The Small Brown Sauces

31—SAUCE BIGARRADE

This sauce is principally used to accompany braised and poëled ducklings. In the first case, the duckling’s braising stock, being thickened, constitutes a sauce. In the second case, the stock is clear, and the procedure in both cases is as follows:—

1. After having strained the braising sauce, completely remove its grease, and reduce it until it is very dense. Strain it once more through muslin, twisting the latter; then, in order to bring the sauce to its normal consistence, add the juice of six oranges and one lemon per quart of sauce. Finish with a small piece of lemon and orange rind cut regularly and finely, Julienne-fashion, and scalded for five minutes.

2. Strain the poëling stock, for ducklings or wild ducks, through linen; entirely remove the grease, and add four pieces of caramel sugar dissolved in one tablespoonful of vinegar per one-half point of stock, the juice of the oranges and the lemon and the Julienne of rinds, as for the braised-ducklings sauce indicated above.

32—SAUCE BORDELAISE

Put into a vegetable-pan two oz. of very finely minced shallots, one-half pint of good red wine, a pinch of mignonette pepper, and bits of thyme and bay. Reduce the wine by three-quarters, and add one-half pint of half-glaze. Keep the sauce simmering for half an hour; despumate it from time to time, and strain it through linen or a sieve. When dishing it up, finish it with two tablespoonfuls of dissolved meat glaze, a few drops of lemon-juice, and four oz. of beef-marrow, cut into slices or cubes and poached in slightly salted boiling water. This sauce may be buttered to the extent of about three oz. per pint, which makes it smoother, but less clear. It is especially suitable for grilled butcher’s meat.

33—CHASSEUR SAUCE (Escoffier’s Method)

Peel and mince six medium-sized mushrooms. Heat one-half oz. of butter and as much olive oil in a vegetable-pan; put in the mushrooms, and fry the latter quickly until they are slightly browned. Now add a coffeespoonful of minced shallots, and immediately remove half the butter; pour one-half pint of white wine and one glass of liqueur brandy into the stewpan; reduce this liquid to half, and finish the sauce with: one-half pint of half-glaze, one-quarter pint of tomato sauce, and one tablespoonful of meat-glaze. Set to boil for five minutes more, and complete with a teaspoonful of chopped parsley.

34—BROWN CHAUD-FROID SAUCE

Put one quart of half-glaze into a sauté-pan with one-fifth pint of truffle essence. Put the pan on an open fire, and reduce its contents; while making same add to the sauce, in small quantities at a time, one and one-half pints of jelly.

The degree of reduction in this sauce is a good third, but, to be quite certain, a test of its consistence may be made by allowing it to cool a little. After the reduction, carefully taste, and rectify the seasoning if necessary; mix a little Madeira or Port with the sauce, away from the fire, and strain through muslin or, preferably, through a Venetian-hair sieve. Stir the sauce now and then while it cools, until it is sufficiently liquid, and at the same time consistent enough, to coat immersed solids evenly with a film of sauce. Its use will be explained among the formulæ of the different kinds of Chaud-froids.

35—VARIETIES OF THE CHAUD-FROID SAUCE

_For Ducks._—Prepare the sauce as above, adding to it (for the prescribed quantity) one-half pint of duck _fumet_ obtained from the carcases and remains of roast duckling, and finish it, away from the fire, with the juice of four oranges and a heaped tablespoonful of orange rind, cut finely, Julienne-fashion, and scalded for five minutes.

_For Feathered Game._—Treat the Chaud-Froid sauce as indicated in No. 34, adding one-half pint of the _fumet_ of the game constituting the dish in order to lend it that game’s characteristic taste. Observe the same precaution for the cooling.

_For Fish._—Proceed as in No. 34, but (1) substitute the Espagnole of fish for the half glaze; (2) intensify the first Espagnole with one-half pint of very clear fish essence; (3) use Lenten jelly instead of meat jelly.

_Remarks upon the Use of Chaud-Froid Sauces._—The chaud-froid sauce may be prepared beforehand, and when it is wanted it need only be gently melted without heating it too much. It ought simply to be made sufficiently liquid to give a good coating to substances immersed in it.

36—DEVILLED SAUCE

Put in a vegetable pan two oz. of sliced shallots and one-third pint of white wine. Reduce the latter to two-thirds, add one-half pint of half-glaze, reduce to two-thirds, season strongly with cayenne pepper, and strain through muslin. This sauce may be served with grilled fowls or pigeons. It also forms an excellent accompaniment to re-dished meat which needs a spicy sauce.

