it ready, all that is needed is to add its own volume of fresh butter to it, the latter being previously well softened so as to ensure its perfect mixture with the sauce.

Heat two oz. of butter in a stewpan; insert one lb. of Mirepoix (No. 228) without bacon. Slightly brown, add two lbs. of head of salmon and remains or bones of fish, and stew with lid on for twenty minutes. Let the stewpan lean slightly to [27] one side, so that the butter may be drained; moisten with one bottle of excellent red wine; reduce the latter by half; add one pint of Lenten Espagnole, and allow to cook gently for half an hour.

Rub the sauce through a sieve, pressing it so as to extract all the essence. Let it rest awhile; carefully remove the fat which has risen to the surface, and add one liqueur-glass of burnt brandy, one-half pint of red wine, and as much fish fumet. Boil again, then move stewpan to the side of fire to despumate for one and one-half hours. Frequently remove what the ebullition causes to rise to the surface, this second period of cooking being only to ensure the purification of the sauce. If the ebullition has been well effected, the sauce should reach the proper degree of reduction and despumation at the same moment of time. It is then strained through muslin or tammy, and it is finished at the last minute with a few drops of anchovy essence and four oz. of butter per quart of sauce.

N.B.—The Genevoise Sauce, like all red-wine sauces, may be served without being buttered. It is thus clearer and more sightly in colour, but the addition of butter in small quantities makes it mellower and more palatable.

In the general repertory of cooking we also have, in the way of red-wine sauces, the “Bourguignonne,” “Matelote,” and “Red-Wine” sauces, which are closely allied to the “Genevoise,” and only differ from it in details of procedure.

The “Bourguignonne” Sauce is composed of red-wine accompanied by aromatics, and reduced by half. In accordance with ordinary principles, it is thickened by means of three oz. of manied butter per quart of reduced wine. This sauce is buttered with four oz. of butter per quart, and is especially regarded as a domestic preparation for poached, moulded, and hard-boiled eggs.

“Matelote” Sauce is made from Court-bouillon, with red wine which has been used for cooking fish. This Court-bouillon, with the mushroom parings added, is reduced by two-thirds, and is thickened with one pint of Lenten Espagnole per pint of the reduced Court-bouillon.

This sauce should be reduced by a third, strained through a tammy, and finished by means of two oz. of butter and a little cayenne per pint of sauce.

The Red-Wine Sauce resembles the two preceding ones in so far as it contains mirepoix browned in butter and diluted [28] with red wine. The wine is reduced by half, thickened by a pint of Lenten Espagnole per pint of the reduction, and the sauce is despumated for about twenty minutes. It is strained through a tammy, and finished, when ready, by a few drops of anchovy essence, a little cayenne, and two oz. of butter per pint of sauce.

Take one pint of Poivrade Sauce (No. 49) and boil it, adding one pint of game stock to keep it light; reduce the sauce by a good third; remove it from the fire, and add four tablespoonfuls of red-currant jelly. When the latter is well dissolved, complete the sauce by one-quarter pint of cream per pint of sauce.

This sauce is the proper accompaniment for joints of venison.

Ordinary Italian Sauce.—Put into a stewpan six tablespoonfuls of Duxelles (see No. 223), two oz. of very lean, cooked ham, cut very finely, brunoise-fashion, and one pint of half-glaze tomatée. Boil for ten minutes, and complete, at the moment of dishing up, with one teaspoonful of parsley, chervil, and tarragon, minced and mixed.

Lenten Italian Sauce.—Same preparation, only (1) omit the Ham, and (2) substitute Lent Espagnole (combined with fish fumet made from the fish for which the sauce is intended) for half glaze with tomatoes.

Boil one pint of poultry or veal stock (according to the nature of the dish the gravy is intended for). Thicken this sauce by means of three-quarters oz. of fecula, diluted cold, with a little water or gravy, and pour this leason into the boiling gravy, being careful to stir briskly.

The thickened gravy with the veal-stock base is used for choicest pieces of butcher’s meat; that with a poultry-stock base is for fillets of poultry.

Add to one pint of veal stock two oz. of purée and one-quarter pint of tomato juice, and reduce by a fifth. Strain the gravy through linen. This gravy is for butcher’s meat.

Finely mince two oz. of onions and brown them slightly in two oz. of butter. Moisten with one-quarter pint of white wine and as much vinegar; almost entirely reduce the liquid; add one and one-half pints of clear half-glaze, and set to cook slowly for half an hour. Rub the sauce through a tammy.

N.B.—The onion may be left in the sauce or not, according to the preparation for which it is intended and the taste of the consumer.

Put one and one-half pints of half-glaze into a sauté-pan, and reduce it on a brisk fire to a stiff consistence. When it reaches this point, take it off the fire and add one-fifth pint of Madeira to it, which brings it back to its normal consistence. Strain through a tammy, and keep it warm without allowing it to boil.

Follow the proportions as indicated under “Sauce Bordelaise” (No. 32) for the necessary quantity of this sauce, the Marrow Sauce being only a variety of the Bordelaise. Finish it with six oz. per quart of beef marrow, cut into cubes, poached and well drained, and one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, scalded for a second. If the sauce is to accompany vegetables, finish it, away from the fire, with three oz. of butter, and then add the cubes of marrow and the parsley.

Take the necessary amount of Poivrade Sauce prepared according to Formula No. 49, and let it boil. Now, for one pint of sauce, prepare an infusion of juniper berries, with one-quarter pint of water and two oz. of concassed berries; one oz. of grilled fir-apple kernels, and one oz. of raisins, stoned and washed, and left to soak in tepid water for about an hour. Finish the sauce, when dishing up, by adding the infusion of juniper berries strained through linen, the grilled kernels, the soaked raisins, and one-eighth pint of Madeira wine.

This sauce is specially suited to joints of venison.

Prepare a “Sauce Madère” as explained in No. 44, and add to the half-glaze, to be reduced, half its volume of very strong veal stock, and keep it a little denser than usual. Finish this [30] sauce by adding one-sixth pint of truffle essence and three oz. of chopped truffles per quart of Madeira Sauce. It is used for numerous small entrées, timbales, hot pâtés, &c.

Put into a vegetable pan two oz. of minced shallots, one-quarter pint of vinegar, and as much white wine. Reduce the liquid by a good half, and add one pint of half-glaze; set the sauce to boil, and despumate it for half an hour. At the last moment finish it, away from the fire, with two oz. of gherkins, one oz. of capers, and a teaspoonful of chervil, parsley, and tarragon, mixed; all the ingredients to be finely chopped. This sauce generally accompanies grilled or boiled pork, and cold meat re-dished and minced which needs spicy flavouring.

1. Heat two oz. of butter in a stewpan, and insert one lb. of raw Mirepoix (No. 228). Fry the vegetables until they are well browned; moisten with one-quarter pint of vinegar and one-half pint of Marinade (Formula 169); reduce to two-thirds; add one pint of Espagnole Sauce, and cook for three-quarters of an hour. Ten minutes before straining the sauce, put in a few crushed peppercorns. If the pepper were put in the sauce earlier, it might make it bitter.

2. Pass the sauce through a strainer, pressing the aromatics; add a further one-half pint of Marinade, and despumate for one-quarter of an hour, keeping it simmering the while. Strain again through tammy, and finish the sauce, when ready for dishing, with two oz. of butter.

This sauce is suitable for joints marinaded or not.

Fry, with two oz. of butter and two oz. of oil, one lb. of raw Mirepoix (No. 228) to which are added four lbs. of well-broken bones and ground-game trimmings. When the whole is well browned, drain the grease away, and dilute with one pint of vinegar and one pint of white wine. Reduce this liquid by three-quarters, then add three quarts of game stock and a quart of Espagnole Sauce. Boil, cover the saucepan, and put into a moderate oven, where it should stay for at least three hours. At the end of this time take out the saucepan and pour its contents into a fine sieve placed over a tureen; press the remains so as to expel all the sauce they hold, and pour the [31] sauce into a tall, thick saucepan. Add enough game stock and Marinade, mixed in equal parts, to produce three quarts in all of sauce, and gently reduce the latter while despumating it. As it diminishes in volume, it should be passed through muslin into smaller saucepans, and the reduction should be stopped when only a quart of sauce remains.

N.B.—This sauce, like red-wine sauces, may be served as it stands. It is brilliant, clear, and perhaps more sightly thus, but the addition of a certain quantity of butter (four oz. per quart) makes it perfectly mellow, and admirably completes its fragrance.

Peel, remove the seeds, press and concass twelve medium tomatoes. Heat in a sauté-pan one-fifth pint of oil, until it begins to smoke a little; insert the tomatoes seasoned with pepper and salt; add a crushed garlic clove, a pinch of powdered sugar, one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and allow to melt gently for half an hour. In reality, true Provençale is nothing but a fine fondue of tomatoes with garlic.

Finely mince a large onion and put it into a stewpan with butter. Fry the onion gently and without letting it acquire any colour. Dilute with one-third pint of white wine, reduce the latter by one-third, add one pint of half-glaze, and leave to simmer for twenty minutes. When dishing up, finish the sauce with one tablespoonful of meat glaze, one teaspoonful of mustard, and one pinch of powdered sugar. If, when finished, the sauce has to wait, it should be kept warm in a bain-marie, as it must not boil again. This sauce—of a spicy flavour—is best suited to grilled and boiled pork. It may also be used for a mince of the same meat.

This sauce may be bought ready-made. It is used either hot or cold. It is especially suitable for pork, veal, poultry, and even fish, and is generally used hot with grills after the equivalent of its volume of excellent brown stock has been added to it. It may also be served cold to accompany cold meat.

Prepare a “Bordelaise” sauce according to Formula No. 32. The diluent of this sauce must be an excellent red wine. For one pint of sauce, pass four raw ducks’ livers through a [32] sieve; add the resulting purée to the Bordelaise, and heat the latter for a few minutes in order to poach the liver. Be careful, however, not to heat the sauce too much nor too long, lest the liver be cooked. Serve this sauce with duckling à la Rouennaise.

The base of this sauce, which rather resembles the cullis, is unchangeable. Its diluent only changes according to the kind of birds or game to be treated, and whether this game is to be considered ordinary or Lenten.

Cut and gently brown in butter five oz. of Mirepoix (Formula 228). Add the shin detached from the limbs and the chopped carcase of the bird under treatment, and moisten with one pint of white wine. Reduce the latter to two-thirds, add one-half pint of half glaze, and boil gently for three-quarters of an hour. Pass through a strainer, while pressing upon the carcase and the aromatics, with the view of extracting their quintessence, and thin the cullis thus obtained by means of one-half pint of game stock or mushroom liquor, if the game be Lenten. Now despumate for about one hour, finally reduce the sauce, bring it to its proper consistency with a little mushroom liquor and truffle essence, rub it through tammy, and butter it slightly at the last moment.

Boil one-half pint of veal stock, adding a small sprig of sage, sweet marjoram, rosemary, basil, thyme, and as much bay, two oz. of mushroom parings, and one oz. of parsley. Cover and allow to infuse for half an hour. Two minutes before straining the infusion, add four concassed peppercorns.

After straining through fine linen, add one-half pint of half-glaze and as much tomato sauce (away from the fire) with four tablespoonfuls of sherry, a little truffle essence, and a good pinch of cayenne.

N.B.—As this sauce must be spicy, the use of cayenne suggests itself, but great caution should be observed, as there must be no excess of this condiment.

Prepare a Poivrade sauce for game, as explained in No. 50. Finish this sauce with two tablespoonfuls of red-currant jelly, previously dissolved, and mixed with five tablespoonfuls of [33] fresh cream per pint of sauce. This addition of cream and red-currants must be made away from the fire.

Serve this sauce with big ground-game.

This sauce is that of lobster prepared “à l’Américaine” (see No. 939). As it generally accompanies a fish, the meat of the lobster or lobsters which have served in its preparation is sliced and used as the garnish of the fish.

Put into a small stewpan one pint of unbuttered “Normande Sauce” (No. 99), and finish it, away from the fire, with three oz. of anchovy butter, and one oz. of anchovy fillets, washed, well sponged, and cut into small pieces.

Into one-half pint of boiling velouté put the same quantity of very red tomato purée (No. 29), and mix the two. Let the sauce boil a little, pass it through a tammy, and finish, away from the fire, with three oz. of butter.

This sauce is made like the preceding one, i.e., with the same quantities of velouté and tomato purée, replacing ordinary velouté by fish velouté.

Put into a small stewpan one teaspoonful of chopped shallots, two oz. of chopped tarragon stalks, three oz. of chervil, some mignonette pepper, a pinch of salt, and four tablespoonfuls of vinegar. Reduce the vinegar by two-thirds, take off the fire, let the stewpan cool a little, and add to this reduction the yolks of five eggs. Now put the stewpan on a low fire and gradually combine with the yolks six oz. of melted butter. Whisk the sauce briskly, so as to ensure the cooking of the yolks, which alone, by gradual cooking, effect the leason of the sauce.

When the butter is combined with the sauce, rub the latter through tammy, and finish it with a teaspoonful of chervil parings and chopped tarragon leaves. Complete the seasoning with a suspicion of cayenne. This sauce should not be served very hot, as it is really a mayonnaise with butter. It need only [34] be tepid, for it would probably turn if it were over-heated. Serve it with grilled, butcher’s meat and poultry.

Prepare a Béarnaise sauce as explained in No. 62. Complete it with three tablespoonfuls of dissolved pale meat glaze, which may be added in small quantities at a time. Serve it with butcher’s meat.

Proceed in exactly the same way as for Béarnaise No. 62. When the sauce is made and rubbed through tammy, finish it with one-third pint of very red tomato purée. In this case the final addition of chervil and tarragon should not be made.

This is proper to “Tournedos Choron,” but it may accompany grilled poultry and white, butcher’s meat.

Heat two oz. of chopped shallots. Moisten with one-half pint of white wine and as much fish fumet, or, when possible, the same quantity of fish liquor, the latter being, of course, that of a fish similar to the one the sauce is to accompany. Reduce to a good third, add one-third pint of velouté, let the sauce boil some time, and finish it, away from the fire, with four oz. of butter (added by degrees), a few drops of fish glaze, half the juice of a lemon, and one oz. of chopped parsley.

Serve with medium-sized poached fish.

Mix two oz. of sifted flour with two oz. of melted butter. Dilute with one quart of boiling water, salted to the extent of one-quarter oz. per quart. Stir briskly to ensure a perfect leason, and do not allow to boil. Add immediately the yolks of six eggs mixed with one-quarter pint of cream and the juice of half a lemon. Rub through a tammy, and finish the sauce with five oz. of best fresh butter.

Be careful that the sauce does not boil after it has been thickened.

Put in a stewpan two oz. of minced shallots and one-half pint of Graves, Sauterne, or any other excellent white [35] Bordeaux. Reduce the wine almost entirely, add one-quarter pint of velouté, let it simmer twenty minutes, and rub it through a tammy. Finish it, away from the fire, with six oz. of butter and a little chopped tarragon.

Serve it with grilled fish and grilled white meat.

This is a derivative of the Butter Sauce described under No. 66, and there need only be added two tablespoonfuls of capers per pint of sauce. It frequently accompanies boiled fish of all kinds.

Boil one pint of Béchamel, to which add one-half pint of fish fumet and a little truffle essence, and reduce by a quarter. Finish the sauce, when dishing up, with three tablespoonfuls of cream and three oz. of very red lobster butter (No. 149).

This sauce is poured over the fish.

If this be intended for poultry, add one-fifth pint of mushroom liquor and eight oz. of button-mushroom heads turned or channelled and cooked, to one pint of very stiff Allemande Sauce.

If it be intended for fish, take one pint of fish velouté, thickened with the yolks of four eggs, and finish it with mushroom liquor, as above.

The sauce that I suggest for poultry may also be used for fish, after adding the necessary quantity of fish fumet.

Put one oz. of chopped shallots, a sprig of thyme and a bit of bay, one oz. of mushroom parings, and one-quarter pint of white wine into a stewpan. Reduce the wine almost entirely, add one-half pint of veal gravy, and reduce again until the liquid only measures one-quarter pint. Strain through muslin, and finish the sauce away from the fire with four oz. of butter “Maître d’Hôtel” (No. 150), to which may be added a little chopped tarragon. Serve with grilled fillet of beef, otherwise “Châteaubriand.”

Boil one pint of velouté in a stewpan, and add three-quarters pint of melted white poultry jelly. Put the stewpan on an open [36] fire, reduce the sauce by a third, stirring constantly the while, and gradually add one-half pint of very fresh cream. When the sauce has reached the desired degree of consistency rub it through a tammy, and stir it frequently while it cools, for fear of a skin forming on its surface, for if this happened it would have to be strained again. When dishing up, this sauce should be cold, so that it may properly coat immersed solids and yet be liquid enough to admit of the latter being easily steeped into it.

Proceed exactly as above, substituting Allemande Sauce for the velouté, and reducing the quantity of cream to one-quarter pint. Observe the same precautions while cooling.

Prepare a white Chaud-Froid (No. 72). The same may be coloured by the addition of fine red tomato purée—more or less to match the desired shade—or by an infusion of paprika, according to the use for which it is intended. This last product is preferable when not too deep a shade is required.

Add to the velouté of the white Chaud-Froid sauce, at the same time as the jelly, an infusion prepared thus:—Boil one-quarter pint of white wine, and add to it one pinch of chervil stalks, a similar quantity of tarragon leaves, chives, and parsley leaves. Cover, allow infusion to proceed away from the fire for ten minutes, and strain through linen.

Treat the sauce as explained, and finish with spinach-green (No. 143). The shade of the sauce must not be too pronounced, but must remain a pale green. The colouring principle must therefore be added with caution and in small quantities, until the correct shade is obtained. Use this sauce for Chaud-froids of fowl, particularly that kind distinguished as “Printanier.”

