The Gastronomic Regenerator: A Simplified and Entirely New System of Cookery / With Nearly Two Thousand Practical Receipts Suited to the Income of All Classes

by Alexis Soyer

THE
GASTRONOMIC REGENERATOR.

SAUCES.

THE first eight sauces are what we term Foundation sauces; but to facilitate and simplify the making of all kinds of made dishes, I have throughout this work principally referred to the Brown Sauce (No. 1), and the White Sauce (No. 7), which are the two sauces I daily and principally use. The others are of course very good, and sometimes necessary; but being more complicated, I would recommend that they be left to culinary artists, who can easily surmount this difficulty. The two above-mentioned sauces require nothing but a little care and attention; if well made, you will have little trouble with the smaller sauces; for the foundation sauces being well made, the smaller ones require little more than the ingredients directed for them, to give them their proper flavour; but if badly made, it would injure the whole dinner. The above-named sauces will keep four or five days in summer, and a week in winter, by adding a quart of light broth, and boiling them up every day in summer, and every other day in winter.

The following proportions in the foundation sauces are sufficient for a large dinner; but of course where so much is not required, a quarter, or even a smaller quantity can be made.

The colour of the brown sauce ought to be as near as possible to that of the horse-chesnut, whilst the white sauce should be of the colour of rich cream. If possible, nothing but the best flour should ever be used for a roux, which is the French culinary term for thickening; for inferior or new flour loses its strength by boiling, and your sauce would become thin and watery: but if such be the case, you should make more roux, to obviate this difficulty, which must be well mixed with a little cold stock, poured into the sauce, and all boiled together till you have obtained the consistency directed.

No. 1. Brown Sauce.

Put a quarter of a pound of butter in a large thick-bottomed stewpan, rub it all over the bottom, then peel and cut ten large onions in halves, with which cover the bottom; then take two pounds of lean ham cut into slices, which lay over the onions; having ready cut in large slices twenty pounds of leg of beef and veal, put it over the ham, and place the stewpan over a sharp fire; let it remain a quarter of an hour, then with a large wooden spoon move the whole mass round, but keeping the onions still at the bottom. Keeping it over the fire, and stirring it occasionally, until the bottom is covered with a light brown glaze, then prick the meat with a fork, take off the stewpan, and put some ashes upon the fire, to deaden its heat; place the stewpan again over it, and let it stand half an hour longer, stirring it twice during that time; the bottom will then be covered with a thick but clear brown glaze; fill it up with fourteen quarts of water or sixteen of light stock (No. 133), then add three turnips, two carrots, four blades of mace, and a bunch of ten sprigs of parsley, six sprigs of thyme, and four bay-leaves; leave it over the fire until it boils, then place it on the corner, add a quarter of a pound of salt; skim off all the fat, and let it simmer for two hours, adding two quarts of cold water by degrees, to clarify it and keep it to its original quantity; then skim it again, and pass the stock through a fine cloth into a basin, (by filling up the stewpan again with water you will have then an excellent second stock—for filling up stocks for soups or sauces, this remark also applies to every description of stocks;) if by any misfortune the stock should become thick, clarify it as directed (No. 134).

Then proceed as follows: put one pound of butter into a deep stewpan, (which is the best for this purpose,) place it over the fire, stirring it until it melts; then stir in a pound and a half of best flour, mix it well, and keep stirring it over the fire until it assumes a brownish tinge; then take it from the fire, and keep stirring the roux until partly cold, then pour in the stock quickly, still stirring it; place it over a sharp fire, stirring it until it boils, then place it at the corner of the stove, and let it simmer an hour and a half; by keeping it skimmed, you will take off all the butter, and the sauce will become clear and transparent; place it again over a sharp fire, and keep it stirred until it adheres to the back of the spoon, when pass it through a tammie into a basin, stirring it round occasionally until cold, and use it where required. Should the colour of the sauce be too pale, add a few spoonfuls of brown gravy (No. 135).

No. 2. Espagnole Sauce.

Put half a pound of butter into a large thick-bottomed stewpan, and cover the bottom with good slices of ham about a quarter of an inch in thickness; then cut up two legs of veal into as large slices as possible, (having twenty pounds of meat,) but reserving the nut, or noix, for flanks or entrées, (see No. 565;) put the meat without any of the bone into the stewpan, which set upon a moderate fire for twenty minutes, then shake it round, to prevent the ham sticking to the bottom; cover it over quite close, then put a few ashes upon the fire; put the stewpan again over it, shaking it round occasionally, and once or twice turning the whole mass round together with a wooden spoon until the bottom is covered with a light glaze; prick the meat with a fork to let out the gravy, and with it remove the bottom pieces to the top; replace it upon the fire, shaking it round occasionally until each piece of meat be covered with a clear brown glaze; then fill up the stewpan with sixteen quarts of light stock (No. 133); add six onions (in one of which you have stuck six cloves), twelve peppercorns, two blades of mace, two carrots, a good bunch of parsley, six sprigs of thyme, and four bay-leaves; when it boils place it on the corner of the stove, skim it, and add two ounces of salt; let it boil rather quickly, adding two quarts of water by degrees, which will facilitate the abstraction of all the fat in skimming; boil it two hours, then pass the stock through a fine cloth into a basin. Make a roux, and terminate your sauce as described in the last.