37—“ESCOFFIER” DEVILLED SAUCE

This sauce, which may be bought ready-made, is admirably fitted to accompany grilled fish and grills in general. In order to make it ready, all that is needed is to add its own volume of fresh butter to it, the latter being previously well softened so as to ensure its perfect mixture with the sauce.

38—GENEVOISE SAUCE

Heat two oz. of butter in a stewpan; insert one lb. of Mirepoix (No. 228) without bacon. Slightly brown, add two lbs. of head of salmon and remains or bones of fish, and stew with lid on for twenty minutes. Let the stewpan lean slightly to one side, so that the butter may be drained; moisten with one bottle of excellent red wine; reduce the latter by half; add one pint of Lenten Espagnole, and allow to cook gently for half an hour.

Rub the sauce through a sieve, pressing it so as to extract all the essence. Let it rest awhile; carefully remove the fat which has risen to the surface, and add one liqueur-glass of burnt brandy, one-half pint of red wine, and as much fish _fumet_. Boil again, then move stewpan to the side of fire to despumate for one and one-half hours. Frequently remove what the ebullition causes to rise to the surface, this second period of cooking being only to ensure the purification of the sauce. If the ebullition has been well effected, the sauce should reach the proper degree of reduction and despumation at the same moment of time. It is then strained through muslin or tammy, and it is finished at the last minute with a few drops of anchovy essence and four oz. of butter per quart of sauce.

N.B.—The Genevoise Sauce, like all red-wine sauces, may be served without being buttered. It is thus clearer and more sightly in colour, but the addition of butter in small quantities makes it mellower and more palatable.

38a—REMARKS ON RED-WINE SAUCES

In the general repertory of cooking we also have, in the way of red-wine sauces, the “Bourguignonne,” “Matelote,” and “Red-Wine” sauces, which are closely allied to the “Genevoise,” and only differ from it in details of procedure.

The “Bourguignonne” Sauce is composed of red-wine accompanied by aromatics, and reduced by half. In accordance with ordinary principles, it is thickened by means of three oz. of manied butter per quart of reduced wine. This sauce is buttered with four oz. of butter per quart, and is especially regarded as a domestic preparation for poached, moulded, and hard-boiled eggs.

“Matelote” Sauce is made from Court-bouillon, with red wine which has been used for cooking fish. This Court-bouillon, with the mushroom parings added, is reduced by two-thirds, and is thickened with one pint of Lenten Espagnole per pint of the reduced Court-bouillon.

This sauce should be reduced by a third, strained through a tammy, and finished by means of two oz. of butter and a little cayenne per pint of sauce.

The Red-Wine Sauce resembles the two preceding ones in so far as it contains mirepoix browned in butter and diluted with red wine. The wine is reduced by half, thickened by a pint of Lenten Espagnole per pint of the reduction, and the sauce is despumated for about twenty minutes. It is strained through a tammy, and finished, when ready, by a few drops of anchovy essence, a little cayenne, and two oz. of butter per pint of sauce.

39—GRAND-VENEUR SAUCE

Take one pint of Poivrade Sauce (No. 49) and boil it, adding one pint of game stock to keep it light; reduce the sauce by a good third; remove it from the fire, and add four tablespoonfuls of red-currant jelly. When the latter is well dissolved, complete the sauce by one-quarter pint of cream per pint of sauce.

This sauce is the proper accompaniment for joints of venison.

40—ITALIAN SAUCE

_Ordinary Italian Sauce._—Put into a stewpan six tablespoonfuls of Duxelles (see No. 223), two oz. of very lean, cooked ham, cut very finely, brunoise-fashion, and one pint of half-glaze tomatée. Boil for ten minutes, and complete, at the moment of dishing up, with one teaspoonful of parsley, chervil, and tarragon, minced and mixed.

_Lenten Italian Sauce._—Same preparation, only (1) omit the Ham, and (2) substitute Lent Espagnole (combined with fish _fumet_ made from the fish for which the sauce is intended) for half glaze with tomatoes.

41—THICKENED GRAVY

Boil one pint of poultry or veal stock (according to the nature of the dish the gravy is intended for). Thicken this sauce by means of three-quarters oz. of fecula, diluted cold, with a little water or gravy, and pour this leason into the boiling gravy, being careful to stir briskly.

