Robert Sauce.—Take a couple of onions, cut them up into small pieces, and fry them with about an ounce of butter in a frying-pan. Drain off the butter and add a couple of tablespoonfuls of vinegar to the frying-pan, and let it simmer for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour so as to get rid of the acidity of the vinegar. Now add a very little [stock] or water, stir it tip, and thicken the sauce with a little [brown roux]. Add a dessertspoonful of fresh mustard and a little pepper and salt.
Soubise Sauce.—Sauce Soubise is simply white onion sauce, rubbed through a wire sieve, and a little cream added. It is more delicate than ordinary onion sauce, and is often served in France with roast pheasant. It owes its name to a famous French general.
Sorrel Sauce.—Put about a quart of fresh green sorrel leaves (after being thoroughly washed) into an enamelled saucepan, with a little fresh butter, and let the sorrel stew till it is tender. Rub this through a wire sieve, add a little powdered sugar and a little lemon juice; a little cream may be added, but is not absolutely essential.
Sweet Sauce.—Take half a pint of [butter sauce], and sweeten it with a little sugar. It can be flavoured by rubbing a little sugar on the outside of a lemon, or with vanilla, essence of almonds, or any kind of sweet essence. A little wine, brandy, or, still better, rum, is a great improvement. Some persons add cream.
Tarragon Sauce.—Blanch a dozen tarragon leaves, chop them up, and stew them in any kind of [stock] thickened with [brown roux].
Tartar Sauce.—Take two or three tablespoonfuls of [mayonnaise sauce], and add to this a brimming teaspoonful of chopped blanched parsley, as well as a piece of onion or shallot about as big as the top of the thumb down to the first joint, chopped very fine, and a brimming teaspoonful of French mustard. Mix the whole well together.
N.B.—A teaspoonful of anchovy sauce would be a great improvement were anchovy sauce allowed in vegetarian cookery.
Tomato Sauce.—The great secret of tomato sauce is to taste nothing but the tomato. Take a dozen ripe tomatoes, cut off the stalks, and squeeze out the pips, and put them in a stew-pan with a little butter, and let them stew till they are tender, and then rub the whole through a wire sieve. This, in our opinion, is the best tomato sauce that can be made, the only seasoning being a little pepper and salt. This wholesome and delicious sauce can, however, be spoilt in a variety of ways—by the addition of mace, cloves, shallots, onions, thyme, &c. It can also be made very unwholesome by the addition of a quantity of vinegar.
Truffle Sauce.—This sauce is very expensive if made from whole fresh truffles, but can be made more cheaply if you can obtain some truffle chips or parings. These must be stewed in a little [stock], thickened with [brown roux], and then rubbed through a wire sieve, a little sherry being a great improvement if wine is allowed.
Vanilla Sauce.—Add some essence of vanilla to some sweetened [butter sauce].