Butter, 2 to 4 oz.; flour, 1 dessertspoonful; pale veal gravy or strong broth, or shin of beef stock, 1/2 pint; cayenne; salt, if needed; common vinegar, 1 tablespoonful; chili vinegar, 1 tablespoonful. (Catsup or Harvey’s sauce, according to circumstances.)
FRENCH MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL,[[55]] OR STEWARD’S SAUCE.
[55]. The Maître d’Hôtel is, properly, the House Steward.
Add to half a pint of rich, pale veal gravy, well thickened with the white roux of page [108], a good seasoning of pepper, salt, minced parsley, and lemon-juice; or make the thickening with a small tablespoonful of flour, and a couple of ounces of butter; keep these stirred constantly over a very gentle fire from ten to fifteen minutes, then pour the gravy to them boiling, in small portions, mixing the whole well as it is added, and letting it boil up between each, for unless this be done the butter will be likely to float upon the surface. Simmer the sauce for a few minutes, and skim it well, then add salt should it be needed, a tolerable seasoning of pepper or of cayenne in fine powder, from two to three teaspoonsful of minced parsley, and the strained juice of a small lemon. For some dishes, this sauce is thickened with the yolks of eggs, about four to the pint. The French work into their sauces generally a small bit of fresh butter just before they are taken from the fire, to give them mellowness: this is done usually for the Maître d’Hôtel Sauce.
MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL SAUCE MAIGRE,[[56]] OR WITHOUT GRAVY.
[56]. Maigre, made without meat.
Substitute half a pint of good melted butter for the gravy, and add to it the same seasonings as above. A double quantity of these sauces will be needed when they are required to cover a large fish; in that case they should be thick enough to adhere to it well. Melted butter, 1/2 pint; seasoning of salt and pepper, or cayenne; minced parsley, 2 to 3 teaspoonsful; juice, 1 small lemon.
For Cold Maître d’Hôtel Sauce, see Chapter [VI].
THE LADY’S SAUCE.
(For Fish.)