Proceed as for white Chaud-Froid, using the same quantities, and taking note of the following modifications:—

1. Substitute fish velouté for ordinary velouté.

2. Substitute white fish jelly for poultry jelly.

Remarks.—I have adopted the use of this ordinary Chaud-Froid sauce for the glazing of fillets and escalopes of fish and Shell-fish, instead of cleared Mayonnaise, formerly used, which [37] had certain inconveniences—not the least being the oozing away of the oil under the shrinkage of the gelatine. This difficulty does not obtain in the ordinary Chaud-Froid, the definite and pronounced flavour of which is better than that of the cleared Mayonnaise.

This sauce may be bought ready-made. Like the Roberts Sauce, it can be served hot or cold. It is an excellent adjunct to venison, and even to small ground-game. Saddle of venison with this sauce constitutes one of the greatest dainties that an epicure could desire.

In one-half pint of boiling poultry stock put a large pinch of chervil pluches, tarragon and parsley leaves, a head of young pimpernel (the qualification here is very important, for this aromatic plant grows bitter as it matures), and a good pinch of chives. Cover up, and let infusion proceed for ten to twelve minutes; then add the liquid (strained through linen) to one pint of velouté. Boil, reduce by a quarter, and complete it with two oz. of Green Butter (No. 143). Chivry Sauce is admirably suited to boiled or poached poultry.

Boil one pint of Béchamel Sauce, and add one-quarter pint of cream to it. Reduce on an open fire until the sauce has become very thick; then pass through tammy. Bring to its normal degree of consistency by gradually adding, away from the fire, one-quarter pint of very fresh cream and a few drops of lemon-juice. Serve this sauce with boiled fish, poultry, eggs, and various vegetables.

Boil one pint of fish velouté or, failing this, Béchamel sauce, and add to it one-quarter pint of cream and one-quarter pint of very clear fish fumet. Reduce to one pint, and finish the sauce, away from the fire, with two oz. of Shrimp Butter (No. 145) and two oz. of shelled shrimps’ tails.

Slightly brown the following vegetables in butter:—Twelve oz. of minced onions, one oz. of parsley roots, four oz. of minced celery, a small sprig of thyme, a bit of bay, and a little mace. Sprinkle with two oz. of flour and a teaspoonful of curry pepper. [38] Cook the flour for some minutes without letting it acquire any colour, and dilute with one and one-half pints of white stock. Boil, cook gently for three-quarters of an hour, and rub through a tammy. Now heat the sauce, remove its grease, and keep it in the bain-marie. Serve this sauce with fish, shell-fish, poultry, and various egg-preparations.

N.B.—This sauce is sometimes flavoured with cocoa-nut milk in the proportion of one-quarter of the diluent.

Take one pint of Normande Sauce, prepared according to No. 99, and finish it with two oz. of lobster butter and three tablespoonfuls of lobster meat, and truffles cut into small, regular tubes.

Prepare one pint of white-wine sauce (No. 111). Finish it away from the fire with three oz. of shallot butter, a tablespoonful of parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chives, chopped and mixed. Serve this sauce with boiled or poached fish.

Prepare one pint of butter sauce, Formula No. 66. Meanwhile put one lb. of green gooseberries into a small copper saucepan containing boiling water. Boil for five minutes, then drain the gooseberries, and put them in a little stewpan with one-half pint of white wine and three oz. of powdered sugar. Gently cook the gooseberries, rub them through a tammy, and add the resulting pulp to the butter sauce. This sauce is excellent with grilled mackerel and the poached fillets of that fish.

Gently fry in butter, without colouring, two tablespoonfuls of chopped onions seasoned with table-salt and half a teaspoonful of paprika. Moisten with one-quarter pint of white wine, add a small faggot, reduce the wine by two-thirds, and remove the herbs.

Finish with one pint of ordinary or Lenten Velouté, according to the use for which the sauce is intended, and boil moderately for five minutes. Then rub the sauce through a tammy, and complete it with two oz. of butter. Remember this sauce should be of a tender, pink shade, which it must owe to the paprika alone.

[39]
It forms an ideal accompaniment to choice morsels of lamb and veal, eggs, poultry, and fish.

Take one pint of Normande Sauce, finish it as directed in that recipe, and complete it with one-quarter pint of reduced oyster liquor, strained through linen, and twelve poached and trimmed oysters.

Take the necessary quantity of Suprême Sauce, prepared as explained in No. 106a. Add to this four tablespoonfuls of dissolved, pale, meat glaze per quart of sauce, in order to lend the latter that ivory-white tint which characterises it. Serve this sauce chiefly with poultry and poached sweet-bread.

Prepare one pint of Normande Sauce (No. 99), as given in the first part of its formula, and complete it with two oz. of shrimp butter and two oz. of crayfish butter. If this sauce is to accompany a fish à la Joinville, which includes a special garnish, it is served as it stands. If it is served with a large, boiled, ungarnished fish, one oz. of very black truffles cut Julienne-fashion should be added. As may be seen, Joinville Sauce differs from similar preparations in the final operation where crayfish and shrimp butter are combined.

To the Hollandaise Sauce, given under No. 30, add, when dishing up, the juice of two blood oranges (these late-season oranges being especially suitable for this sauce) and half a coffeespoonful of grated orange-rind.

Maltese Sauce is the finest for asparagus.

Take the necessary quantity of Bercy Sauce (No. 65), and add, per pint of sauce, one-quarter pint of mussel liquor and a leason composed of the yolks of three eggs.

Serve this with small poached fish and more particularly with mussels.

Boil one pint of Béchamel Sauce with one-quarter pint of the fumet of the fish, poultry, or vegetable, which is to constitute [40] the dish. Reduce by a good quarter, and add two oz. of Gruyère and two oz. of grated Parmesan.

Put the sauce on the fire again for a few minutes, and ensure the melting of the cheese by stirring with a small whisk. Finish the sauce away from the fire with two oz. of butter added by degrees.

To a Hollandaise Sauce, prepared as explained (No. 30), add, just before dishing up, one-half pint of stiffly-whipped cream per pint of sauce.

Scald and wipe a small vegetable-pan, and put into it one-half lb. of stiffly-manied butter, properly softened. Season this butter with table-salt and a few drops of lemon-juice, and whisk it while gradually adding one-third pint of cold water. Finish with two tablespoonfuls of very firm, whipped cream. This preparation, though classified as a sauce, is really a compound butter, which is served with boiled fish. The heat of the fish alone suffices to melt it, and its appearance is infinitely more agreeable than that of plain, melted butter.

Take the necessary quantity of butter sauce and complete it, away from the fire, with one tablespoonful of mustard per pint of sauce.

N.B.—If the sauce has to wait, it must be kept in a bain-marie, for it should not on any account boil. It is served with certain small grilled fish, especially fresh herrings.

Boil one pint of Béchamel Sauce, add one-half pint of cream, and reduce by a third. Rub it through a tammy, and finish it with a further addition of two tablespoonfuls of cream, three oz. of very fine crayfish butter, and one tablespoonful of small, shelled crayfishes’ tails.

First Method (with Raw Lobsters).—Divide a two lb. lobster into four parts. Remove its creamy parts, pound them finely with two oz. of butter, and put them aside.

[41]
Heat in a sautépan one and one-half oz. of butter and as much oil, and insert the pieces of lobster, well seasoned with salt and cayenne. Fry until the pieces assume a fine, red colour; entirely drain away the butter, and add two tablespoonfuls of burnt brandy and one-third pint of Marsala or old Sherry.

Reduce the wine by two-thirds, and wet the lobster with one-third pint of cream and one-half pint of fish fumet. Now add a faggot, cover the sautépan, and gently cook for twenty-five minutes. Then drain the lobster on a sieve, remove the meat and cut it into cubes, and finish the sauce by adding the creamy portions put aside from the first. Boil so as to ensure the cooking of these latter portions; add the meat, cut into cubes, and verify the seasoning.

N.B.—The addition of the meat to the sauce is optional; instead of cutting it into cubes it may be stewed and displayed on the fish constituting the dish.

The lobster having been cooked in a Court-bouillon, shell the tail and slice it up. Arrange these slices in a sautépan liberally buttered at the bottom; season them strongly with salt and cayenne, and heat them on both sides so as to effect the reddening of the skin. Immerse, so as to cover, in a good Sherry, and almost entirely reduce same.

When dishing up, pour on to the slices a leason composed of one-third pint of fresh cream and the yolks of two eggs. Gently stir, away from the fire, and roll the saucepan about until the leason is completed.

Originally, these two sauces, like the American, were exclusively composed of, and served with, lobster. They were one with the two very excellent preparations of lobster which bear their name. In its two forms lobster may only be served at lunch, many people with delicate stomachs being unable to digest it at night. To obviate this serious difficulty, I have made it a practice to serve lobster sauce with fillets or Mousselines of sole, adding the lobster as a garnish only. And this innovation proved most welcome to the public.

By using such condiments as curry and paprika, excellent varieties of this sauce may be obtained, which are particularly suited to sole and other white Lenten fish. In either of these cases it is well to add a little rice “à l’Indienne” to the fish.

Prepare a Hollandaise Sauce according to the recipe under No. 30. Add two oz. of hazel-nut butter at the last moment.

Serve this with salmon, trout, and all boiled fish in general.

Put in a sautépan one pint of fish velouté, three tablespoonfuls of mushroom liquor, as much oyster liquor, and twice as much sole fumet, the yolks of three eggs, a few drops of lemon-juice, and one-quarter pint of cream. Reduce by a good third on an open fire, season with a little cayenne, rub through a tammy, and finish with two oz. of butter and four tablespoonfuls of good cream.

This sauce is proper to fillet of sole “à la Normande,” but it is also frequently used as the base of other small sauces.

Take one pint of American sauce, season with curry, and reduce to a third. Then add, away from the fire, one-quarter pint of cream per pint of sauce.

Serve this sauce in the same way as American Sauce.

Boil for a few minutes one pint of Sauce Allemande, and add six tablespoonfuls of mushroom liquor. Finish, away from the fire, with two oz. of butter, a few drops of lemon-juice, and one teaspoonful of chopped parsley. Use this sauce with certain vegetables, but more generally with sheep’s trotters.

Reduce by half, one-quarter pint of white wine with half as much vinegar. Add one pint of ordinary velouté, boil gently for a few minutes, and finish with one and one-half oz. of shallot butter and one teaspoonful of chervil, tarragon, and chopped chives. This sauce accompanies boiled poultry and certain white “abats.”

If this sauce is to garnish poultry, boil one pint of Allemande Sauce with six tablespoonfuls of mushroom essence and two tablespoonfuls of truffle essence. Finish with four tablespoonfuls of poultry glaze.

[43]
If it is to garnish fish, substitute for the Allemande Sauce some fish velouté thickened with egg-yolks and the essences of mushroom and truffle as above. Complete with some fish essence.

Stew in butter two lbs. of finely-minced onions, scalded for three minutes and well dried. This stewing of the onions in butter increases their flavour. Now add one-half pint of thickened Béchamel; season with salt and a teaspoonful of powdered sugar. Cook gently for half an hour, rub through a tammy, and complete the sauce with some tablespoonfuls of cream and two oz. of butter.

The same quantity as above of minced onions, scalded and well drained. Garnish the bottom and the sides of a tall, medium stewpan with some thin rashers of fat bacon. Insert the onions, together with one-quarter lb. of Carolina rice, one pint of white consommé, a large pinch of powdered sugar, and the necessary salt. Cook gently in the front of the oven for three-quarters of an hour. Then pound the onions and rice in a mortar, rub the resulting purée through a tammy, and finish with cream and butter as in the preceding case.

N.B.—This sauce, being more consistent than the former, is used as a garnish just as often as a sauce.

Prepare a soubise in accordance with the first of the two above formulæ, and add to it one-third of its volume of very red tomato purée.

1. The Soubise is rather a cullis than a sauce; i.e., its consistence must be greater than that of a sauce.

2. The admixture of Béchamel in Soubise is preferable to that of rice, seeing that it makes it smoother. If, in certain cases, rice is used as a cohering element, in order to give the Soubise more stiffness.

3. In accordance with the uses to which it may be put, the Soubise Tomatée may be finally seasoned either with curry or paprika.

The salient characteristics of Suprême Sauce are its perfect whiteness and consummate delicacy. It is generally prepared in small quantities only.

Preparation.—Put one and one-half pints of very clear poultry stock and one-quarter pint of mushroom cooking liquor into a sautépan. Reduce to two-thirds; add one pint of “poultry velouté”; reduce on an open fire, stirring with the spatula the while, and combine one-half pint of excellent cream with the sauce, this last ingredient being added little by little.

When the sauce has reached the desired consistence, strain it through a sieve, and add another one-quarter pint of cream and two oz. of best butter. Stir with a spoon, from time to time, or keep the pan well covered.

Put into a stewpan one tablespoonful of chopped shallots, one tablespoonful of chervil, and one-quarter pint of white wine and tarragon vinegar, mixed in equal quantities. Reduce the vinegar by two-thirds; add one pint of white wine sauce (No. 111); boil for a few minutes; rub through a tammy, and finish the sauce with a sufficient quantity of Herb Juice (No. 183) and one teaspoonful of chopped chervil and tarragon. This sauce accompanies various fish.

Put into a sautépan one pint of Allemande Sauce to which have been added two tablespoonfuls of truffle essence and as much ham essence.

Reduce on an open fire and constantly stir until the sauce is sufficiently stiff to coat immersed solids thickly.

Put into a sautépan two-thirds pint of Allemande Sauce and one-third pint of Soubise purée (Formula 105). Reduce as in the preceding case, as the uses to which this is put are the same. Now, according to the circumstances and the nature of the solid it is intended for, a few teaspoonfuls of very black, chopped truffles may be added to this sauce.

Prepare the sauce as explained under No. 108, and add to it the third of its volume of very fine tomato purée. Reduce in the same way.

[45]
Remarks.—1. Villeroy sauce, of whatsoever kind, is solely used for the coating of preparations said to be “à la Villeroy.”

2. The Villeroy Tomatée may be finally seasoned with curry or paprika, according to the preparation for which it is intended.

The three following methods are employed in making it:—

1. Add one-quarter pint of fish fumet to one pint of thickened Velouté, and reduce by half. Finish the sauce, away from the fire, with four oz. of butter. Thus prepared, this white wine sauce is suitable for glazed fish.

2. Almost entirely reduce one-quarter pint of fish fumet. To this reduction add the yolks of four eggs, mixing them well in it, and follow with one lb. of butter, added by degrees, paying heed to the precautions indicated under sauce Hollandaise No. 30.

3. Put the yolks of five eggs into a small stewpan and mix them with one tablespoonful of cold fish-stock. Put the stewpan in a bain-marie and finish the sauce with one lb. of butter, meanwhile adding from time to time, and in small quantities, six tablespoonfuls of excellent fish fumet. The procedure in this sauce is, in short, exactly that of the Hollandaise, with this distinction, that here fish fumet takes the place of the water.

Quarter, peel, core, and chop two lbs. of medium-sized apples; place these in a stewpan with one tablespoonful of powdered sugar, a bit of cinnamon, and a few tablespoonfuls of water. Cook the whole gently with lid on, and smooth the purée with a whisk when dishing up.

Serve this sauce lukewarm with duck, goose, roast hare, &c.

Boil one pint of milk, and add three oz. of fresh, white bread-crumb, a little salt, a small onion with a clove stuck in it, and one oz. of butter. Cook gently for about a quarter of an hour, remove the onion, smooth the sauce with a whisk, and finish it with a few tablespoonfuls of cream.

This sauce is served with roast fowl and roast feathered game.

Clean six stalks of celery (only use the hearts), put them in a sautépan, wholly immerse in consommé, add a faggot and one onion with a clove stuck in it, and cook gently. Drain the celery, pound it in a mortar, then rub it through a tammy and put the purée in a stewpan. Now thin the purée with an equal quantity of cream sauce and a little reduced celery liquor. Heat it moderately, and, if it has to wait, put it in a bain-marie.

This sauce is suited to boiled or braised poultry. It is excellent, and has been adopted in French cookery.

Cook one pint of cranberries with one quart of water in a stewpan, and cover the stewpan. When the berries are cooked drain them in a fine sieve through which they are strained. To the purée thus obtained add the necessary quantity of their cooking liquor, so as to make a somewhat thick sauce. Sugar should be added according to the taste of the consumer.

This sauce is mostly served with roast turkey. It is to be bought ready-made, and, if this kind be used, it need only be heated with a little water.

Take one pint of butter sauce (No. 66) and finish it with two tablespoonfuls of chopped fennel, scalded for a few seconds.

This is principally used with mackerel.

Dissolve one-quarter pound of butter, and add to it the necessary salt, a little pepper, half the juice of a lemon, and three hard-boiled eggs (hot and cut into large cubes); also a teaspoonful of chopped and scalded parsley.

Make a white roux with one and one-half oz. of butter and one oz. of flour. Mix in one pint of boiling milk, season with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg, and boil gently for ten minutes. Then add three hot hard-boiled eggs, cut into cubes (the whites and the yolks).

This sauce usually accompanies boiled fish, especially fresh haddocks and fresh and salted cod.

Rasp five oz. of horse-radish and place them in a stewpan with one-quarter pint of white consommé. Boil gently for twenty minutes and add a good one-half pint of butter sauce, as much cream, and one-half oz. of bread-crumb; thicken by reducing on a brisk fire and rub through tammy. Then thicken with the yolks of two eggs, and complete the seasoning with a pinch of salt and pepper, and a teaspoonful of mustard dissolved in a tablespoonful of vinegar.

Serve this sauce with braised or roast beef—especially fillets.

This is the Butter Sauce (No. 66), to which is added, per pint, a heaped tablespoonful of freshly-chopped parsley.

