The Modern Housewife or, Ménagère. Soyer Alexis

by gunpowder the King and Parliament in the House of Lords, as well as ——. “Oui, oui, madame, I know, I remember reading of it in English history; it was that little brute qui a voulut faire sauter le Parlement,” replied he very quickly. “Sauter, sauter,” I said; “no, sir, not sauté—blow up.” “Oui, oui, madame, I know, it is the same thing.” “Same thing,” replied I. This of course puzzled my culinary imagination still more; and I perceived, that if the word was translated to his meaning, it would sound most absurd and ridiculous; as, for example, on being at a festive board, and a polite young gentleman, or even your own husband, might gallantly offer to give you a blow-up cutlet, instead of a cotelette sauté, as they say in fashionable circles. I can easily conceive, that if the cotelette was blown up, it would stand a chance of coming down on the other side, thus saving the cook the trouble; but if Guy Fawkes had unfortunately succeeded, it would have produced quite another effect. Having failed in my literary researches, I tried to find it in practice. I therefore went to my kitchen, and put two spoonfuls of oil in a sautépan; I took a nice spring chicken prepared for broiling, put on the fire; and, as it began to act upon it, the oil began to jump, and also slightly the chicken. I then perceived that the way my French friend used the word was right; and that, after all, there was not such a great difference in Guy Fawkes’s plan of cooking the Parliament and that of a cutlet or chicken, for both were doomed to destruction, the one by falling in awful ruins on the fire, and the other devoured by a ravenous stomach on the dinner-table. Now, dearest, having found no means of translating it to my satisfaction, I see no other plan but to adopt it amongst us, and give it letters of naturalization, not for the beauty of the word, but for its utility. The process of sautéing is at once quick, simple, and economical, and to be well done furnishes a pleasing article of food. The art of doing it well consists in doing it quickly, to keep the gravy and succulence in the meat, which a slow process would nullify, and is of course confined to small articles of every kind of food.

      BROILING is, without doubt, the earliest and most primitive mode of cookery, it being that which would present itself to man in a state of nature. It is one of the easiest parts of cookery, and therefore should be done well; it entirely depends upon the fire, which must be exceedingly clear, and the best gridiron is that having round bars, which should be placed slanting over the fire, to prevent the fat going into it; the bars should be greased, and the gridiron should be placed on the fire to get hot before the object to be cooked is placed on it I have heard that great difference of opinion exists in cookery books upon the proper broiling of a steak, if it should be turned only once or often. My plan is to turn it often, and my reason is, that, if turned but once, the albumen and the fibrine of the meat get charred, and the heat throws out the osmazome or gravy on the upper side, which, when turned over, goes into the fire; by turning it often, so as at first only to set the outside, the gravy goes into the centre, and it becomes evenly done throughout. (See “Soyer’s Mutton Chop.”) As regards the thickness of the meat to be broiled, that depends in a great measure on the intensity of the fire, but the quicker the better, and also the sooner it is eaten after taken from the fire the better. I have latterly, in broiling rump-steaks, added that which, by a great many, is considered an improvement; it is, on turning them the last time, to dredge them out of a dredger with fine holes, in which has been placed four tablespoonfuls of fine biscuit or rusk-powder, one tablespoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, a saltspoonful of either eschalot-powder or mushroom-powder, or finely-pulverized salts of celery, well mixed together, and the steak to be placed in a very hot dish, with a little mushroom-ketchup and a small piece of butter, and served immediately.

SAUCES.