The thickened gravy with the veal-stock base is used for choicest pieces of butcher’s meat; that with a poultry-stock base is for fillets of poultry.

42—VEAL GRAVY TOMATÉ

Add to one pint of veal stock two oz. of purée and one-quarter pint of tomato juice, and reduce by a fifth. Strain the gravy through linen. This gravy is for butcher’s meat.

43—LYONNAISE SAUCE

Finely mince two oz. of onions and brown them slightly in two oz. of butter. Moisten with one-quarter pint of white wine and as much vinegar; almost entirely reduce the liquid; add one and one-half pints of clear half-glaze, and set to cook slowly for half an hour. Rub the sauce through a tammy.

N.B.—The onion may be left in the sauce or not, according to the preparation for which it is intended and the taste of the consumer.

44—MADEIRA SAUCE

Put one and one-half pints of half-glaze into a sauté-pan, and reduce it on a brisk fire to a stiff consistence. When it reaches this point, take it off the fire and add one-fifth pint of Madeira to it, which brings it back to its normal consistence. Strain through a tammy, and keep it warm without allowing it to boil.

45—MARROW SAUCE

Follow the proportions as indicated under “Sauce Bordelaise” (No. 32) for the necessary quantity of this sauce, the Marrow Sauce being only a variety of the Bordelaise. Finish it with six oz. per quart of beef marrow, cut into cubes, poached and well drained, and one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, scalded for a second. If the sauce is to accompany vegetables, finish it, away from the fire, with three oz. of butter, and then add the cubes of marrow and the parsley.

46—PIGNONS SAUCE

Take the necessary amount of Poivrade Sauce prepared according to Formula No. 49, and let it boil. Now, for one pint of sauce, prepare an infusion of juniper berries, with one-quarter pint of water and two oz. of concassed berries; one oz. of grilled fir-apple kernels, and one oz. of raisins, stoned and washed, and left to soak in tepid water for about an hour. Finish the sauce, when dishing up, by adding the infusion of juniper berries strained through linen, the grilled kernels, the soaked raisins, and one-eighth pint of Madeira wine.

This sauce is specially suited to joints of venison.

47—PÉRIGUEUX SAUCE

Prepare a “Sauce Madère” as explained in No. 44, and add to the half-glaze, to be reduced, half its volume of very strong veal stock, and keep it a little denser than usual. Finish this sauce by adding one-sixth pint of truffle essence and three oz. of chopped truffles per quart of Madeira Sauce. It is used for numerous small entrées, timbales, hot pâtés, &c.

48—PIQUANTE SAUCE

Put into a vegetable pan two oz. of minced shallots, one-quarter pint of vinegar, and as much white wine. Reduce the liquid by a good half, and add one pint of half-glaze; set the sauce to boil, and despumate it for half an hour. At the last moment finish it, away from the fire, with two oz. of gherkins, one oz. of capers, and a teaspoonful of chervil, parsley, and tarragon, mixed; all the ingredients to be finely chopped. This sauce generally accompanies grilled or boiled pork, and cold meat re-dished and minced which needs spicy flavouring.

49—ORDINARY POIVRADE SAUCE

1. Heat two oz. of butter in a stewpan, and insert one lb. of raw Mirepoix (No. 228). Fry the vegetables until they are well browned; moisten with one-quarter pint of vinegar and one-half pint of Marinade (Formula 169); reduce to two-thirds; add one pint of Espagnole Sauce, and cook for three-quarters of an hour. Ten minutes before straining the sauce, put in a few crushed peppercorns. If the pepper were put in the sauce earlier, it might make it bitter.

2. Pass the sauce through a strainer, pressing the aromatics; add a further one-half pint of Marinade, and despumate for one-quarter of an hour, keeping it simmering the while. Strain again through tammy, and finish the sauce, when ready for dishing, with two oz. of butter.

This sauce is suitable for joints marinaded or not.