Put into a small stewpan and boil one pint of half-glaze sauce and one-half pint of ordinary Poivrade sauce. Complete with a garnish composed of one-half oz. of gherkins, one-half oz. of the hard-boiled white of an egg, one oz. of salted tongue, one oz. of truffles, and one oz. of mushrooms. All these to be cut Julienne-fashion and short.

This sauce is for mutton cutlets when these are “à la Reform.”

Pound one oz. of garlic cloves as finely as possible in a mortar, and add the yolk of one raw egg, a pinch of salt, and one-half pint of oil, letting the latter gradually fall in a thread and wielding the pestle meanwhile, so as to effect a complete amalgamation. Add a few drops of lemon juice and cold water to the sauce as it thickens, these being to avoid its turning.

Should it decompose while in the process of making or when made, the only thing to be done is to begin it again with the yolk of an egg.

Take the required quantity of Mayonnaise sauce (No. 126) and add to it the quarter of its volume of very red and concentrated tomato purée, and finally add two oz. of capsicum cut finely, Julienne-fashion, per pint of sauce.

Put in a bowl one-quarter pint of cold Béchamel, the yolks of four eggs, a little table salt and white pepper. Add a quart of oil and three tablespoonfuls of tarragon vinegar, proceeding as for the Mayonnaise.

Finish the sauce with a tablespoonful of mustard.

Pound in a mortar, and make into a smooth, fine paste, one oz. of pistachios and one oz. of fir-apple kernels, or, if these are not available, one oz. of sweet almonds; add one-half tablespoonful of cold Béchamel. Put this paste into a bowl, add the yolks of six eggs, a little salt and pepper, and finish the sauce with one quart of oil, the juice of two lemons, and proceed as for the Mayonnaise.

[49]
Complete with three tablespoonfuls of purée of herbs, prepared with equal quantities of chervil, parsley, tarragon, and fresh pimpernel, scalded for one minute. Cool quickly, press so as to expel the water, and pass through a fine sieve.

Serve this sauce with cold fish.

Crush in a basin the yolks of six hard-boiled eggs, and work them into a smooth paste, together with a large tablespoonful of French mustard, the necessary salt, a little pepper, and make up the sauce with one pint of oil. Complete with one dessertspoonful of parsley, chervil, and tarragon (chopped and mixed), as many capers and gherkins, evenly mixed, and the hard-boiled whites of three eggs, cut short, Julienne-fashion.

This sauce is chiefly used with cold fish.

Put in a basin the yolks of six raw eggs, after having removed the cores. Season them with one-half oz. of table-salt and a little cayenne pepper. Gradually pour one-fifth pint of vinegar on the yolks while whisking them briskly. When the vinegar is absorbed add one quart of oil, letting the latter trickle down in a thread, constantly stirring the sauce meanwhile. The sauce is finished by the addition of the juice of a lemon and three tablespoonfuls of boiling water—the purpose of the latter being to ensure the coherence of the sauce and to prevent its turning.

Mayonnaise prepared in this way is rather liquid, but it need only be left to rest a few hours in order to thicken considerably. Unless it be exposed to too low a temperature, the Mayonnaise, prepared as above, never turns, and may be kept for several days without the fear of anything happening to it. Merely cover it to keep the dust away.

Remarks.—In the matter of that sauce there exist endless prejudices, which I must attempt to refute:—

1. If the sauce forms badly, or not at all, the reason is that the oil has been added too rapidly at first, before the addition of the vinegar, and that its assimilation by the yolks has not operated normally.

2. It is quite an error to suppose that it is necessary to work over ice or in a cold room. Cold is rather deleterious to the Mayonnaise, and is invariably the cause of this sauce turning in winter. In the cold season the oil should be slightly [50] warmed, or, at least, kept at the temperature of the kitchen, though it is best to make it in a moderately warm place.

3. It is a further error to suppose that the seasoning interferes with the making of the sauce, for salt, in solution, rather provokes the cohering force of the yolks.

Causes of the Disintegration of the Mayonnaise:—

1. The too rapid addition of the oil at the start.

2. The use of congealed, or too cold, an oil.

3. Excess of oil in proportion to the number of yolks, the assimilating power of an egg being limited to two and one-half oz. of oil (if the sauce be made some time in advance), and three oz. if it is to be used immediately.

Means of Bringing Turned Mayonnaise Back to its Normal State.—Put the yolk of an egg into a basin with a few drops of vinegar, and mix the turned Mayonnaise in it, little by little. If it be a matter of only a small quantity of Mayonnaise, one-half a coffeespoonful of mustard can take the place of the egg-yolk. Finally, with regard to acid seasoning, a whiter sauce is obtained by the use of lemon juice instead of vinegar.

Take the necessary quantity of Mayonnaise and gradually add to it, per one and one-half pints of the sauce, one-half pint of cold and rather firm melting aspic jelly—Lenten or ordinary, according to the nature of the products for which the sauce is intended.

Remarks.—It is this very Mayonnaise, formerly used almost exclusively for coating entrées and cold relevées of fish, filleted fish, escalopes of common and spiny-lobster, &c., which I have allowed the Lenten Chaud-froid (see remarks No. 76) to supersede.

Put into a copper basin or other bowl three-quarters pint of melted jelly, two-thirds pint of Mayonnaise, one tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar, and as much rasped or finely-chopped horse-radish. Mix up the whole, place the utensil on ice, and whisk gently until the contents get very frothy. Stop whisking as soon as the sauce begins to solidify, for it must remain almost fluid so as to enable it to mix with the products for which it is intended.

This sauce is used principally for vegetable salads.

Put into a bowl one pint of oil, one-third pint of vinegar, a little salt and pepper, two oz. of small capers, three tablespoonfuls of fine herbs, comprising some very finely chopped onion, as much parsley, and half as much chervil, tarragon, and chives. Mix thoroughly. The Ravigote accompanies calf’s head or foot, sheep’s trotters, &c.

Two or three tablespoonfuls of the liquor with which its accompanying solids have been cooked, i.e., calf’s head or sheep’s trotters liquor, &c., are often added to this sauce when dishing up.

To one pint of Mayonnaise add one large tablespoonful of mustard, another of gherkins, and yet another of chopped and pressed capers, one tablespoonful of fine herbs, parsley, chervil, and tarragon, all chopped and mixed, and a coffeespoonful of anchovy essence.

This sauce accompanies cold meat and poultry, and, more particularly, common and spiny lobster.

Take the necessary quantity of thick Mayonnaise and spicy seasoning, and add to these, per pint of sauce, one-third pint of herb juice, prepared as indicated hereafter (No. 132).

This is suitable for cold fish and shell fish.

Prepare and carefully wash the following herbs:—One oz. each of parsley, chervil, tarragon, chives, sorrel-leaves, and fresh pimpernel, two oz. of water-cress and two oz. of spinach. Put all these herbs into a copper bowl containing salted, boiling water. Boil for two minutes only; then drain the herbs in a sieve and immerse them in a basin of fresh water. When they are cold they are once more drained until quite dry; then they must be finely pounded with the yolks of eight hard-boiled eggs. Rub the purée thus obtained through a sieve first, then through tammy, add one pint of very stiff Mayonnaise to it and finish the sauce with a dessertspoonful of Worcestershire sauce.

Pound together the yolks of six hard-boiled eggs, the washed and dried fillets of four anchovies, a teaspoonful of capers, a dessertspoonful of chervil, tarragon, and chives, mixed. When the whole forms a fine paste, add one tablespoonful of mustard, one-fifth pint of oil, one tablespoonful of vinegar, and proceed as for a Mayonnaise. Season with a little cayenne; rub through tammy, applying pressure with a spoon, and put the sauce in a bowl. Stir it awhile with a whisk to smooth it, and finish with one teaspoonful of chopped parsley.

It is suited to cold meats in general; in fact, it is an Anglicised version of Vincent Sauce.

Dissolve four tablespoonfuls of red-currant jelly, to which are added one-fifth pint of port wine, one teaspoonful of finely-chopped shallots, scalded for a few seconds and pressed, one teaspoonful of small pieces of orange rind and as much lemon rind (cut finely, Julienne-fashion, scalded for two minutes, well-drained, and cooled), the juice of an orange and that of half a lemon, one teaspoonful of mustard, a little cayenne pepper, and as much powdered ginger. Mix the whole well.

Serve this sauce with cold venison.

Take one pint of very thick Mayonnaise and complete it with one-fifth pint of sour cream with the juice of a lemon added, and combine with the Mayonnaise by degrees; one teaspoonful of chopped fennel and as much Worcester sauce.

Serve this with all cold meats.

Cut finely, Julienne-fashion, or chop, two oz. of mint leaves. Put these in a bowl with a little less than one oz. of white cassonade or castor sugar, one-quarter pint of fresh vinegar, and four tablespoonfuls of water.

Special sauce for hot or cold lamb.

Make a Cumberland sauce according to No. 134, with this difference: that the Julienne of orange and lemon rinds should be replaced by rasped or finely-chopped rinds, and that the quantities of same should be less, i.e., two-thirds of a teaspoonful of each.

Dilute one tablespoonful of mustard with two tablespoonfuls of vinegar in a basin, and add one lb. of finely-rasped horse-radish, two oz. of powdered sugar, a little salt, one pint of cream, and one lb. of bread-crumb steeped in milk and pressed. Serve this sauce very cold.

It accompanies boiled and roast joints of beef.

With the exception of those of the shell-fish order, the butters, whose formulæ I am about to give, are not greatly used in kitchens. Nevertheless, in some cases, as, for instance, in accentuating the savour of sauces, they answer a real and useful purpose, and I therefore recommend them, since they enable one to give a flavour to the derivatives of the Velouté and Béchamel sauces which these could not acquire by any other means.

With regard to shell-fish butters, and particularly those of the common and spiny lobster and the crayfish, experience has shown that when they are prepared with heat (that is to say, by melting in a bain-marie a quantity of butter which has been previously pounded with shell-fish remains and afterwards strained through muslin into a basin of iced-water where it has solidified) they are of a finer colour than the other kind and quite free from shell particles. But the heat, besides dissipating a large proportion of their delicacy, involves considerable risk, for the slightest neglect gives the above preparation quite a disagreeable taste. To obviate these difficulties I have adopted a system of two distinct butters, one which is exclusively calorific and prepared with heat, and the other which is prepared with all the creamy parts, the trimmings and the remains of common and spiny lobsters, without the shells, pounded with the required quantity of fresh butter and passed through a sieve. The latter is used to complete sauces, particularly those with a Béchamel base to which it lends a perfect savour.

I follow the same procedure with shrimp and crayfish butters, [54] sometimes substituting for the butter good cream, which, I find, absorbs the aromatic principles perhaps better than the former. With the above method it is advisable to pass the butter or the cream through a very fine sieve first and afterwards through tammy, so as to avoid small particles of the pounded shell being present in the sauce.

Put into a small stewpan one-quarter pint of white wine and one oz. of finely-chopped shallots, scalded a moment. Reduce the wine by one-half, and add one-half lb. of butter softened into a cream; one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, two oz. of beef marrow cut into cubes, poached in slightly salted water and well drained, the necessary table-salt, and, when dishing up, a little ground pepper and a few drops of lemon-juice.

This butter must not be completely melted, and it is principally served with grilled beef.

Put into a small saucepan of salted, boiling water six oz. of chervil, parsley, tarragon, fresh pimpernel, and chives, in equal quantities, and two oz. of chopped shallots. Boil quickly for two minutes, drain, cool in cold water, press in a towel to completely remove the water, and pound in a mortar. Now add one-half lb. of half-melted butter, mix well with the purée of herbs, and pass through tammy.

This butter is used to complete Chivry sauce and other sauces that contain herb juices, such as the Venetian, &c.

Reduce by two-thirds four-fifths pint of white wine containing four chopped shallots, fragments of thyme and bay, and four oz. of mushroom parings. Add four-fifths pint of veal gravy, reduce the whole to half, rub it through tammy, and finish it away from the fire with eight oz. of Maître d’Hôtel butter (No. 150) and half a tablespoonful of chopped tarragon.

Take one lb. of Maître d’Hôtel butter (No. 150) and add six tablespoonfuls of dissolved, pale meat glaze and one teaspoonful of chopped tarragon.

Serve this sauce with fish prepared à la Colbert.

Put on to a dish any available remains of shell-fish after having thoroughly emptied and well dried them in the oven. Pound them until they form a fine powder, and add their weight of butter.

Put the whole into a saucepan and melt in a bain-marie, stirring frequently the while. When the butter is quite clarified strain it through muslin, twisting the latter over a tureen of iced-water in which the strained butter solidifies. Put the congealed butter in a towel, press it heavily so as to expel the water, and keep cool in a small bowl.

Remarks.—A very fine and decided red colour is obtained by using paprika as a condiment for sauces intended for poultry and certain butcher’s meats, in accordance with the procedure I recommend for the Hongroise. But only the very best quality should be used—that which is mild and at the same time produces a nice pink colour without entailing any excess of the condiment. Among the various kinds of paprika on the market I can highly recommend that of Messrs. Kotangi, which I have invariably found satisfactory.

Peel, wash, and thoroughly shake (so as to get rid of every drop of water) two lbs. of spinach. Pound it raw and then press it in a strong towel, twisting the latter so as to extract all the vegetable juice. Pour this juice into a sautépan, let it coagulate in a bain-marie, and pour it on to a serviette stretched over a bowl in order to drain away the water. Collect the remains of the colouring substance on the serviette, making use of a palette-knife for the purpose, and put these into a mortar; mix with half their weight of butter, strain through a sieve or tammy, and put aside to cool. This green butter should in all cases take the place of the liquid green found on the market.

Finely pound shrimp and crayfish shells, and combine with these the available creamy parts and spawn of the common and spiny lobsters; add one-quarter pint of rich cream per lb. of the above remains, and strain, first through a fine sieve and then through tammy. This cullis is prepared just in time for dishing up, and serves as a refining principle in certain fish sauces.

Finely pound any available shrimp remains, add to these their weight of butter, and strain through tammy. Place in a bowl and put aside in the cool.

Put eight oz. of roughly minced shallots in the corner of a clean towel, and wash them quickly in boiling water. Cool, and press them heavily. Then pound them finely with their own weight of fresh butter and strain through tammy.

This butter accentuates the savour of certain sauces, such as Bercy, Ravigote, &c.

Pound, very finely, the remains and shells of crayfish cooked in Mirepoix. Add their weight of butter, and strain through a fine sieve, and again through tammy, so as to avoid the presence of any shell particles. This latter precaution applies to all shell-fish butters.

Quickly scald and cool eight oz. of fresh tarragon, drain, press in a towel, pound in a mortar, and add to them one lb. of butter. Strain through tammy, and put aside in the cool if it is not to be used immediately.

Reduce to a paste in the mortar the spawn, shell, and creamy parts of lobster. Add their equal in weight of butter and strain through tammy.

First manie and then soften into a cream one-half lb. of butter. Add a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a little salt and pepper, and a few drops of lemon-juice.

Serve this with grills in general.

Mix, until perfectly combined, four oz. of butter and three oz. of sifted flour. This butter is made immediately before the time of dishing up, and is used for quick leasons like the Matelotes, &c.

[57]
The sauce to which manied butter has been added should not boil if this can possibly be avoided, as it would thereby acquire a very disagreeable taste of raw flour.

This preparation, which is used principally as a fish sauce, should consist of butter, only just melted, and combined with a little table-salt and a few drops of lemon-juice. It should therefore be prepared only at the last minute; for, should it wait and be allowed to clarify, besides losing its flavour it will be found to disagree with certain people.

Put into a frying-pan the necessary quantity of butter, and cook it gently until it has acquired a golden tint and exudes a slight smell of nut. Add a few drops of lemon-juice, and pour on the fish under treatment, which should have been previously sprinkled with concassed parsley.

This butter is proper to fish “à la Meunière” and is always served on the fish.

Put into a saucepan containing boiling water equal quantities of watercress leaves, parsley, chervil, chives, and tarragon (six oz. in all), one and one-half oz. of chopped shallots, and one-half oz. of spinach leaves. Boil for two minutes, then drain, cool, press in a towel to expel water, and pound in a mortar with one tablespoonful of pressed capers, four oz. of gherkins, a garlic clove, and the fillets of four anchovies well washed.

Mix this paste with one and one-half lbs. of butter; then add the yolks of three boiled eggs and two raw eggs, and finally pour in, by degrees, two-fifths pint of oil. Strain through a fine sieve or through tammy, put the butter into a basin, and stir it well with a wooden spoon so as to make it smooth. Season with table-salt and a little cayenne.

Use this butter to deck large fish, such as salmon and trout; but it is also used for smaller pieces and slices of fish.

Remarks.—When this butter is specially prepared to form a coat on fish, the oil and the egg yolks are omitted and only butter is used.

Put into a frying-pan the necessary amount of butter, and cook it until it has assumed a brown colour and begins to smoke. At this moment add a large pinch of concassed parsley leaves and spread it immediately over the object to be treated.

Put eight oz. of shelled hazel-nuts, for a moment, in the front of the oven, in order to slightly grill their skins and make them easily removable. Now crush the nuts in a mortar until they form a paste, and add a few drops of cold water with a view to preventing their producing any oil. Add their equivalent in weight of butter and rub through tammy.

Put into boiling water eight oz. of pistachios, and keep them on the side of the fire until the peel may be easily removed. Drain, cool in cold water, clean the pistachios, and finely pound while moistening them with a few drops of water.

Add two oz. of butter and pass through tammy.

These butters are made from all early-season vegetables, such as carrots, French beans, peas, and asparagus heads.

When dealing with green vegetables cook quickly in boiling, salted water, drain, dry, pound with their weight of butter, and rub through tammy.

