The supreme triumph of the French cuisine consists in its sauces; for nothing can so vary the routine of daily cookery as the different combinations of herbs and seasonings that may be utilised by a competent artist as an adjunct and a finish to a dish. King's "Art of Cookery" has admirably versified the mission of the sauce:
"The spirit of each dish and zest of all
Is what ingenious cooks the Relish call;
For though the market sends in loads of food,
They all are tasteless till that makes them good."
A SUPPER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
From the engraving after Masquelier
As without flattery there were no society, so without sauces there were no gastronomy. Properly prepared, with a thorough understanding of the hygienic nature of flavourings and their harmony with reference to the special viands they are to enhance, a finely composed sauce is a digestive as well as a stimulus to the organs of taste. No better illustration of the qualities of a perfect sauce occurs in the annals of the art than that of Baron Brisse, which refers to sauce béarnaise, and La Reynière's comment on anchovy sauce,—"Lorsque cette sauce est bien traitée, elle ferait manger un éléphant. This is La Reynière's recipe, including its proper belongings, as given in the sixth year of the "Almanach":