The fish for this sauce should be very fresh. Shell quickly one pint of shrimps and mix them with half a pint of melted butter, to which a few drops of essence of anchovies and a little mace and cayenne have been added. As soon as the shrimps are heated through, dish, and serve the sauce, which ought not to boil after they are put in. Many persons add a few spoonsful of rich cream to all shell-fish sauces. Shrimps, 1 pint; melted butter, 1/2 pint; essence of anchovies, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 1/4 teaspoonful; cayenne, very little.
ANCHOVY SAUCE.
To half a pint of good melted butter add three dessertspoonsful of essence of anchovies, a quarter of a teaspoonful of mace, and a rather high seasoning of cayenne; or pound the flesh of two or three fine mellow anchovies very smooth, mix it with the boiling butter, simmer these for a minute or two, strain the sauce if needful, add the spices, give it a boil, and serve it.
Melted butter, 1/2 pint; essence of anchovies, 3 dessertspoonsful; mace, 1/4 teaspoonful; cayenne, to taste. Or, 3 large anchovies finely pounded, and the same proportions of butter and spice.
CREAM SAUCE FOR FISH.
Knead very smoothly together with a strong-bladed knife, a large teaspoonful of flour with three ounces of good butter; stir them in a very clean saucepan or stewpan over a gentle fire until the butter is dissolved, then throw in a little salt and some cayenne, give the whole one minute’s simmer, and add, very gradually, half a pint of good cream; keep the sauce constantly stirred until it boils, then mix with it a dessertspoonful of essence of anchovies, and half as much chili vinegar or lemon-juice. The addition of shelled shrimps or lobsters cut in dice, will convert this at once into a most excellent sauce of either. Pounded mace may be added to it with the cayenne; and it may be thinned with a few spoonsful of milk should it be too thick. Omit the essence of anchovies, and mix with it some parsley boiled very green and minced, and it becomes a good sauce for poultry.
Butter, 3 oz.; flour, 1 large teaspoonful: 2 to 3 minutes. Cream, 1/2 pint; essence of anchovies, 1 large dessertspoonful (more if liked); chili vinegar or lemon-juice, 1 teaspoonful; salt, 1/4 saltspoonful.
SHARP MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL SAUCE.
(English Receipt.)
For a rich sauce of this kind, mix a dessertspoonful of flour with four ounces of good butter, but with from two to three ounces only for common occasions; knead them together until they resemble a smooth paste, then proceed exactly as for the sauce above, but substitute good pale veal gravy, or strong, pure-flavoured veal broth, or shin of beef stock (which if well made has little colour), for the cream; and when these have boiled for two or three minutes, stir in a tablespoonful of common vinegar and one of chili vinegar, with as much cayenne as will flavour the sauce well, and some salt, should it be needed; throw in from two to three dessertspoonsful of finely-minced parsley, give the whole a boil, and it will be ready to serve. A tablespoonful of mushroom catsup or of Harvey’s sauce may be added with the vinegar when the colour of the sauce is immaterial. It may be served with boiled calf’s head, or with boiled eels with good effect; and various kinds of cold meat and fish may be re-warmed for table in it, as we have directed in another part of this volume. With a little more flour, and a flavouring of essence of anchovies, it will make, without the parsley, an excellent sauce for these last, when they are first dressed.