With carrots: Mince and cook with consommé, sugar, and butter until the diluent is quite reduced. After cooling they are pounded with their own weight of butter and rubbed through tammy.

Jellies are to cold cookery what consommés and stock are to hot. If anything, the former are perhaps more important, for a cold entrée—however perfect it may be in itself—is nothing without its accompanying jelly.

In the recipes which I give hereafter I have made a point of showing how melting jellies may be obtained, i.e., served in a sauce-boat simultaneously with the cold comestible, or actually poured over it when the latter lies in a deep dish—a common custom nowadays.

This method of serving cold entrées, which I inaugurated at the Savoy Hotel with the “Suprême de Volaille Jeannette,” is the only one which allows of serving a jelly in a state of absolute perfection.

Nevertheless, if a more solid jelly were required, either for the decking of cold dishes or for a moulded entrée, there need only be added to the following formulæ a few gelatine leaves—more or less—according to the required firmness of the jelly.

But it should not be forgotten that the greater the viscosity of the jelly the less value will the same possess.

The various uses of jellies are dealt with in Part II. of this work, where the formulæ of their divers accompanying dishes will also appear.

Mode of Procedure.—Put the meats in a very clean and well-tinned stockpot or stewpan. Add eight quarts of cold water, boil, and skim after the manner indicated under No. 1. Having well skimmed the stock add one oz. of salt, put it on the side of [60] the fire, and let it boil gently for four hours. Then remove the meat, taking care not to disturb the stock. Carefully remove the fat, and garnish with one-half lb. of carrots, six oz. of onions, two oz. of leeks, a stick of celery, and a large faggot. Put the whole back on to the fire and cook gently for a further two hours. Strain through a sieve into a very clean basin and leave to cool.

Clarification of Aspic.—When the stock, prepared according to the above directions, has cooled, the grease that has formed on its surface should be removed. Then pour off gently into a stewpan of convenient size in such a way as to prevent the deposit at the bottom of the basin from mixing with the clear liquor. Test the consistence of the aspic, when it should be found that the quantities given above have proved sufficient to form a fairly firm jelly. If, however, this be not the case, a few leaves of gelatine steeped in cold water should be added, being careful not to overdo the quantity. Now add to the stock two lbs. of lean beef (first minced and then pounded together with the white of an egg), a little chervil and tarragon, and a few drops of lemon-juice. Place the saucepan on an open fire, stir its contents with a spatula until the liquid begins to boil, remove it from the fire, and place it on the side of the stove, where it may boil gently for half an hour.

At the end of this time take the saucepan off the fire and remove what little grease has formed on the aspic while cooking. Strain through a serviette stretched and fastened across the legs of an overturned stool, and let the aspic fall into a basin placed between the legs. Ascertain whether the liquid is quite clear, and if, as frequently happens, this be not the case, what has already been strained should once more be passed through the serviette, renewing the operation until the aspic becomes quite transparent.

Flavouring the Aspic.—The aspic obtained as above is limpid, has an agreeable savour, and is the colour of fine amber. It now only requires flavouring according to the tastes of the consumer and the purpose for which it is intended. For this operation it should be allowed to become quite tepid, and the following quantities of choice wine are added to it, viz.:—

If the wine is of a liqueur kind, such as Sherry, Marsala, Madeira, &c., one-fifth pint per quart.

If it is another kind of wine, for example, champagne, hock, &c., one-fourth pint per quart.

The wine used should be very clear, free from any deposit, and as perfect as possible in taste.

The quantities of meat are the same as for ordinary aspic; there need only be added to it either two oven-browned hens, or their equivalent in weight of roasted fowl carcases, and poultry giblets if these are handy. It is always better, however, to prepare the stock with the hens and giblets and to keep the carcases for the clarification. This clarification follows the same rules as that of the ordinary aspic, except that a few roasted-fowl carcases, previously well freed from fat, are added to it.

In the case of this particularly delicate aspic, it is more than ever necessary not to overdo the amount of gelatine. It should be easily soluble to the palate in order to be perfect.

Prepare this aspic stock in exactly the same way as that of ordinary aspic, only substitute game, such as deer, roebuck, doe, or hare, or wild rabbit (previously browned in the oven), for the beef. When possible also add to this stock a few old specimens of feathered game, such as partridges or pheasants that are too tough for other purposes and which suit admirably here.

The clarification changes according to the different flavours which are to be given to the aspic. If it is not necessary to give it a special characteristic, it should be prepared with the meat of that ground game which happens to be most available at the time, adding to the quantity used roast carcases of feathered game, the respective amounts of both ingredients being the same as for ordinary aspic. If, on the other hand, the aspic is to have a well-defined flavour, the meat used for the clarification should naturally be that producing the flavour in question, i.e., either partridge or pheasant, or hazel-hen, &c.

Some aspics are greatly improved by being flavoured with a small quantity of old brandy. Rather than use an inferior kind of this ingredient, however, I should advise its total omission from the aspic.

Without aromatisation the aspic, though imperfect, is passable; but aromatised with bad brandy it is invariably spoilt.

The stock for this aspic is prepared in precisely the same manner as fish stock, No. 1. The stewpan need not, however, be buttered previous to the insertion of the onions, parsley-stalks, [62] and fish-bones. If the aspic is not required to be quite white, a little saffron may be added to it, as the aroma of this condiment blends so perfectly with that of fish.

When the stock is prepared its consistence should be tested, and rectified, if necessary, by means of gelatine. The quantity of this substance should on no account exceed eight leaves per quart of aspic, and, at the risk of repeating myself, I remind the reader that the less gelatine is used the better the aspic will be.

The clarification should be made with fresh caviare if possible, but pressed caviare is also admirably suited to this purpose. The quantities are the same as for the clarification of fish consommé, No. 4.

In flavouring white fish aspics either dry champagne or a good Bordeaux or Burgundy may be used. Take care, however—

1. That the wine used be of an unquestionably good quality.

2. That it be only added to the aspic when the latter is already cold and on the point of coagulating, as this is the only means of preserving all the aroma of the wine.

Finally, in certain cases, a special flavour may be obtained by the use of crayfish, which are cooked, as for bisque, then pounded, and added to the fish stock No. 11 ten minutes before straining it. A proportion of four little crayfish à bisque per quart of aspic is sufficient to secure an excellent aroma.

This aspic stock is the Court-bouillon with red wine No. 165, which has served in cooking the fish for which the aspic is intended; this fish is generally either trout or salmon; sometimes also, but less commonly, a carp or a pike.

This stock must first of all have its grease thoroughly removed; it should then be poured carefully away, reduced if necessary, and the required quantity of gelatine added. This cannot be easily determined, as all gelatines are not alike, and the stock may have contracted a certain consistence from its contact with the fish. One can, therefore, only be guided by testing small quantities cooled in ice, but care should be taken that the aspic be not too firm.

The clarification of this aspic is generally made with white of egg in the proportion of one white per quart. The white, half-whisked, is added to the cold stock, and the latter is put over an open fire and stirred with a spatula. As soon as it boils, the aspic is poured through a serviette fixed on to [63] the legs of an overturned stool. The first drippings of the fluid are put back on to the serviette if they do not seem clear, and this operation is repeated until the required clearness is obtained.

It almost invariably happens that, either during the cooking of the fish or during the clarification, the wine loses its colour through the precipitation of the colouring elements derived from the tannin.

The only way of overcoming this difficulty is to add a few drops of liquid carmine or vegetable red; but, in any case, it is well to remember that the colour of red-wine aspic must never be deeper than a sombre pink.

Preparation.—Put into a saucepan the water, salt, and vinegar, the minced carrots and onions, and the parsley, thyme, and bay, gathered into a bunch. Boil, allow to simmer for one hour, rub through tammy, and put aside until wanted.

Remarks.—Put the peppercorns into the court-bouillon only twelve minutes before straining the latter. If the pepper were in for too long a time it would give a bitterness to the preparation. This rule also applies to the formulæ that follow, in which the use of peppercorns is also required.

This court-bouillon is principally used for cooking trout and salmon, as well as for various shell-fish.

Preparation.—This is the same as for the court-bouillon with vinegar, except that it is boiled for half an hour and is strained through tammy.

Remarks.—If the court-bouillon has to be reduced the quantity of salt should be proportionately less. This preparation is principally used for poaching fresh-water fish.

Use the same quantities as for court-bouillon with white wine, taking care—

1. To replace white wine by excellent red wine.

[65]
2. To add four oz. of minced carrots.

3. To apportion the wine and water in the ratio of two-thirds to one-third.

Preparation.—The same as that of the former, with the same time for boiling.

Remarks.—If the court-bouillon is to be reduced, the salt should be less accordingly. When the court-bouillon with red wine is to constitute an aspic stock, fish fumet with enough gelatine takes the place of the water.

The uses of court-bouillon with red wine are similar to those of the white-wine kind.

The quantity of court-bouillon is determined by the size of the piece which it is to cover. It is composed of cold, salt water (the salt amounting to a little less than one-half oz. per quart of water), one-quarter pint of milk per quart of water, and one thin slice of peeled lemon in the same proportion. The fish is immersed while the liquor is cold; the latter is very slowly brought to the boil, and as soon as this is reached, the receptacle is moved to the side of the fire, where the cooking of the fish is completed.

This court-bouillon, which is used with large pieces of turbot and brill, is never prepared beforehand.

This preparation is a genuine court-bouillon, though it is not used in cooking fish.

Gradually mix the flour and the water; add the salt and the lemon juice, and pass through a strainer. Set to boil, and stir the mixture the while, in order to prevent the flour from precipitating; as soon as the boil is reached, immerse the objects to be treated. These are usually calf’s head or foot, previously blanched; sheep’s trotters, cocks’ kidneys or combs, or such vegetables as salsify, cardoon, &c.

1. Court-bouillon must always be prepared in advance for all fish, the time for poaching which is less than half an hour, except turbots and brills.

[66]
2. When a fish is of such a size as to need more than half an hour’s poaching, proceed as follows:—Place under the drainer of the fish-kettle the minced carrots and onions and the faggot; put the fish on the drainer, and cover it with water and vinegar, or white wine, in accordance with the kind of court-bouillon wanted and the quantity required. Add the salt, boil, and keep the court-bouillon gently simmering for a period of time fixed by the weight of the fish. The time allowed for poaching the latter will be given in their respective formulæ.

3. Fish, when whole, should be immersed in cold court-bouillon; when sliced, in the same liquor, boiling. The exceptions to this rule are small trout “au bleu” and shell-fish.

4. If fish be cooked in short liquor the aromatics are put under the drainer and the liquid elements of the selected court-bouillon (as, for example, that with red or white wine) are so calculated as to cover only one-third of the solid body. Fish cooked in this way should be frequently basted.

5. Court-bouillon for ordinary and spiny lobsters should always be at full boiling pitch when these are immersed. The case is the same for small or medium fish “au bleu.”

6. Fish which is to be served cold, also shell-fish, should cool in the court-bouillon itself; the cooking period is consequently curtailed.

Marinades play but a small part in English cookery, venison or other ground-game being generally preferred fresh. However, in the event of its being necessary to resort to these methods of preparation, I shall give two formulæ for venison and two for mutton.

The use of the marinade for venison is very much debated. Certainly it is often desirable that the fibre of those meats that come from old specimens of the deer and boar species be softened, but there is no doubt that what the meat gains in tenderness it loses in flavour. On the whole, therefore, it would be best to use only those joints which come from young beasts.

In the case of the latter, the marinade may well be dispensed with. It would add nothing to the savour of a haunch of venison, such as may be got in England, while it would be equally ineffectual in the case of the roebuck or hare. A summary treatment of these two, with raw marinade, may well be adopted, as also for deer.

[67]
As for cooked marinade, its real and only use lies in the fact that during stormy summer weather it enables one to preserve meat which would otherwise have to be wasted. It may, moreover, be used for braised venison, but this treatment of game is very uncommon nowadays.

Preparation.—Heat one-half pint of oil in a stewpan, add the carrots and onions, and fry them while stirring frequently. When they begin to brown add the shallots, the garlic, and the faggot, then one pint of vinegar, two bottles of white wine, and three quarts of water. Cook this marinade for twenty minutes, and add a further two oz. of salt, one-half oz. of peppercorns, and four oz. of brown sugar. Ten minutes afterwards pass it through a strainer and let it cool before inserting the meats.

N.B.—In summer the marinade very often decomposes, because of the blood contained by the meat under treatment in it. The only means of averting this is to boil the marinade every two or three days at least.

This marinade is prepared immediately before using. The meat to be treated is first salted and peppered on all sides, then it is put in a receptacle just large enough to hold it, and laid therein on a litter of aromatics, including minced carrots and onions, a few chopped shallots, parsley stalks, thyme, and bay in proportion to the rest. Now sprinkle the meat copiously with oil and half as much vinegar; cover the dish with oil-paper, and put it somewhere in the cool. Remember to turn the meat over three or four times a day, covering it each time with a layer of vegetables.

This marinade is very active, and is admirably suited to all butcher’s meat and venison, provided these be not allowed to remain in it for too long a time. It is very difficult to say how long the meat must stay in these marinades; the time varies according to the size and quality of the joints, and the taste of the consumer, &c. All that can be said is that three hours should be sufficient to marinade a cutlet or escalope of roebuck, [68] and that for big joints such as saddle or leg the time should not exceed four days.

This is exactly the same as cooked marinade, No. 168. There need only be added one oz. of juniper berries, a few sprigs of rosemary, wild thyme, and basil, two extra garlic cloves, and one quart less of water.

By substituting red wine for white in the preceding formula—the quantity of the liquid equalling that of the water—and by slightly increasing the quantity of aromatics, an excellent marinade for mutton is obtained, which in summer enables one to preserve meat, otherwise perishable, for some days.

Mode of Procedure.—Put the salt and the water in a tinned copper pan, and put it on an open fire. When the water boils, throw in a peeled potato, and, if the latter float, add water until it begins to sink. If, on the contrary, the potato should sink immediately, reduce the liquid until it is able to buoy the tuber up. At this stage the sugar and saltpetre are added; let them dissolve, and the brine is then removed from the fire and is allowed to cool. It is then poured into the receptacle intended for it, which must be either of slate, stone, cement, or well-jointed tiles. It is well to place in the bottom of this reservoir a wooden lattice, whereon the meats to be salted may be laid, for, were the immersed objects to lie directly on the bottom of the receptacle, the under parts would be entirely shielded from the brine.

If the meats to be salted are of an appreciable size, they should be inoculated with brine by means of a special syringe. Without this measure it would be impossible to salt regularly, as the sides would already be over-saturated before the centre had even been properly reached.

Eight days should be allowed for salting a piece of beef of what size soever, above eight or ten lb., since the process of inoculation equalises the salting.

Ox-tongue intended for salting, besides having to be as [69] fresh as possible, must be trimmed of almost all the cartilage of the throat, and carefully beaten either with a beater or roller. Then it must be pricked on all sides with a string-needle, and immersed in the liquid, where it should be slightly weighted by some means or other in order to prevent its rising to the surface. A medium-sized tongue would need about seven days’ immersion in the brine.

Though brine does not turn as easily as the cooked marinades, it would be well, especially in stormy weather, to watch it and occasionally to boil it. But, as the process of boiling invariably concentrates the brine, a little water should be added to it every time it is so treated, and the test of the potato, described above, should always be resorted to.

Before broaching the question of the numerous preparations which constitute the various soup, relevé, and entrée garnishes, it will be necessary to give the formulæ of the elementary preparations, or what are technically called the mise en place. If the various operations which go to make the mise en place were not, at least summarily, discussed here, I should be compelled to repeat them in each formula for which they are required—that is to say, in almost every formula. I should thus resemble those bad operators who, having neglected their mise en place, are obliged to make it in the course of other work, and thereby not only run the risk of making it badly, but also of losing valuable time which might be used to better advantage.

Elementary preparations consist of those things whereof one is constantly in need, which may be prepared in advance, and which are kept available for use at a moment’s notice.

Whether they be for hors d’œuvres or for culinary use, it is always best to have these handy.

After having washed and well wiped them, in order to remove the white powder resulting from the little scales with which they are covered, they should be neatly trimmed to the shape of extended oblongs. Then detach the fillets from the bones by gentle pulling, divide each fillet lengthwise into three or four smaller fillets, put the latter into a small narrow dish or a little bowl, and cover them with oil. The fillets may also be kept whole with a view to rolling them into rings.

It is well to have this always ready for those dishes which are to be panés à l’anglaise, or as many of the recipes direct: treated à l’anglaise.

[71]
It is made of well-whisked eggs, salt, pepper, and one dessertspoonful of oil per couple of eggs.

Its Uses.—The solids to be panés à l’anglaise are dipped into the preparation described above, taking care that the latter coats them thoroughly; whereupon, according to the requirements, they are rolled either in bread-crumbs or in fine raspings. From this combination of egg with bread-crumbs or raspings there results a kind of coat which, at the moment of contact with the hot fat, is immediately converted into a resisting crust. In croquettes this crust checks the escape, into the fat, of the substances it encloses, and this is more especially the case when the croquettes contain some reduced sauce, or are composed of raw meats or fish whose juices are thereby entirely retained. A solid prepared à l’anglaise and cooked in fat should always be put into the latter when this is very hot, so as to ensure the instantaneous solidification of the egg and bread-crumbs.

N.B.—Objects to be treated à l’anglaise are generally rolled in flour before being immersed in the anglaise, for the flour helps the foregoing to adhere to the object.

The crust formed over the solid thus acquires a density which is indispensable.

Aromatics play a very prominent part in cookery, and their combination with the condiments constitutes, as Grimod de la Reynière said, “the hidden soul of cooking.” Their real object, in fact, is to throw the savour of dishes into relief, to intensify that savour, and to give each culinary preparation its particular stamp.

