431. INGREDIENTS.—¼ pint of sorrel-juice, 1 glass of sherry,½ pint of green gooseberries, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 oz. of fresh butter.
Mode.—Boil the gooseberries in water until they are quite tender; mash them and press them through a sieve; put the pulp into a saucepan with the above ingredients; simmer for 3 or 4 minutes, and serve very hot.
Time.—3 or 4 minutes.
Note.—We have given this recipe as a sauce for green geese, thinking that some of our readers might sometimes require it; but, at the generality of fashionable tables, it is now seldom or never served.
[Illustration: SORREL.]
SORREL.—We gather from the pages of Pliny and Apicius, that sorrel was cultivated by the Romans in order to give it more strength and flavour, and that they also partook of it sometimes stewed with mustard, being seasoned with a little oil and vinegar. At the present day, English cookery is not much indebted to this plant (Rumex Acetosa), although the French make use of it to a considerable extent. It is found in most parts of Great Britain, and also on the continent, growing wild in the grass meadows, and, in a few gardens, it is cultivated. The acid of sorrel is very prononcé, and is what chemists term a binoxalate of potash; that is, a combination of oxalic acid with potash.
GENERAL STOCK FOR GRAVIES.
432. Either of the stocks, Nos. 104, 105, or 107, will be found to answer very well for the basis of many gravies, unless these are wanted very rich indeed. By the addition of various store sauces, thickening and flavouring, the stocks here referred to may be converted into very good gravies. It should be borne in mind, however, that the goodness and strength of spices, wines, flavourings, &c., evaporate, and that they lose a great deal of their fragrance, if added to the gravy a long time before they are wanted. If this point is attended to, a saving of one half the quantity of these ingredients will be effected, as, with long boiling, the flavour almost entirely passes away. The shank-bones of mutton, previously well soaked, will be found a great assistance in enriching gravies; a kidney or melt, beef skirt, trimmings of meat, &c. &c., answer very well when only a small quantity is wanted, and, as we have before observed, a good gravy need not necessarily be so very expensive; for economically-prepared dishes are oftentimes found as savoury and wholesome as dearer ones. The cook should also remember that the fragrance of gravies should not be overpowered by too much spice, or any strong essences, and that they should always be warmed in a bain marie, after they are flavoured, or else in a jar or jug placed in a saucepan full of boiling water. The remains of roast-meat gravy should always be saved; as, when no meat is at hand, a very nice gravy in haste may be made from it, and when added to hashes, ragoűts, &c., is a great improvement.
[Illustration: GRAVY-KETTLE.]
GRAVY-KETTLE.—This is a utensil which will not be found in every kitchen; but it is a useful one where it is necessary to keep gravies hot for the purpose of pouring over various dishes as they are cooking. It is made of copper, and should, consequently, be heated over the hot plate, if there be one, or a charcoal stove. The price at which it can be purchased is set down by Messrs. Slack at 14s.
GRAVY FOR ROAST MEAT.
433. INGREDIENTS.—Gravy, salt.
Mode.—Put a common dish with a small quantity of salt in it under the meat, about a quarter of an hour before it is removed from the fire. When the dish is full, take it away, baste the meat, and pour the gravy into the dish on which the joint is to be served.
SAUCES AND GRAVIES IN THE MIDDLE AGES.—Neither poultry, butcher's meat, nor roast game were eaten dry in the middle ages, any more than fried fish is now. Different sauces, each having its own peculiar flavour, were served with all these dishes, and even with the various parts of each animal. Strange and grotesque sauces, as, for example, "eggs cooked on the spit," "butter fried and roasted," were invented by the cooks of those days; but these preparations had hardly any other merit than that of being surprising and difficult to make.
A QUICKLY-MADE GRAVY.
434. INGREDIENTS.—½ lb. of shin of beef,½ onion,¼ carrot, 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley and savoury herbs, a piece of butter about the size of a walnut; cayenne and mace to taste,¾ pint of water.
Mode.—Cut up the meat into very small pieces, slice the onion and carrot, and put them into a small saucepan with the butter. Keep stirring over a sharp fire until they have taken a little colour, when add the water and the remaining ingredients. Simmer for ½ hour, skim well, strain, and flavour, when it will be ready for use.
Time.—½ hour. Average cost, for this quantity, 5d.
A HUNDRED DIFFERENT DISHES.—Modern housewives know pretty well how much care, and attention, and foresight are necessary in order to serve well a little dinner for six or eight persons—a dinner which will give credit to the ménage, and satisfaction and pleasure to the guests. A quickly-made gravy, under some circumstances that we have known occur, will be useful to many housekeepers when they have not much time for preparation. But, talking of speed, and time, and preparation, what a combination of all these must have been necessary for the feast at the wedding of Charles VI. of France. On that occasion, as Froissart the chronicler tells us, the art of cooking, with its innumerable paraphernalia of sauces, with gravy, pepper, cinnamon, garlic, scallion, brains, gravy soups, milk potage, and ragoűts, had a signal triumph. The skilful chef-de-cuisine of the royal household covered the great marble table of the regal palace with no less than a hundred different dishes, prepared in a hundred different ways.
A GOOD BEEF GRAVY FOR POULTRY, GAME, &c.
435. INGREDIENTS.—½ lb. of lean beef,½ pint of cold water, 1 shalot or small onion,½ a teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, 1 tablespoonful of Harvey's sauce or mushroom ketchup,½ a teaspoonful of arrowroot.
Mode.—Cut up the beef into small pieces, and put it, with the water, into a stewpan. Add the shalot and seasoning, and simmer gently for 3 hours, taking care that it does not boil fast. A short time before it is required, take the arrowroot, and having mixed it with a little cold water, pour it into the gravy, which keep stirring, adding the Harvey's sauce, and just letting it boil. Strain off the gravy in a tureen, and serve very hot.
Time.—3 hours. Average cost, 8d. per pint.
BROWN GRAVY.
436. INGREDIENTS.—2 oz. of butter, 2 large onions, 2 lbs. of shin of beef, 2 small slices of lean bacon (if at hand), salt and whole pepper to taste, 3 cloves, 2 quarts of water. For thickening, 2 oz. of butter, 3 oz. of flour.
Mode.—Put the butter into a stewpan; set this on the fire, throw in the onions cut in rings, and fry them a light brown; then add the beef and bacon, which should be cut into small square pieces; season, and pour in a teacupful of water; let it boil for about ten minutes, or until it is of a nice brown colour, occasionally stirring the contents. Now fill up with water in the above proportion; let it boil up, when draw it to the side of the fire to simmer very gently for 1–½ hour; strain, and when cold, take off all the fat. In thickening this gravy, melt 3 oz. of butter in a stewpan, add 2 oz. of flour, and stir till of a light-brown colour; when cold, add it to the strained gravy, and boil it up quickly. This thickening may be made in larger quantities, and kept in a stone jar for use when wanted.
Time.—Altogether, 2 hours. Average cost, 4d. per pint.
CLOVES.—This very agreeable spice is the unexpanded flower-buds of the Caryophyllus aromaticus, a handsome, branching tree, a native of the Malacca Islands. They take their name from the Latin word clavus, or the French clou, both meaning a nail, and to which the clove has a considerable resemblance. Cloves were but little known to the ancients, and Pliny appears to be the only writer who mentions them; and he