       Table of Contents

      SAUCES in cookery are like the first rudiments of grammar, which consists of certain rules called Syntax, which is the foundation of all languages: these fundamental rules are nine, so has cookery the same number of sauces, which are the foundation of all others; but these, like its prototype the grammar, have two—brown and white, which bear a resemblance to the noun and verb, as they are the first and most easily learnt, and most constantly in use; the others are the adjuncts, pronouns, adverbs, and interjections; upon “the proper use of the two principal ones depends the quality of all others, and the proper making of which tends to the enjoyment of the dinner; for to my fancy they are to cookery what the gamut is in the composition of music, as it is by the arrangement of the notes that harmony is produced, so should the ingredients in the sauce be so nicely blended, and that delightful concord should exist, which would equally delight the palate, as a masterpiece of a Mozart or a Rossini should delight the ear; but which, if badly executed, tantalize those nervous organs, affect the whole system, and prove a nuisance instead of a pleasure. I will therefore be very precise in describing the two, in order that when you make them, you will not cause your guests to make grimaces at each other, when partaking of them at your festive board, for the present age is a little more refined than at the time of Dr. Johnson, and we are often obliged to swallow what we do not like; for it is reported of him, that being at a ceremonious dinner-party, and indulging in his usual flow of wit, he unconsciously partook of a spoonful of very hot soup, which he immediately returned to the plate he had taken it from; and observing the astonishment of some of his neighbors, he very coolly remarked, “A fool would have burnt his mouth.”

      When we are at home alone, I very seldom trouble myself by making white or brown sauce, which I can avoid by selecting simplified dishes, which easily produce their own sauce whilst cooking them. But when I expect a little company, the first I order of my cook is to make me half of the quantity of the following receipts for white and brown sauces:—

      130. White Sauce.—Cut and chop a knuckle of veal, weighing about four pounds, into large dice; also half a pound of lean bacon; butter the bottom of a large stewpan with a quarter of a pound of butter, add two onions, a small carrot, a turnip, three cloves, half a blade of mace, a bouquet of a bay-leaf, a sprig of thyme, and six of parsley, add a gill of water, place over a sharp fire, stirring round occasionally, until the bottom of the stewpan is covered with whitish glaze, when fill up with three quarts of water, add a good teaspoonful of salt, and let simmer at the corner of the fire an hour and a half, keeping well skimmed, when pass it through a hair sieve into a basin; in another stewpan put a quarter of a pound of butter, with which mix six ounces of flour, stirring over the fire about three minutes, take off, keep stirring until partly cold, when add the stock all at once, continually stirring and boiling for a quarter of an hour; add half a pint of boiling milk, stir a few minutes longer, add a little chopped mushrooms if handy, pass through a hair sieve into a basin, until required for use, stirring it round occasionally until cold; the above being a simplified white sauce, will be referred to very often in the receipts.

      131. Brown Sauce.—Put two ounces of butter into a stewpan, rub it over the bottom, peel two or three large onions, cut them in thick slices, lay them on the bottom, cut into small pieces about two pounds of knuckle of veal,[3] all meat, or three pounds if with bone, a quarter of a pound of lean bacon cut small, two cloves, a few peppercorns, a tablespoonful of salt, two bay-leaves, a gill of water; set it on a brisk fire, let it remain ten minutes, when stir it well round, subdue the fire, let it remain a few minutes longer, and stir now and then until it has a nice brown color; fill your pan with three quarts of water; when boiling, set it on the corner of the stove, with the lid three parts on the saucepan; when boiling, skim fat and all; after one hour, or one hour and a half simmering, pass it through a sieve into a basin. To make the thickening or roux for it, proceed as follows:—Put two ounces of butter into a pan, which melt on a slow fire, then add three ounces of flour, stir it until getting a thin deep yellow color; this in France is called roux, being very useful in cookery, and will be often referred to in these receipts. This process will take five minutes, when remove from the fire for two minutes to cool, then add at once three and a quarter pints of the above stock, very quickly set it on the fire to boil, remove to corner to simmer, and skim; it ought to be entirely free from grease, and of a light chestnut color.

      132. Demi-Glaze—Thin Brown Sauce for Made Dishes.—When I have a small dinner-party, I always, as I told you before, make small quantities of white and brown sauce as above, but this is a nice way of clarifying a brown sauce without much