They are all derived from the vegetable kingdom; but, while some are used dry, others are used fresh.

The first-named should belong to the permanent kitchen stock; they are: sage, basil, rosemary, sweet marjoram, thyme, and bay.

Also to be included in the permanent stock are: cinnamon, ginger, juniper-berries, nutmeg, cloves, mace, and vanilla.

The last-named comprise those aromatic herbs used fresh, such as: parsley, chervil, tarragon, pimpernel, and common savory; while, under this head, there may also be included: bits of common- and Seville-orange rind and zests of lemon rind.

Seasonings are divided into several classes, which comprise:—

[72]
1. Saline seasonings.—Salt, spiced salt, saltpetre.

2. Acid seasonings.—Plain vinegar, or the same aromatised with tarragon; verjuice, lemon juice, and common- or Seville-orange juices.

3. Hot seasonings.—Peppercorns, ground or concassed pepper, or mignonette; paprika, curry, cayenne, and compound spices.

4. Saccharine seasonings.—Sugar and honey.

Condiments are likewise subdivided, the three classes being:—

1. The pungents.—Onions, shallots, garlic, chives, and horseradish.

2. Hot condiments.—Mustard, gherkins, capers, English sauces, such as Worcester, Harvey, Ketchup, Escoffier’s sauces, &c.; the wines used in reductions and braisings; the finishing elements of sauces and soups.

3. Fatty substances.—Most animal fats, butter, vegetable greases (edible oils and cocoanut butter).

Remarks.—In cookery it should be borne in mind that both excellence and eatableness depend entirely upon a judicious use and a rational blending of the aromatics, seasonings, and condiments. And, according as the latter have been used and apportioned, their action will be either beneficial or injurious to the health of the consumer.

In the matter of seasoning there can be no question of approximation or half measures; the quantities must be exact, allowing only of slight elasticity in respect of the various tastes to be satisfied.

A certain quantity of clarified butter should always be kept ready and handy.

To prepare this butter, put one lb. to melt in a saucepan large enough to hold twice that amount. Place the saucepan on the side of the fire, over moderate heat; remove all the scum which rises to the surface, and, when the butter looks quite clear and all foreign substances have dropped to the bottom, put the liquid carefully away and strain it through muslin.

The name “faggot” is given to those little bunches of aromatics which, when the contrary is not stated, are generally composed (in order to weigh one ounce) of eight-tenths oz. of [73] parsley stalks and roots, one-tenth oz. of bay leaves, and one-tenth oz. of thyme. These various aromatics are put neatly together so that no sprig of the one sticks out beyond the others, and they are properly strung together.

Chopped Chervil.—Clean the chervil and remove the stalks; wash, dry it well while tossing it, then chop it finely and put it aside on a plate in the cool, if it is not for immediate use.

Concassed Chervil.—Proceed as above, except that, instead of chopping it, compress it between the fingers and slice it after the manner of a chaff-cutter. Concassed and chopped chervil are, if possible, only prepared at the last moment.

Chervil Pluches.—The pluches are greatly used in the finishing off of soups. They are, practically, the serrated portions only of the leaves, which are torn away in such a manner as to show no trace of the veinings. They are immersed in water, and at the last moment withdrawn, so as to be added, raw, to either soups or boiling consommés.

Golden raspings are obtained by pounding and passing through a fine sieve bread-crusts which have been previously well dried in the oven.

White raspings are similarly prepared, except that very dry, white crumb is used.

Lemons are greatly used in cookery, as dish and comestible garnish. When a whole lemon is used for marinades of fish, for the “blancs,” &c., it is well to peel it to the pulp, i.e., to remove the peel and the whole of the underlying white. The lemon is then cut into more or less large slices, according to the use for which it is intended.

The rind of a lemon thus peeled may be cut into bits and used in this form as the necessity arises. When cutting it up, flatten the rind inside uppermost on the table, and, with a very sharp and flexible knife, remove all the white; then slice the remaining peel (which constitutes what is called zest) into strips about one inch wide, and cut these laterally in fine julienne-fashion.

Scald the resulting bits for five minutes, cool them, drain them carefully, and put them aside until wanted. Sometimes, instead of cutting julienne-fashion, the zest may be finely chopped, but the rest of the process remains the same.

[74]
Lemons are channelled by means of a little knife, or a special instrument for the purpose, which excises parallel ribbons from the surface of the rind and lays the white bare. A lemon channelled in this way is cut in two, lengthwise with the core; its two extremities are removed, and the two halves are cut laterally into thin, regular slices to look like serrated half-discs.

The lemon may also be cut at right angles to the core.

Fried fish, oysters, and certain game are generally garnished with lemon slices fashioned according to the taste of the cook; but the simplest, and perhaps the best, way is to cut the lemon through the centre, after having trimmed the two ends quite straight, and then to remove the rind roughly from the edge.

For whatever purpose the lemon be intended, it should be, as far as possible, only prepared at the last moment. If it must be prepared beforehand, it would be well to keep it in a bowl of fresh water.

Chopped Shallots.—Clean the shallots, and, by means of a very sharp knife, cut them lengthwise into thin slices; let these cling together by not allowing the knife to cut quite through them, and, this done, turn them half round and proceed in the same way at right angles to the other cuts.

Finally, cut them laterally, and this will be found to produce very fine and regular, small cubes.

Ciseled Shallots.—The name “ciseled shallots” is often erroneously given to those shallots resulting from the above process.

But ciseled shallots are merely laterally sliced, the result of which operation is a series of thin, regular discs. Ciseled or chopped shallots should, when possible, only be prepared when required; if, however, they must be treated in advance, they should be kept somewhere in the cool until wanted.

Strictly speaking, spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, mace; and the many varieties of peppers and pimenta, cayenne, paprika, &c.

These various condiments are found ready-made on the market, and they need only be kept dry in air-tight boxes in order to prevent the escape of their aroma.

But there is another kind of preparation, in cookery, to which the name of spice or all-spice is more especially given. [75] Nowadays several market varieties of this preparation exist, and vie with each other for custom, though in most cases they deserve it equally well.

Formerly this was not so, and every chef had his own formula.

The following is a recipe for the spice in question, which would be found useful if it had to be prepared at a moment’s notice:—

Put all these ingredients into a mortar and pound them until they are all able to pass through a very fine sieve. Put the resulting powder into an air-tight box, which must be kept dry.

Before being used, this spice is generally mixed with salt (No. 188).

For whatever use the flour is intended, it is always best to sift it. This is more particularly necessary in the case of flour used for coating objects to be fried; for the latter, being first dipped into milk, must of necessity let a few drops of that liquid fall into the flour they are rolled in. Lumps would therefore form, which might adhere to the objects to be fried if the flour were not sifted.

This is to finish or intensify certain preparations.

To prepare it, throw into a small saucepan of boiling water some parsley, chervil, and tarragon and chive leaves, in equal quantities, according to the amount of juice required.

Set to boil for two minutes, drain, cool, press the herbs in a towel, twisting the latter; pound very finely, and extract the juice from the resulting paste by twisting a strong towel round it.

Keep this juice in the cool.

Thoroughly rub, in a closed towel, some stale bread-crumb previously well broken up. Pass it through a fine sieve or colander, according as to whether it is required very fine or not, and put it aside in a convenient receptacle.

Cut the onion finely, like the shallots, but if it is to be minced with a view to making it even finer, it should be freed of its pungent juice, which would cause it to blacken with exposure to the air.

To accomplish this, put the onion in the corner of a towel, pour plenty of cold water over it, and twist the towel in order to express the water. By this means the onion remains quite white.

There are special instruments for stoning olives, but, failing these, cut the fruit spirally from the stone with the point of a small knife.

Keep the olives in slightly salted water.

Chopped Parsley.—If parsley be properly chopped, no juice should be produced. If, on the contrary, the operation be performed badly, it amounts to a process of pounding which, perforce, expresses the juice.

In the latter case the particles cohere, and they are sprinkled with difficulty over an object. To remedy this shortcoming, wash the choppings in fresh water, as in the case of the onion, pressing in a similar manner so as to expel the water.

Concassed Parsley is that kind which is roughly chopped. When a culinary preparation is dressed with concassed parsley, the latter should be added to it a few moments before serving, in order to undergo a slight cooking process; whereas chopped parsley may be strewn over a dish at the last moment.

It should be remembered that parsley, when quite fresh and used in moderation, is an excellent thing; but, should it have remained too long in the heat, it becomes quite insufferable.

I cannot, therefore, too strongly urge the advisability of using it in the freshest possible state, and it would even be wiser to discard it entirely than to be forced to ignore this condition.

Parsley Sprays.—These are chiefly used in garnishing dishes, and it is well for the purpose to make as much use as possible of the curled-leaf kind, after having removed the long stalks. Keep the sprays in fresh water until required.

Fried Parsley.—This consists of the sprays, well drained of water after washing, and immersed for an instant in very hot fat. The moment it is fried carefully drain it, salt it, and place [77] it in a clean towel, where it may get rid of any superfluous grease. It is used to dress fried viands.

Two kinds of salt are used in cooking, viz., grey, or sea-salt, and rock-salt. Grey-salt is used more especially for Brines and in the preparation of ices, as its grey colour does not allow of its being used indiscriminately.

Be this as it may, many prefer it to rock-salt for the salting of stock-pots, roasts, and grills. For the last two purposes it is crushed with a roller, without being pounded, and the result should be such that every grain is distinctly perceptible to the touch.

This salt, in melting over a roast or a grill, certainly imparts a supplementary flavour to the latter which could not be got with the use of rock-salt.

Rock-salt.—This is found on the market in the forms of cooking and table-salt. If the kitchen is only supplied with cooking salt, the quantity required for several days should be dried, pounded in the mortar, and passed through a fine sieve; and then put aside in a dry place for use when wanted. Even table-salt, as it reaches one from the purveyor, sometimes needs drying and passing through a sieve before being used.

Spiced Salt.—This condiment, which serves an important purpose in the preparation of pies and galantines, is obtained from a mixture of one lb. of table salt with three and one-half oz. of spices (No. 181).

This kind of salt should be carefully kept in a very dry place.

Panadas are those preparations which go to make the leason of forcemeats and which ensure their proper consistence when they are cooked. They are not necessary to every forcemeat; for the mousseline kind, which are the finest and lightest, do not require them. Nevertheless, they are useful for varying the taste and the uses of forcemeats, and I thought it advisable to introduce them here. The reader will thus be able to use either forcemeats with a panada base or mousseline forcemeats; in accordance with the requirements and his resources.

Put one-half lb. of the crumb of bread and one-half oz. of salt into one-half pint of boiling milk. When the crumb has absorbed all the milk, place the saucepan over a brisk fire and stir with a spatula until the paste has become so thick as not to cling any longer to the end of the spatula. Turn the contents of the saucepan into a buttered platter, and lightly butter the surface of the panada in order to avoid its drying while it cools.

Put into a small saucepan one-half pint of water, a little salt, and two oz. of butter. When the liquid boils add five oz. of sifted flour thereto, stirring the while over a brisk fire until it reaches the consistence described in the case of bread panada. Use the same precautions with regard to cooling.

Put into a stewpan four oz. of sifted flour, the yolks of four eggs, a little salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Now add by degrees three oz. of melted butter and dilute with one-half pint of boiled milk. Pass through a strainer, stir over the fire until the boil is reached; set to cook for five minutes while gently wielding the whisk, and cool as in the preceding cases.

Remove the tendons from, and cut into cubes, one lb. of chicken-meat. Pound, and add one-third oz. of salt, a little pepper and nutmeg. When the meat is well pounded remove it from the mortar, and place in its stead one-half lb. of very cold panada (see No. 190). Finely pound this panada, and then add one-half lb. of butter thereto, taking care that the two ingredients mix thoroughly. Now put in the chicken-meat, and wield the pestle vigorously until the whole mass is completely mixed. Finally, add consecutively two whole eggs and the yolks of four, stirring incessantly the while and seeing that each egg is only inserted when the one preceding it has become perfectly incorporated with the mass. Rub through a sieve, put the forcemeat into a basin, and smooth it with a wooden spoon.

Test the forcemeat by poaching a small portion of it in salted, boiling water. This test, which is indispensable, allows of rectifying the seasoning and the consistence if necessary. If it be found that the forcemeat is too light, a little white of egg could [79] be mingled with it; if, on the other hand, it should be too stiff add a little softened butter.

N.B.—By substituting for chicken veal, game, or fish, &c., any kind of forcemeat may be made; for the quantities of the other ingredients remain the same whatever the basic meat may be.

Finely pound one lb. of chicken-meat after having removed the tendons, and seasoned with one-quarter oz. of salt, a little pepper and nutmeg.

When the meat has been reduced to a fine paste, add, very gradually, two oz. of white of egg. Finish with seven oz. of Frangipan panada (No. 192), and work vigorously with the pestle until the whole is amalgamated. Strain through a fine sieve, put the forcemeat into a vegetable-pan sufficiently large to allow of ultimately working it with ease, and place it on ice for a good hour.

This done, stir the forcemeat (still on the ice) for a few seconds with a wooden spoon, then add, in small quantities at a time, one pint of raw cream. At this stage complete the preparation by adding thereto one-half pint of whipped cream. It should then be found to be very white, smooth, and mellow. Test as directed in the preceding recipe, and add a little white of egg if it be too light, and a little cream if it be too stiff.

N.B.—This forcemeat may be prepared from all butcher’s meats, game, or fish.

Remove the tendons from, trim, and cut into cubes, one lb. of chicken-meat. Season with one oz. of salt, a little pepper and nutmeg.

Finely pound, and, when it is reduced to a paste, gradually add the whites of two eggs, vigorously working with the pestle meanwhile.

Strain through a fine sieve, put the forcemeat into a vegetable-pan, stir it once more with the wooden spoon for a moment or two, and combine with it, gradually, one pint of thick, fresh cream, working with great caution and keeping the receptacle on ice.

Remarks Relative to Mousseline Forcemeat.—This, like the preceding forcemeats, may be prepared from any kind of meat. [80] The addition of the white of egg is not essential if the meats used already possess a certain quantity of albumen; but without the white of egg the forcemeat absorbs much less cream.

This forcemeat is particularly suited to preparations with a shell-fish base. Incomparably delicate results are obtained by the process, while it also furnishes ideal quenelles for the purpose of garnishing soup. In a word, it may be said of mousseline forcemeat that, whereas it can replace all other kinds, none of these can replace it.

N.B.—Mousseline forcemeats of all kinds, with meat, poultry, game, fish, or shell-fish, may be made according to the principles and quantities given above.

Remove the tendons of, and cut into large cubes, two lbs. of fillet of pork, and the same weight of fresh, fat bacon. Season with one and three-quarter oz. of spiced salt (No. 188), chop the fillet and bacon up, together or separately, pound them finely in the mortar, and finish with two eggs and two tablespoonfuls of brandy.

This forcemeat is used for ordinary pies and terrines. Strictly speaking, it is “sausage-meat.” The inclusion of eggs in this forcemeat really only obtains when it is used to stuff joints that are to be braised, such as stuffed breast of veal; or in the case of pies and terrines. The addition of the egg in these cases prevents the grease from melting too quickly, and thus averts the drying of the forcemeat.

Remove the tendons from, and cut into cubes, one lb. of fillet of veal and as much fillet of pork; add to these two lbs. of fresh, fat bacon, also cut into cubes. Season with three oz. of spiced salt, chop the three ingredients together or apart, and then finely pound them. Finish with three eggs and three tablespoonfuls of burnt brandy, strain through a sieve, and place in a basin.

When about to serve this stuffing, add to it a little fumet corresponding with the meat that is to constitute the dish. For terrines, pies, and galantines of game, one-quarter or one-fifth of the forcemeat’s weight of gratin stuffing (proper to the game under treatment) is added.

Remove the tendons from, and cut into cubes, one lb. of fillet of veal; also pare, i.e., detach skin and filaments from, two lbs. [81] of the very dry fat of kidneys of beef. First, chop these up separately, then combine and pound them in the mortar. Season with one-half oz. of salt, a little pepper, some nutmeg, and pound afresh until the veal and fat become a homogeneous mass. Now add four eggs, consecutively, and at intervals of a few minutes, without ceasing to pound, and taking care only to insert each egg after the preceding one has been properly mixed with the mass. Spread the forcemeat thus prepared on a dish, and put the latter on ice until the next day.

The next day pound once more, and add little by little fourteen oz. of very clean ice (in small pieces); or, instead, an equal weight of iced water, adding this also very gradually.

When the godiveau is properly moistened, poach a small portion of it in boiling water in order to test its consistence. If it be too firm, add some more ice to it; if, on the other hand, it seem too flimsy, add a little of the white of an egg. For the uses of godiveau and quenelles see No. 205.

Chop finely and apart one lb. of very white fillet of veal, with tendons removed, cut into cubes, and one lb. of the fat of pared kidney of beef.

Combine the veal and the fat in the mortar, and pound until the two ingredients form a fine and even paste. Season with one-half oz. of salt, a little pepper, and some nutmeg, and add consecutively two eggs and two yolks, after the manner of the preceding recipe and without ceasing to pound. Strain through a sieve, spread the forcemeat on a dish, and keep it on ice until the next day.

Next day pound the forcemeat again for a few minutes, and add to it, little by little, one and one-half pints of cream.

Test as before, and rectify if necessary, either by adding cream or by thickening with the white of an egg.

The exact weight of chicken-meat used as the base of this forcemeat determines the quantities of its other ingredients. Thus the weight of meat afforded by a fowl weighing four lbs. is estimated at twenty oz. after deducting the fillets which are always reserved. Hence the quantities for the forcemeat are regulated thus:—

Chicken-meat, twenty oz.; lean pork, eight oz.; fillet of veal, [82] eight oz.; fresh, fat bacon, thirty oz.; whole eggs, five; spiced salt, two oz.; brandy, one-fifth pint.

Chop up, either together or apart, the chicken-meat, the veal, the pork, and the bacon. Put all these into the mortar, pound them very finely with the seasoning, add the eggs consecutively, and, last of all, pour in the brandy.

1. The quantity of spiced salt varies, a few grammes either way, according as to whether the atmosphere be dry or damp.

2. According to the purpose of the forcemeat, and with a view to giving it a finer flavour, one may, subject to the resources at one’s disposal, add a little raw trimmings of foie gras to it; but the latter must not, in any case, exceed one-fifth of the forcemeat in weight.

3. As a rule, forcemeat should always be rubbed through a sieve so as to ensure its being fine and even.

4. Whether the foie gras be added or not, chicken forcemeat may always be completed with two or three oz. of chopped truffles per lb. of its volume.

This follows the same principles as the chicken forcemeat, i.e., the weight of the game-meat determines the quantities of the other ingredients. The proportions are precisely the same as above as regards the veal, the pork, the bacon, and the seasoning. The procedure is also the same, while the appended remarks likewise apply.

Put into a sautépan containing one oz. of very hot butter, one-half lb. of fresh, fat bacon, cut into large cubes, brown quickly, and drain on a dish.

Quickly brown in the same butter one-half lb. of fillet of veal cut like the bacon and drain in the same way.

Now rapidly brown one-half lb. of pale, calf’s liver, also cut into large cubes. Put the veal and the bacon back into the sautépan with the liver, add the necessary quantity of salt and pepper, two oz. of mushroom parings, one oz. of truffle parings (raw if possible), chopped shallots, a sprig of thyme, and a fragment of bay. Put the whole on the fire for two minutes, drain the bacon, the veal, and the liver, and put the gravy aside. Swill the sautépan with one-quarter pint of Madeira.

[83]
Pound the bacon, veal, and liver quickly and finely, while adding consecutively six oz. of butter, the yolks of six eggs, the gravy that has been put aside, one-third pint of cold, reduced Espagnole, and the Madeira used for swilling.

Strain through a sieve, place in a tureen, and smooth with the wooden spoon.

N.B.—To make a gratin forcemeat with game, substitute for the veal that game-meat which may happen to be required.

Forcemeats prepared with the flesh of the pike are extremely delicate. Subject to circumstances, they may be prepared according to any one of the three formulæ (Nos. 193, 194, 195). There is another excellent method of preparing this forcemeat which I shall submit here, as it is specially used for the preparation of pike forcemeat à la Lyonnaise.

Pound in a mortar one lb. of the meat of a pike, without the skin or bones; combine with this one-half lb. of stiff frangipan, season with salt and nutmeg, pass through a sieve, and put back into the mortar.

Vigorously work the forcemeat in order to make it cohere, and gradually add to it one-half lb. of melted beef-fat. The whole half-pound, however, need not necessarily be beef-fat; beef-marrow or butter may form part of it in the proportion of half the weight of the beef-fat.

When the forcemeat is very fine and smooth, withdraw it from the mortar and place it in a bowl surrounded with ice until wanted.

These preparations diverge slightly from the forcemeats given above, and they are of two kinds. They are used to stuff such fish as mackerel, herring, shad, &c., to which they lend a condimentary touch that makes these fish more agreeable to the taste, and certainly more digestible.

First Method.—Put into a bowl four oz. of raw, chopped milt, two oz. of bread-crumb, steeped in milk and well pressed, and one and one-half oz. of the following fine herbs, mixed in equal quantities and finely chopped:—Chives, parsley, chervil, shallots, sweet basil, half a garlic clove (crushed), then two whole eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Chop up all these ingredients together so as to mix them thoroughly.

Second Method.—Put into a bowl four oz. of bread-crumb [84] steeped in milk and well pressed; one-half oz. of onion and one-half oz. of chopped shallots, slightly cooked in butter, and cold; one oz. of raw mushrooms, chopped and well pressed in a towel; a tablespoonful of chopped parsley; a piece of garlic the size of a pea, crushed; salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and two eggs.

Mix it as above.

Divers ways of Moulding and Poaching them.—Whatever be the required size or shape of quenelles there are four ways of making them:—(1) By rolling them; (2) by moulding them with a spoon; (3) by forming them with a piping-bag; (4) by moulding them by hand into the shape of a kidney.

1. To roll quenelles it is necessary to keep the forcemeat somewhat stiff, and therefore this process could not well apply to the mousseline forcemeats. Place one-quarter lb. of forcemeat, when ready, on a floured board, and, with hands covered in flour, roll the preparation until it has lengthened itself into the form of a sausage, the thickness of which depends upon the required size of the intended quenelles.

Cut up the sausage of forcemeat laterally with a floured knife, and roll each section with the finger-ends until the length it assumes is thrice that of its diameter. The balls should be put aside on a floured tray as soon as they are made.

The Poaching of Rolled Quenelles.—When all the forcemeat has been used up, the balls are gently tilted into a saucepan containing boiling, salted water, so calculated in quantity as to allow of their not being too tightly squeezed. The saucepan is covered and kept on the side of the fire until all the balls have risen to the surface and are almost out of the water. They are then removed with a skimmer and placed in a bowl of cold water.

At last, when they have properly cooled, they are carefully drained on a cloth and put aside on a dish until required.

When the quenelles are needed for immediate use it would be better not to cool them.

2. To Mould Quenelles with a Spoon.—This method may be applied to all forcemeats, and allows of the balls being much softer, as the forcemeat need not be so stiff. First, butter the sautépan or the tray, whereon the balls are to be laid, by means of a brush, and let the butter cool.

Put the sautépan on the table in front and a little to the right of one; on the left, place the sautépan or bowl containing the forcemeat, and on the further side of the buttered sautépan [85] there should be a receptacle containing hot water, into which the spoon used for moulding is inserted. For ordinary quenelles two coffee-spoons are used, one of which is kept in the hot water as stated above. Now, with the other held in the left hand, take up a little of the forcemeat (just enough to fill the spoon); withdraw the second spoon from the hot water and place it, with its convex side uppermost, on the other spoon.

This smoothens the upper surface of the forcemeat. Now, with the help of the second spoon, remove the whole of the contents of the first spoon, and overturn the second spoon on the spot in the tray or sautépan which the ball is intended to occupy. The second spoon, being at once moist and hot, allows the forcemeat to leave it quite easily in the shape of a large olive. Renew this operation until the whole of the forcemeat has been used.

The Poaching of Spoon-moulded Quenelles.—When all the balls have been moulded, place the tray on the side of the stove and pour enough boiling, salted water over them to moisten them abundantly. Leave them to poach, and from time to time move the tray; then, when they have swollen sufficiently and seem soft and firm to the touch, drain them. If they are to be used at once they should be placed directly in the sauce. If they have been prepared in advance, it would be well to cool them as directed under rolled quenelles.

3. To Form Quenelles with a Piping-bag.—This process is especially recommended for small, fine, and light forcemeat balls intended for soup garnish. For, besides being extremely quick, it allows of making them in any desirable size or shape.

Butter a tray or a sautépan, and leave to cool. Put the forcemeat into a bag fitted with a pipe at its narrowest end. The pipe may be grooved or smooth, and its size must be in accordance with that intended for the proposed balls. Now squeeze out the latter, proceeding in the usual way and laying them very closely.

The Poaching of Quenelles made by the above Process, with ordinary or Mousseline Forcemeat.—These quenelles are poached in exactly the same way as the spoon-moulded ones.

The Poaching of Godiveau Quenelles made with a Piping-bag.—These quenelles or balls are laid on a piece of fine, buttered paper, which in its turn is placed upon a buttered tray. The godiveau must not be too stiff, and the balls are laid by means of the piping-bag side by side and slightly touching one another. When the tray is covered push it into a very moderate oven for a few minutes. The balls are poached [86] when a thin dew of grease may be seen to glisten on their surfaces. On the appearance of this dew withdraw them from the oven and overturn the tray, carefully, upon a marble slab, taking care that the tray does not press at all upon the balls, lest it crush them. When the latter are nearly cold the paper which covers them is taken off with caution, and all that remains to be done is to put them carefully away on a dish until they are wanted.

4. To Mould Forcemeat with the Fingers.—This excellent process is as expedient as that of the bag, and it produces beautifully shaped balls. Place on the edge of a table, in front of one, a saucepan three-quarters full of boiling, salted water, the handle of the receptacle being turned to the far side. Now take a piece of string one yard in length, double it over, and tie the free ends to a weight of two lbs., letting the two strands twist round each other.

This done, there should be a loop at the top of the string. Put this loop round the handle of the saucepan, and draw the string diametrically across the latter, letting the weight pull the string tightly down on the side opposite to the handle. When this has been effected the operator, with his left hand, takes some of the forcemeat, smoothening it with a spoon, and, placing the spoon near the string with his right, first finger, he removes from its extremity a portion of the preparation about equal to the intended size of the balls. This portion of the forcemeat remaining suspended on his first finger, the operator now scrapes the latter across the string, and the ball falls beneath into the saucepan containing the water. When all the stuffing has been moulded in this way the saucepan is placed on the fire to complete the poaching of the balls, and the precautions indicated in the preceding processes are observed.

Put one oz. of chervil into one pint of boiling consommé, cover the saucepan, and let infusion proceed away from the fire for twenty minutes. Now pour this infusion over two eggs and six yolks, beaten briskly in a basin, and mix with the whisk. Strain through muslin, and carefully remove therefrom the froth that has formed. Pour into buttered moulds; poach in a bain-marie, as in the case of cream, and take great care that the water in the bain-marie does not boil.

According to the way in which the royale is to be divided, it may be poached either in large or small “Charlotte” moulds; but the latter, large and small alike, must be well buttered.

If the preparation be put into large moulds, thirty-five or forty minutes should be allowed for poaching; if, on the other hand, the moulds are small, about fifteen minutes would suffice.

Always let the royale cool in the moulds.

Boil one pint of thin cream, and pour it, little by little, over one egg and six yolks, well whisked in a basin. Season with a little salt and nutmeg, strain through muslin, and, for the poaching, follow the directions given above.

Finely pound three oz. of cooked white chicken-meat, and add thereto three tablespoonfuls of cold Béchamel. Put this paste in a bowl, season with a little salt and a dash of nutmeg, dilute with one-fifth pint of cream, and strain through tammy.

Thicken this preparation with one egg and the yolks of three, [88] and poach in small or large moulds, in accordance with the procedure already described.

Finely pound three oz. of the cooked meat of that game which gives its name to the preparation, and add three tablespoonfuls of cold Espagnole Sauce and one-fifth pint of rich cream, in small quantities at a time. Warm the seasoning with a very little cayenne, strain through tammy, thicken with one egg and three yolks, and poach as before.

Stew in butter four oz. of fillet of sole cut into cubes, or the same quantity of any other fish suited to the nature of the intended soup. Cool, pound finely, and add, little by little, two tablespoonfuls of cold Béchamel and one-quarter pint of cream. Season with salt and a pinch of nutmeg, and strain through tammy. Thicken by means of the yolks of five eggs, and poach in large or small moulds.

Stew gently in butter five oz. of the red part only of carrots. Cool, crush in a mortar, and gradually add two tablespoonfuls of Béchamel and one-fifth pint of rich cream. Season with table-salt and a pinch of castor sugar, and deepen the tint of the royale with a few drops of vegetable red. Strain through tammy, thicken with one egg and four yolks, put into moulds, and poach.

Cook one-half lb. of fresh, small peas in boiling water with a bunch of chervil and a few leaves of fresh mint. Pass through a sieve, and dilute the resulting purée (in a saucepan) with two-fifths of its volume of the liquor it has been cooked in and one-fifth of cream. Add a little sugar, the necessary salt, one egg, and two yolks. Pass through a fine strainer, and poach in well-buttered moulds.

Royales may also be made with leeks, celery, &c., the procedure being as follows:—

Finely mince six or seven oz. of the chosen vegetable; stew [89] the same gently and thoroughly in butter, and strain through tammy. Add to the resulting purée three tablespoonfuls of Béchamel, one-fifth pint of cream, two eggs, and four yolks. Put into large or small moulds, and poach.

Remarks.—In order that these royales may have the required delicacy, I should urge the reader not to exceed the prescribed quantities of eggs and yolks, these being so calculated as to exactly produce the density required.

When the poaching is done take the mould or moulds out of water, and leave the royale to cool in them. Do not turn out the moulds whilst the preparation is hot, as it would surely scatter. It only assumes the necessary solidity for being divided up by means of the aggregation and contraction of its various constituents during the cooling process.

If the royale has been poached in small moulds, slightly trim the cylinders of royale, divide them up laterally into discs, and stamp them uniformly with a plain or indented fancy cutter.

If the royale has been poached in large moulds, withdraw it from these, and place it on a serviette; trim the tops, cut into half-inch slices, and stamp with small, fancy cutters of different shapes. These little divisions of royale must always be stamped very neatly and quite regularly.

The name “Chiffonade” is given to a mince of sorrel or lettuce, intended as a complement for such soups as “Potage de santé,” “le Germiny,” &c., or various clear consommés like “Julienne.”

To prepare Chiffonade, first carefully shred the sorrel or lettuce, and remove therefrom all the leaf-ribs. Carefully wash the leaves, and squeeze the latter tightly between the fingers of the left hand and the table. Now cut them into fine strips with a sharp knife.

If the chiffonade be intended for a consommé, add it to the latter half an hour before dishing up; it is thus actually cooked in the soup itself. If, as is most often the case, it be intended for a thick soup, it is better to let it melt well in butter, to moisten it with a little consommé, and to let it boil for ten minutes before adding it to the soup.

Whatever the purpose be for which it is made, chiffonade should always be prepared with very tender sorrel or lettuce.

Vermicelli and the various Italian pastes should measure about three oz. per quart of consommé. They should first be thrown into boiling, salted water, where they are left to poach for three minutes, whereupon they are drained, cooled, and their cooking is completed in the consommé.

The parboiling of these pastes is necessary in order to get rid of the little agglomerations of flour which adhere to them, and which would otherwise make the consommé cloudy.

Tapioca, sago, salep, &c., should also be apportioned at about three oz. per quart. But this is only an average, for the quality of this kind of products varies greatly, and it is best to choose the goods of an excellent maker, and, in order to avoid surprises, to abide by that choice.

These products need no parboiling; they are merely sprinkled into the boiling consommé while stirring the latter, and they are left to cook until the soup is quite clear. The boiling should be gentle, and the scum should be removed as often as it forms.

The time allowed for cooking naturally varies in accordance with the quality of the goods, but the absolute transparency of the consommé is an infallible sign of its having been completed.

Brazilian, Japanese, and other pearls are used in the same quantities, but they should poach for thirty minutes if required to be very transparent.

Beat up three eggs in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and strain through a sieve. Now pour the eggs into a fine strainer, hold same over a sautépan containing some boiling consommé, and shift it about in such wise as to let the egg fall in threads into the boiling liquid beneath, and thus immediately coagulate. Drain the egg-threads very carefully lest they break.

These consist of little choux about the size of a large hazel-nut, stuffed with some kinds of purée, such as that of foie gras with cream, or of chicken, or of vegetables, &c. Four profiterolles should be allowed for each person.

To make profiterolles, put a few tablespoonfuls of “pâte à choux” without sugar (No. 2374) into a piping-bag fitted with [91] a smooth pipe, whose orifice should be about one-quarter inch in diameter. Squeeze out portions of the preparation on to a tray, so as to form balls about the size of a small hazel-nut; gild by means of beaten egg applied with a fine brush, and cook in a moderate oven.

Do not take the profiterolles from the oven until they are quite dry.

Cook quickly in salted water two lb. of peeled and quartered potatoes. As soon as they seem soft to the finger, drain them, place them in the front of the oven for a few minutes in order to dry them, and then tilt them into a sieve lying on a cloth, and press them through the former without rubbing.

Place the purée in a sautépan; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg; add one oz. of butter, and dry; i.e., stir over a brisk fire until the purée becomes a consistent paste.

Take off the fire, complete with the yolks of three eggs, well mixed with the rest, and turn the paste out on to a buttered dish, taking care to spread it in a rather thin layer, so as to precipitate its cooling. Butter the surface to prevent the preparation’s drying.

To make croquettes, equal portions of this paste, i.e., portions weighing about one and one-half oz. of it, are rolled on a flour-dusted board into the shape of a cork, a ball, or a quoit. These are now dipped into an Anglaise (No. 174) and rolled in bread-crumbs or raspings, the latter being well patted on to the surface of the croquettes, lest they should fall into the frying fat. Let the patting also avail for finishing off the selected shape of the objects. These are then plunged into hot fat, where they should remain until they have acquired a fine, golden colour.

Prepare as above the required quantity of paste, and add thereto per lb. six oz. of pâte à choux without sugar (No. 2374).

Mix the two constituents thoroughly.

Dauphine potatoes are moulded in the shape of small cylinders, and they are treated à l’Anglaise, like the croquettes.

These are the same as the croquettes, though they are differently treated. They are made on a floured board in the shape of diminutive cottage-loaves, little shuttle-shaped loaves, small quoits, and lozenges or rectangles. They are gilded with beaten egg, and when their shape is that of quoits, rectangles, or lozenges, they are streaked by means of a small knife.

After this operation, which is to prevent the gilding from blistering, they are baked in the oven for a few minutes previous to being used in dressing the dishes they accompany.

Take one lb. of croquette paste and add thereto six oz. of very red, reduced tomato-purée. Pour this mixture into a bag fitted with a large, grooved pipe, and squeeze it out upon a baking-tray in shapes resembling large meringues.

Slightly gild their surfaces with beaten egg, and put them into the oven for a few minutes before using them to dress the dish.

The uses of Duxelle are legion, and it is prepared thus:—Slightly fry one teaspoonful of onions in one tablespoonful of butter and oil mixed. Add to this four tablespoonfuls of mushroom stalks and parings, chopped and well pressed in a towel with the view of expelling their vegetable moisture. Stir over a brisk fire until the latter has completely evaporated; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and one coffeespoonful of well-chopped parsley, mixing the whole thoroughly.

Transfer to a bowl, cover with a piece of white, buttered paper, and put aside until wanted.

Put six tablespoonfuls of dry duxelle into a small stewpan, and add thereto three tablespoonfuls of half-glaze sauce containing plenty of tomato, crushed garlic the size of a pea, and two tablespoonfuls of white wine. Set to simmer until the required degree of consistence is reached.

N.B.—A tablespoonful of fine, fresh bread-crumbs may be added to the duxelle in order to thicken it.

To four tablespoonfuls of dry duxelle add four tablespoonfuls of ordinary pork forcemeat (No. 196).

Put one pint of Béchamel into a vegetable-pan with one-half pint of Soubise (No. 104), and reduce to half while stirring over a brisk fire. Thicken, away from the fire, by means of the yolks of five eggs, and add four tablespoonfuls of minced mushrooms, either cooked in the ordinary way or stewed in butter.

This preparation serves chiefly for covering certain large joints of butcher’s meat, or fowl, to which it imparts an appropriate flavour. It is made as follows:—Finely mince two medium carrots (the red part only), two onions, and two sticks of celery taken from the heart. Add one tablespoonful of raw lean ham, cut paysanne-fashion, a sprig of thyme, and half a leaf of bay, crushed.

Stew in butter, and finally swill the saucepan with two tablespoonfuls of Madeira.

The purpose of Mirepoix in culinary preparations is the same as that of Matignon, but its mode of use is different.

Its constituents are the same as those of the Matignon, but instead of being minced they are cut up into more or less fine dice, in accordance with the use for which the preparation is intended.

Instead of the ham, fresh and slightly-salted breast of pork may be used, while both the ham and the bacon may be excluded under certain circumstances.

Coarse Mirepoix, which are added to certain preparations in order to lend these the proper flavour, are generally made immediately before being used, but this is not so in the case of the finer Mirepoix, which chiefly serves as an adjunct to crayfish and lobsters. This is made in advance, and as follows:—

[95]
Cut into dice four oz. of the red part only of carrots, the same quantity of onion, and one oz. of parsley stalks. In order that the Mirepoix may be still finer, these ingredients may now be chopped, but in this case it is advisable to thoroughly press them in a corner of a towel, so as to squeeze out their vegetable moisture, the mere process of stewing not being sufficient for this purpose.

Should this water be allowed to remain in the Mirepoix, more particularly if the latter must be kept some time, it would probably give rise to mustiness or fermentation.

Put the ingredients into a small stewpan with one and one-half oz. of butter and a little powdered thyme and bay, and stew until all are well cooked. This done, turn the preparation out into a small bowl, heap it together with the back of a fork, cover it with a piece of white, buttered paper, and put aside until wanted.

This term stands for a certain preparatory method applied to a series of preparations.

Salpicons are simple or compound. Simple if they only contain one product, such as the meat of a fowl, or of game, butcher’s meat, foie gras, various fish, ham or tongue, mushrooms, truffles, &c. Compound if they consist of two or more of the above-mentioned ingredients which may happen to combine suitably.

The preparatory method consists in cutting the various ingredients into dice.

The series of preparations arises from the many possible combinations of the products, each particular combination bearing its own name.

Thus Salpicons may be Royal, Financier, Chasseur, Parisien, Montglas, &c.; of whichever kind, however, Salpicons are always incorporated with a vehicular sauce which is in accordance with their constituents.

Put into a bowl one lb. of sifted flour, one-quarter oz. of salt, one tablespoonful of oil or melted butter, and the necessary quantity of barely lukewarm water. If the batter is to be used at once mix the ingredients by turning them over and over without stirring with the spoon, for this would give the preparation an elasticity which would prevent its adhering to immersed solids. Should the batter be prepared beforehand, however, it may be [96] stirred, since it loses its elasticity when left to stand any length of time.

Before using it add the whites of two eggs whisked to a froth.

Put one lb. of sifted flour into a bowl with one-quarter oz. of salt and two tablespoonfuls of oil or melted butter. Dilute with one egg and the necessary quantity of cold water. Keep this batter somewhat thin, do not stir it, and let it rest for a few hours before using.

Put one lb. of flour into a bowl with one-quarter oz. of salt and two tablespoonfuls of oil or melted butter. Dilute gradually with one-quarter pint of beer and a little tepid water.

When about to use the batter mix therewith the whites of two eggs whisked to a froth.

N.B.—Keep this batter thin, if anything, and above all do not stir overmuch.

Mix one lb. of flour with two tablespoonfuls of oil, a grain of salt, two eggs (added one after the other), the necessary quantity of water, and one oz. of sugar. Keep this preparation in a lukewarm place to let it ferment, and stir it with a wooden spoon before using it to immerse the solids.

Remarks.—Batter for fruit fritters may contain a few tablespoonfuls of brandy, in which case an equal quantity of the water must be suppressed.

Put one pint of Béchamel into a vegetable-pan and reduce it until it has become quite dense. Thicken it with the yolks of four eggs, and finish it away from the fire with a crushed piece of garlic as large as a pea, and one-quarter lb. of grated cheese.

The nutritious liquids known under the name of Soups are of comparatively recent origin. Indeed, as they are now served, they do not date any further back than the early years of the nineteenth century.

The soups of old cookery were, really, complete dishes, wherein the meats and vegetables used in their preparation were assembled. They, moreover, suffered from the effects of the general confusion which reigned in the menus of those days. These menus seem to have depended in no wise, for their items, upon the progressive satisfaction of the consumers’ appetites, and a long procession of dishes was far more characteristic of the meal than their judicious order and diversity.

In this respect, as in so many others, Carême was the reformer, and, if he were not, strictly speaking, the actual initiator of the changes which ushered in our present methods, he certainly had a large share in the establishment of the new theories.

Nevertheless, it took his followers almost a century to bring soups to the perfection of to-day, for modern cookery has replaced those stodgy dishes of yore by comparatively simple and savoury preparations which are veritable wonders of delicacy and taste. Now, my attention has been called to the desirability of drawing up some sort of classification of soups, if only with the view of obviating the absurdity of placing such preparations as are indiscriminately called Bisque, Purée, Cullis, or Cream under the same head. Logically, each preparation should have its own special formula, and it is impossible to admit that one and the same can apply to all.

It is generally admitted that the terms Veloutés and Creams, whose introduction into the vocabulary of cookery is comparatively recent, are peculiarly well suited to supplant those of Bisque and Cullis, which are steadily becoming obsolete, as well as that too vulgar term Purée. Considerations [98] of this kind naturally led me to a new classification of soups, and this I shall disclose later.

I shall not make any lengthy attempt here to refute the arguments of certain autocrats of the dinner-table who, not so many years ago, urged the total abolition of soups. I shall only submit to their notice the following quotation from Grimod de la Reynière, one of our most illustrious gastronomists: “Soup is to a dinner what the porch or gateway is to a building,” that is to say, it must not only form the first portion thereof, but it must be so devised as to convey some idea of the whole to which it belongs; or, after the manner of an overture in a light opera, it should divulge what is to be the dominant phrase of the melody throughout.

I am at one with Grimod in this, and believe that soups have come to stay. Of all the items on a menu, soup is that which exacts the most delicate perfection and the strictest attention, for upon the first impression it gives to the diner the success of the latter part of the meal largely depends.

Soups should be served as hot as possible in very warm plates, especially in the case of consommés when these have been preceded by cold hors-d’œuvres.

Hors-d’œuvres are pointless in a dinner, and even when oysters stand as such they should only be allowed at meals which include no soup.

Those hors-d’œuvres which consist of various fish, smoked or in oil, and strongly seasoned salads, leave a disagreeable taste on the consumer’s palate and make the soup which follows seem flat and insipid if the latter be not served boiling hot.

This includes (1) clear soups, (2) thick soups, (3) special soups of various kinds, (4) classical vegetable soups, including some local preparations.

Clear soups, of whatever nature the base thereof may be, whether butcher’s meat, poultry, game, fish, shell-fish, or turtle, &c., are made according to one method only. They are always clear consommés to which has been added a slight garnish in keeping with the nature of the consommé.

These are divided into three leading classes as follows:—(1) The Purées, Cullises, or Bisques. (2) Various Veloutés. (3) Various Creams.

Remarks.—Though the three preparations of the first class are practically the same, and, generally speaking, the Cullises and the Bisques may be considered as purées of fowl, game, or shell-fish, it is advisable to distinguish one from another by giving each a special name of its own.

Thus the word Purée is most suitably applied to any preparation with a vegetable base. The term Cullis is best fitted to preparations having either poultry, game, or fish for base, while bisque, in spite of the fact that in former days it was applied indiscriminately to purées of shell-fish, poultry, pigeons, &c., distinctly denotes a purée of shell-fish (either lobster, crayfish, or shrimp, &c.).

In short, it is imperative to avoid all ambiguities and to give everything its proper name, or, at least, that name which identifies it most correctly.

Farinaceous vegetables, such as haricot-beans and lentils, and the floury ones, such as the potato, need no additional thickening ingredient, since the flour or fecula which they contain amply suffices for the leason of their purées.

On the other hand, aqueous vegetables like carrots, pumpkins, turnips, celery, and herbs cannot dispense with a thickening ingredient, as their purées of themselves do not cohere in the least.

Cohering or Thickening Elements; their Quantities.—In order to effect the coherence of vegetable purées, either rice, potato, or bread-crumb cut into dice and fried in butter may be used.

The proportion of these per pound of vegetables should be respectively three oz., ten oz., and ten oz. Bread-crumb dice, prepared as described above, were greatly used in old cookery, and they lend a mellowness to a purée which is quite peculiar to them.

The Dilution of Purées.—Generally this is done by means of ordinary white consommé, though in certain cases, as, for instance, if the soup is a Lenten one, milk is used.

The Finishing.—When the purées have been strained and brought to the required consistence they should be boiled and stirred. Then they are placed on the side of the fire to simmer [100] for twenty-five or thirty minutes. It is at this stage that they are purified by means of the careful removal of all the scum that forms on their surface.

When dishing up complete them, away from the fire, with three oz. of butter per quart of soup, and pass them once more through a strainer.

Purée Garnishes.—These are usually either small fried crusts, small dice of potato fried in butter, a chiffonade, some kind of little brunoise, or, more generally, chervil pluches.

Cullises have for their base either poultry, game, or fish.

The thickening ingredients used are:—

For fowl, two or three oz. of rice, or three-quarters pint of poultry velouté per lb. of fowl.

For game, three or four oz. of lentils, or three-quarters pint of game Espagnole per lb. of game.

For fish, a clear panada made up of French bread soaked in boiling salted milk. Use five oz. of bread and one good pint of milk per lb. of fish. Having strained and made up the Cullises, boil them while stirring (except in the case of fish cullises, which must not boil, and must be served as soon as they are made), then place them in a bain-marie and butter their surfaces lest a skin should form.

At the last moment complete them with two or three oz. of butter per quart.

The garnish of poultry or game cullises consists of either small dice of game or fowl-fillets, which should be kept aside for the purpose; a fine julienne of these fillets, or small quenelles made from the latter, raw.

The garnish of fish cullis is generally fish-fillets poached in butter and cut up into small dice or in julienne-fashion.

The invariable base of Bisques is shell-fish cooked in mirepoix.

Their thickening ingredients are, or may be, rice, fish velouté, or crusts of bread fried in butter, the proportion being three oz. of rice, ten oz. of bread-crusts, or three-quarters pint of fish velouté per lb. of shell-fish cooked in mirepoix (No. 228).

When the soup is strained, treat it in precisely the same way as the cullises.

The garnish consists of small dice of the meat from the [101] shell-fish used. These pieces should have been put aside from the first.

These differ from the purées, cullises, and bisques in that their invariable thickening element is a velouté whose preparation is in harmony with the nature of the ingredients of the soup, these being either vegetables, poultry, game, fish, or shell-fish.

The Preparation of the Velouté.—Allow three and one-half oz. of white roux per quart of the diluent. This diluent should be ordinary consommé for a velouté of vegetables or herbs, chicken consommé for a poultry velouté, or very clear fish fumet for a fish or shell-fish velouté. The procedure is exactly the same as that described under No. 25 of the leading sauces.

The Apportionment of the Ingredients.—In general, the quantities of each constituent are in the following proportion:—Velouté, one-half; the purée of the substance which characterises the soup, one-quarter; the consommé used to bring the soup to its proper consistence, one-quarter. In respect of finishing ingredients, use, for thickening, the yolks of three eggs and one-fifth pint of cream per quart of soup.

Thus for four quarts of poultry velouté we arrive at the following quantities:—

Poultry velouté, three pints; purée of fowl obtained from a cleaned and drawn hen weighing about three lbs., one quart; consommé for regulating consistence, one quart; leason, twelve yolks and four-fifths pint of cream.

Rules Relative to the Preparation.—If the velouté is to be of lettuce, chicory, celery, or mixed herbs, these ingredients are scalded for five minutes, drained, gently stewed in butter, and added to the prepared velouté in which their cooking is completed.

If carrots, turnips, onions, &c., are to be treated, finely mince them, stew them in butter without allowing them to acquire any colour, and add them to the velouté.

If fowl be the base, cook it in the velouté. This done, withdraw it, remove the meat, finely pound same, and add it to the velouté, which is then rubbed through tammy.

In the case of fish the procedure is the same as for fowl. For game, roast or sauté the selected piece, bone it, finely pound the meat, and combine the latter with the velouté, which should then be rubbed through tammy.

For shell-fish, cook these in a mirepoix, finely pound them together with the latter, add to the velouté, and pass the whole through tammy.

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The Completing of Velouté.—Having passed the soup through tammy, bring it to its proper degree of consistence with the necessary quantity of consommé, boil while stirring, and place in a bain-marie.

At the last moment finish the soup with the leason and two oz. of butter per quart of liquid.

Garnish for Velouté.—In the case of vegetables: Chiffonade, fine printaniers, or brunoise.

For fowl and game: The fillets of one or the other, poached and cut into small dice or in julienne-fashion; little quenelles made with the raw fillets, or either fowl or game royales.

For fish: Small dice or fine julienne of fish fillets poached in butter.

For shell-fish: Small dice of cooked shell-fish meat put aside for the purpose.

Remarks.—In certain circumstances these garnishes are increased by means of three tablespoonfuls of poached rice per quart of the soup.

Practically speaking, the preparation of the creams is the same as that of the veloutés, but for the following exceptions:—

1. In all circumstances, i.e., whatever be the nature of the soup, velouté is substituted for clear Béchamel.

2. The correct consistence of the soup is got by means of milk instead of consommé.

3. Creams do not require egg-yolk leasons.

4. They are not buttered, but they are finished with one-fifth or two-fifths pint of fresh cream per quart.

Creams allow of the same garnishes as the veloutés.

These are of different kinds, though their preparation remains the same, and they do not lend themselves to the requirements of veloutés or creams. I should quote as types of this class the Ambassador, à l’Américaine, Darblay, Faubonne, &c.

The same holds good with thickened consommés, such as “Germiny,” “Coquelin,” &c.

These soups, of which the “Paysanne” is the radical type, do not demand very great precision in the apportionment of [103] the vegetables of which they are composed; but they need great care and attention, notwithstanding.

The vegetables, in the majority of cases, must undergo a long stewing in butter, an operation the object of which is to expel their vegetable moisture and to saturate them with butter.

In respect of others which have a local character, the vegetables should be cooked with the diluent, without a preparatory stewing.

In the course of Part II. of this work I shall allude to certain soups which have a foreign origin, and whose use, although it may not be general, is yet sufficiently common. If only for the sake of novelty or variety, it is occasionally permissible to poach upon the preserves of foreign nations; but apart from this there exist among the recipes of foreigners many which can but enrich their adopter, besides being generally appreciated.

Except for the roasts, grills, and fryings, which will be discussed later, all culinary operations dealing with meat are related to one of the four following methods: Braising, poëling, poaching, and sautés.

These four methods of cooking belong, however, to the sauces, and this explains how it is that the latter hold such a pre-eminent position in French cookery.

Before devoting any attention to particular formulæ, which will be given in the second part of this work, it seemed desirable to me to recapitulate in a general way the theory of each of these cooking methods. These theories are of paramount importance, since it is only with a complete knowledge of them that good results may be obtained by the culinary operator.

Of all the various culinary operations, braisings are the most expensive and the most difficult. Long and assiduous practice alone can teach the many difficulties that this mode of procedure entails, for it is one which demands extraordinary care and the most constant attention. Over and above the question of care and that of the quality of meat used, which latter consideration is neither more nor less important here than in any other cooking operation, there are also these conditions to be fulfilled in order that a good braising may be obtained, namely, that excellent stock should be used in moistening, and that the braising base be well prepared.

Meats that are Braised.—Mutton and beef are braised in the ordinary way, but veal, lamb, and poultry are braised in a manner which I shall treat of later.

Meat intended for braising need not, as in the case of roasts, be that of young beasts. The best for the purpose is that derived from an animal of three to six years of age in the case of beef, and one to two years in the case of mutton. Good meat is rarely procured from animals more advanced than these in years, and, even so, should it be used, it would not only be necessary to protract the time of cooking inordinately, but the resulting food would probably be fibrous and dry.

Properly speaking, meat derived from old or ill-nourished beasts only answers two purposes in cookery, viz., the preparation of consommés and that of various kinds of stock.

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The Larding of Meats for Braising.—When the meat to be braised is ribs or fillet of beef, it is always interlarded, and consequently never dry if of decent quality. But this is not the case with the meat of the rumps, or with leg of mutton. These meats are not sufficiently fat of themselves to allow of prolonged cooking without their becoming dry. For this reason they are larded with square strips of bacon fat, which should be as long as the meat under treatment, and about half an inch thick. These strips of fat are first seasoned with pepper, nutmeg, and spices, besprinkled with chopped parsley, and then marinaded for two hours in a little brandy. They should be inserted into the meat equidistantly by means of special larding needles. The proportion of fat to the meat should be about three oz. per lb.

To Marinade Braisings.—Larded or not, the meats intended for braising gain considerably from being marinaded for a few hours in the wines which are to supply their moistening and the aromatics constituting the base of their liquor. Before doing this season them with salt, pepper, and spices, rolling them over and over in these in order that they may absorb the seasoning thoroughly. Then place them in a receptacle just large enough to contain them, between two litters of aromatics, which will be detailed hereafter; cover them with the wine which forms part of their braising-liquor, and which is generally a white or red “vin ordinaire,” in the proportion of one-quarter pint per lb. of meat, and leave them to marinade for about six hours, taking care to turn them over three or four times during that period.

The Aromatics or Base of the Braising.—These are thickly sliced and fried carrots and onions, in the proportion of one oz. per lb. of meat, one faggot, including one garlic clove and one and one-half oz. of fresh, blanched bacon-rind.

To Fry, Prepare, and Cook Braised Meat.—Having sufficiently marinaded the meat, drain it on a sieve for half an hour, and wipe it dry with a clean piece of linen. Heat some clarified fat of white consommé in a thick saucepan of convenient size, or a braising-pan, and when it is sufficiently hot put the meat in the saucepan and let it acquire colour on all sides. The object of this operation is to cause a contraction of the pores of the meat, thereby surrounding the latter with a species of cuirass, which prevents the inner juices from escaping too soon and converting the braising into a boiling process. The frying should, therefore, be a short or lengthy process according as to whether the amount of meat to be braised be small or large.

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Having properly fried the meat, withdraw it from the braising-pan, cover it with slices of larding-bacon if it be lean, and string it. In the case of fillets and ribs of beef, this treatment may be dispensed with, as they are sufficiently well supplied with their own fat.

Now pour the marinade prepared for the meat into the braising-pan, and place the meat on a litter composed of the vegetables the marinade contained. Cover the pan and rapidly reduce the wine therein. When this has assumed the consistency of syrup add sufficient brown stock to cover the meat (it being understood that the latter only just conveniently fills the pan), cover the braising-pan, set to boil, and then put it in a moderate oven. Let the meat cook until it may be deeply pricked with a braiding needle without any blood being drawn. At this stage the first phase of braising, whereof the theory shall be given hereafter, comes to an end, and the meat is transferred to another clean utensil just large enough to hold it.

With respect to the cooking liquor, either of the two following modes of procedure may now be adopted:—

1. If the liquor is required to be clear it need only be strained, over the meat, through muslin, while the braising-pan should be placed in the oven, where the cooking may go on until completed, interrupting it only from time to time in order to baste the meat. This done, thicken the liquor with arrow-root, after the manner of an ordinary thickened gravy (No. 41).

2. If, on the contrary, a sauce be required, the liquor should be reduced to half before being put back on the meat, and it is restored to its former volume by means of two-thirds of its quantity of Espagnole sauce and one-third of tomato purée, or an equivalent quantity of fresh tomatoes.

The cooking of the meat is completed in this sauce, and the basting should be carried on as before. When it is cooked—that is to say, when the point of a knife may easily be thrust into it without meeting with any resistance whatsoever—it should be carefully withdrawn from the sauce; the latter should be again strained through muslin and then left to rest, with a view to letting the grease settle on the surface.

Carefully remove this grease, and rectify the sauce with a little excellent stock if it is too thick, or by reduction if it is too thin.

The Glazing of Braised Meat.—Braised meat is glazed in order to make it more sightly, but this operation is by no means essential, and it is quite useless when the meat is cut up previous to being served.

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To glaze meat place it as soon as cooked in the front of the oven, sprinkle it slightly with its cooking liquor (gravy or sauce), and push it into the oven so that this liquor may dry. Being very gelatinous, the latter adheres to the meat, while its superfluous water evaporates, and thus coats the solid with a thin film of meat-glaze. This operation is renewed eight or ten times, whereupon the meat is withdrawn from the oven, placed on a dish, and covered until it is served.

Various Remarks relative to Braising.—When a braised meat is to be accompanied by vegetables, as in the case of beef à la mode, these vegetables may either be cooked with the meat during the second braising phase, after they have been duly coloured in butter with a little salt and sugar, or they may be cooked separately with a portion of the braising-liquor. The first procedure is the better, but it lends itself less to a correct final dressing. It is, therefore, the operator’s business to decide according to circumstances which is the more suitable of the two.

I pointed out above that the cooking of braised meat consists of two phases, and I shall now proceed to discuss each of these, so that the reader may thoroughly understand their processes.

It has been seen that meat, to be braised, must in the first place be fried all over, and this more particularly when it is very thick. The object of this operation is to hold in the meat’s juices, which would otherwise escape from the cut surfaces. Now, this frying produces a kind of cuirass around the flesh, which gradually thickens during the cooking process until it reaches the centre. Under the influence of the heat of the surrounding liquor the meat fibres contract, and steadily drive the contained juices towards the centre. Soon the heat reaches the centre, where, after having effected a decomposition of the juices therein collected, the latter release the superfluous water they contain. This water quickly vaporises, and by so doing distends and separates the tissues surrounding it. Thus, during this first phase, a concentration of juices takes place in the centre of the meat. It will now be seen that they undergo an absolutely different process in the second.

As shown, the disaggregation of the muscular tissue begins in the centre of the meat as soon as the temperature which reaches there is sufficiently intense to vaporise the collected juices. The tension of the vapour given off by the latter perforce increases by dint of finding no issue; it therefore exerts considerable pressure upon the tissues, though now its direction [108] is the reverse of what it was in the first place, i.e., from the centre to the periphery.

Gradually the tissues relax under the pressure and the effects of cooking, and, the work of disaggregation having gradually reached the fried surface, the latter also relaxes in its turn and allows the constrained juices to escape and to mix with the sauce. At the same time, however, the latter begins to filter through the meat, and this it does in accordance with a well-known physical law, namely, capillarity. This stage of the braising demands the most attentive care. The braising-liquor is found to be considerably reduced and no longer covers the meat, for the operation is nearing its end. The bared meat would, therefore, dry very quickly, if care were not taken to baste it constantly and to turn it over and over, so that the whole of the muscular tissue is moistened and thoroughly saturated with the sauce. By this means the meat acquires that mellowness which is typical of braisings and distinguishes them from other preparations.

I should be loth to dismiss this subject before pointing out two practices in the cooking of braisings which are as common as they are absolutely wrong. The first of these is the “pinçage” of the braising base. Instead of laying the fried meat on a litter of aromatics, likewise fried beforehand, many operators place the meat, which they often omit to fry, on raw aromatics at the bottom of the braising-pan. The whole is sprinkled with a little melted fat, and the aromatics are left to fry, on one side only, until they begin to burn on the bottom of the receptacle.

If this operation were properly conducted it might be tolerated, even though aromatics which are only fried on one side cannot exude the same savour as those which are fried all over. But nine times out of ten the frying is too lengthy a process; from neglect or absent-mindedness the aromatics are left to burn on the bottom of the pan, and there results a bitterness which pervades and spoils the whole sauce.

As a matter of fact, this process of “pinçage” is an absurd caricature of a method of preparing braisings which was very common in old cookery, the custom of which was not to prepare the braising-liquor in advance, but to cook it and its ingredients simultaneously with the meat to be braised. This method, though excellent, was very expensive, the meats forming the base of the braising-liquor consisting of thick slices of raw ham or veal. The observance of economy, therefore, long ago compelled cooks to abandon this procedure. But routine has [109] perpetuated the form of the latter without insisting upon the use of its constituents, which were undoubtedly its essential part. Routine has even, in certain cases, aggravated the first error by instituting a habit consisting of substituting bones for the meats formerly employed—an obviously ridiculous practice.

In the production of ordinary consommé (No. 1) we saw that bones, even when taken from veal, as is customary in the case of braising-liquor, require, at the very least, ten to twelve hours of cooking before they can yield all their soluble properties. As a proof of this it is interesting to note that, if bones undergo only five or six hours of cooking, and are moistened afresh and cooked for a further six hours, the liquor of the second cooking yields more meat-glaze than that of the first; though it must be admitted that, while the latter is more gelatinous, it has less savour. But this gelatinous property of bones is no less useful to braisings than is their savour, since it is the former that supplies the mellowness, which nothing can replace and without which the sauce can have no quality.

Since, therefore, the longest time that a braising can cook is from four to five hours, it follows that, if bones be added thereto, their properties will scarcely have begun disaggregating when the meat is cooked. They will, in fact, have yielded but an infinitesimal portion of these properties; wherefore their addition to the braising is, to say the least, quite useless.

It now remains to be proved that the above method is bad from another point of view.

I suppose I need not fear contradiction when I assert that, in order that a braising may be good, its sauce should be short and correspondingly substantial; also that the sauce obtained from a piece of meat moistened with a quart of liquid cannot be so good as that resulting from the moistening of a pint only.

It is more particularly on this account that I advise a braising utensil which can only just hold the meat, for since, in the first stage, the meat is only moistened with the braising-liquor, the smaller the receptacle may be the less liquor will it require, and the latter will in consequence be the tastier. Hence, if bones be added to the braising, the utensil must necessarily be larger, and a greater quantity of braising-liquor must be used. But this liquor will not be nearly so savoury as that obtained from the process I recommend; in fact, it will be but a rather strong broth, quite unfit for the impregnation of the meat, and the final result will be a tasteless lump of fibre instead of a succulent braising.

I must apologise to the reader for my insistence with regard [110] to these questions, but their importance is such that success is beyond reach in the matter of brown sauces and braisings unless the above details have been thoroughly grasped. Moreover, the explanations given will afford considerable help in the understanding of operations which I shall give later; therefore it is to be hoped that the examination of the theories involved, however long this has been, will prove of use and assistance.

The braising of white meats as it is now effected in modern cookery is, strictly speaking, not braising at all, inasmuch as the cooking is stopped at the close of the first of the two phases which I mentioned when discussing brown braisings. True, old cookery did not understand braising in the way that the modern school does, and under the ancient régime large pieces, especially of veal, were frequently cooked until they could almost be scooped with a spoon. This practice has been generally, though mistakenly, eschewed, but its name survives.

White braisings are made with the neck, the saddle, the loin, the fillets, the fricandeaus, and the sweet-bread of veal, young turkeys and fat pullets, and sometimes, though less frequently, relevés of lamb, hindquarters or saddle. The procedure is the same for all these meats; the time of cooking alone varies in accordance with their size. The aromatics are the same as those of the brown braisings, but the frying of them is optional.

The moistening liquor is brown veal stock (No. 9).

Mode of Procedure.—Except for the veal sweet-bread, which is always blanched before being braised, the meats or poultry to be treated may always be slightly stiffened and browned in butter, on all sides. This is not essential in all cases, but I think that when they do undergo something of the kind they dry less quickly. Now place them in a utensil just large enough to hold them and deep enough to keep the lid from touching them. Place the aromatics under them and moisten with a little veal stock; set to boil on a moderate fire, and reduce the veal stock with the lid on. When this stock has assumed the consistence of a glaze, add a further similar quantity of fresh stock, and reduce as before. The third time moisten the veal until it is half covered, and push the pan into a moderate oven.

The meat needs constant basting while it cooks, in order to avoid its drying; and, as the stock is very gelatinous, it forms a coating on the surface which resists the evaporation of the contained juices; for these, being insufficiently constrained by the slight frying the meat has undergone, tend to vaporise under the influence of the heat.

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It is for this reason that the stock must be reduced to a glaze before finally moistening. If the moistening were all done at once, the liquor would not be sufficiently dense to form the coating mentioned above, and the meat would consequently dry on being set to cook.

Braised white meat is known to be cooked when, after having deeply pricked it with a braiding needle, it exudes an absolutely colourless liquid. This liquid denotes that the piece is cooked to the centre, and as a result thereof the blood has decomposed.

There lies the great difference between brown braisings and white-meat braisings. The latter are practically roasts, and they should not be made with any but young poultry or meats, very fat and tender, for they cannot go beyond their correct time of cooking, which equals that of roasts, without immediately losing all their quality. A quarter of an hour too much in the cooking of a kernel of veal weighing about six lbs. is enough to make the meat dry and unpalatable, and to thoroughly spoil it, whereas a brown braising cannot be over-cooked, provided it do not burn.

White braised meats are generally glazed, and this process is especially recommended for larded pieces, which, though less common nowadays than formerly, can still claim many votaries.

However nonsensical it may sound, the best possible definition of a poaching is a boiling that does not boil. The term poach is extended to all slow processes of cooking which involve the use of a liquor, however small. Thus the term poach applies to the cooking in court-bouillon of large pieces of turbot and salmon, as well as to fillets of sole cooked with a little fish fumet, to hot mousselines and mousses, cooked in moulds, to quenelles which are cooked in salted water, to eggs announced as “poached,” to creams, various royales, &c. It will readily be seen that among so many different products, the time allowed for the cooking in each case must differ sometimes widely from the rest. The treatment of them all, however, is subject to this unalterable principle, namely, that the poaching liquor must not boil, though it should reach a degree of heat as approximate as possible to boiling-point. Another principle is that large pieces of fish or poultry be set to boil in cold liquor, after which the latter is brought to the required temperature as rapidly as possible. The case may be the same with fillets of sole, or poultry, which are poached almost [112] dry; but all other preparations whose mode of cooking is poaching gain by being immersed in liquor which has reached the required temperature beforehand.

Having regard to the multitudinous forms and kinds of products that are poached, it would be somewhat difficult to state here the details and peculiarities proper to each in the matter of poaching; I think, therefore, I should do better to leave these details to the respective recipes of each product, though it will now be necessary to disclose the way of poaching poultry, if only with a view to thoroughly acquainting the reader with the theory propounded above.

Properly prepare the piece of poultry to be poached, and truss it with its legs folded back alongside of the breast.

If it is to be stuffed, this should be done before trussing.

If it is to be larded or studded, either with truffles, ham, or tongue, rub it when trussed on the fillets and legs with half a lemon, and dip the same portions of its body (namely, those to be larded or studded) for a few moments in boiling white stock. The object of this operation is to slightly stiffen the skin, thus facilitating the larding or studding.

The Cooking of the Piece of Poultry.—Having stuffed, larded, or studded it, if necessary, and having, in any case, trussed it, place it in a receptacle just large enough to hold it, and moisten with some excellent white stock previously prepared.

Set to boil, skim, put the lid on, and continue the cooking at a low simmer. It is useless to work too quickly, as the operation would not be shortened a second by so doing. The only results would be:—

1. Too violent evaporation, which would reduce the liquor and disturb its limpidness.

2. The running of a considerable risk of bursting the piece of poultry, especially when the latter is stuffed.

The fowl, or whatever it may be, is known to be cooked when, after pricking the thick of the leg close to the “drumstick,” the issuing liquid is white.

Remarks.—(a) The need of poaching poultry in a receptacle just large enough to hold the piece is accounted for as follows: (1) The piece must be wholly immersed in the stock during the cooking process. (2) As the liquor used is afterwards served as an accompanying sauce to the dish, the less there is of it the more saturated does it become with the juices of the meat, and, consequently, the better it is.

(b) (1) The white stock used in poaching should be prepared beforehand, and be very clear.

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(2) If the piece of poultry were set to cook with the products constituting the stock, even if these were more than liberally apportioned, the result would be bad, for inasmuch as a fowl, for example, can only take one and one-half hours, at the most, to cook, and the time required for extracting the nutritious and aromatic principles from the constituents of the stock would be at least six hours, it follows that the fowl would be cooking in little more than hot water, and the resulting sauce would be quite devoid of savour.

Poëlings are, practically speaking, roasts, for the cooking periods of each are the same, except that the former are cooked entirely or almost entirely with butter. They represent a simplified process of old cookery, which consisted in enveloping the object to be treated, after frying it, in a thick coating of Matignon. It was then wrapped with thin slices of pork fat, covered with buttered paper, placed in the oven or on a spit, and basted with melted butter while it cooked. This done, its grease was drained away, and the vegetables of the matignon were inserted in the braising-pan wherein the piece had cooked, or in a saucepan, and were moistened with excellent Madeira or highly seasoned stock. Then, when the liquor had thoroughly absorbed the aroma of the vegetables, it was strained, and its grease was removed just before dishing up. This excellent method is worthy of continued use in the case of large pieces of poultry.

Preparation of Poëled Meats.—Place in the bottom of a deep and thick receptacle, just large enough to hold the piece to be poëled, a layer of raw matignon (No. 227). The meat or piece of poultry is placed on the vegetables after it has been well seasoned, and is copiously sprinkled with melted butter; cover the utensil, and push it into an oven whose heat is not too fierce. Set it to cook gently in this way, after the manner of a stew, and frequently sprinkle with melted butter.

When the meats or the pieces of poultry are cooked, the utensil is uncovered so that the former may acquire a fine colour; then they are transferred to a dish which should be kept covered until taken to the table. Now add to the vegetables (which must not be burned) a sufficient quantity of brown veal stock (No. 9), transparent and highly seasoned; set the whole to boil gently for ten minutes, strain through a serviette, carefully remove all grease from the poëling stock and send it to the table in a sauceboat at the same time as the meat or poultry, which, by the bye, is generally garnished.