50—POIVRADE SAUCE FOR VENISON

Fry, with two oz. of butter and two oz. of oil, one lb. of raw Mirepoix (No. 228) to which are added four lbs. of well-broken bones and ground-game trimmings. When the whole is well browned, drain the grease away, and dilute with one pint of vinegar and one pint of white wine. Reduce this liquid by three-quarters, then add three quarts of game stock and a quart of Espagnole Sauce. Boil, cover the saucepan, and put into a moderate oven, where it should stay for at least three hours. At the end of this time take out the saucepan and pour its contents into a fine sieve placed over a tureen; press the remains so as to expel all the sauce they hold, and pour the sauce into a tall, thick saucepan. Add enough game stock and Marinade, mixed in equal parts, to produce three quarts in all of sauce, and gently reduce the latter while despumating it. As it diminishes in volume, it should be passed through muslin into smaller saucepans, and the reduction should be stopped when only a quart of sauce remains.

N.B.—This sauce, like red-wine sauces, may be served as it stands. It is brilliant, clear, and perhaps more sightly thus, but the addition of a certain quantity of butter (four oz. per quart) makes it perfectly mellow, and admirably completes its fragrance.

51—PROVENÇALE SAUCE

Peel, remove the seeds, press and concass twelve medium tomatoes. Heat in a sauté-pan one-fifth pint of oil, until it begins to smoke a little; insert the tomatoes seasoned with pepper and salt; add a crushed garlic clove, a pinch of powdered sugar, one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and allow to melt gently for half an hour. In reality, true Provençale is nothing but a fine fondue of tomatoes with garlic.

52—ROBERT SAUCE

Finely mince a large onion and put it into a stewpan with butter. Fry the onion gently and without letting it acquire any colour. Dilute with one-third pint of white wine, reduce the latter by one-third, add one pint of half-glaze, and leave to simmer for twenty minutes. When dishing up, finish the sauce with one tablespoonful of meat glaze, one teaspoonful of mustard, and one pinch of powdered sugar. If, when finished, the sauce has to wait, it should be kept warm in a _bain-marie_, as it must not boil again. This sauce—of a spicy flavour—is best suited to grilled and boiled pork. It may also be used for a mince of the same meat.

53—ESCOFFIER ROBERTS SAUCE

This sauce may be bought ready-made. It is used either hot or cold. It is especially suitable for pork, veal, poultry, and even fish, and is generally used hot with grills after the equivalent of its volume of excellent brown stock has been added to it. It may also be served cold to accompany cold meat.

54—ROUENNAISE SAUCE

Prepare a “Bordelaise” sauce according to Formula No. 32. The diluent of this sauce must be an excellent red wine. For one pint of sauce, pass four raw ducks’ livers through a sieve; add the resulting purée to the Bordelaise, and heat the latter for a few minutes in order to poach the liver. Be careful, however, not to heat the sauce too much nor too long, lest the liver be cooked. Serve this sauce with duckling à la Rouennaise.

55—SALMIS SAUCE

The base of this sauce, which rather resembles the cullis, is unchangeable. Its diluent only changes according to the kind of birds or game to be treated, and whether this game is to be considered ordinary or Lenten.

Cut and gently brown in butter five oz. of Mirepoix (Formula 228). Add the shin detached from the limbs and the chopped carcase of the bird under treatment, and moisten with one pint of white wine. Reduce the latter to two-thirds, add one-half pint of half glaze, and boil gently for three-quarters of an hour. Pass through a strainer, while pressing upon the carcase and the aromatics, with the view of extracting their quintessence, and thin the cullis thus obtained by means of one-half pint of game stock or mushroom liquor, if the game be Lenten. Now despumate for about one hour, finally reduce the sauce, bring it to its proper consistency with a little mushroom liquor and truffle essence, rub it through tammy, and butter it slightly at the last moment.

56—TORTUE SAUCE

Boil one-half pint of veal stock, adding a small sprig of sage, sweet marjoram, rosemary, basil, thyme, and as much bay, two oz. of mushroom parings, and one oz. of parsley. Cover and allow to infuse for half an hour. Two minutes before straining the infusion, add four concassed peppercorns.

After straining through fine linen, add one-half pint of half-glaze and as much tomato sauce (away from the fire) with four tablespoonfuls of sherry, a little truffle essence, and a good pinch of cayenne.

N.B.—As this sauce must be spicy, the use of cayenne suggests itself, but great caution should be observed, as there must be no excess of this condiment.

57—VENISON SAUCE

Prepare a Poivrade sauce for game, as explained in No. 50. Finish this sauce with two tablespoonfuls of red-currant jelly, previously dissolved, and mixed with five tablespoonfuls of fresh cream per pint of sauce. This addition of cream and red-currants must be made away from the fire.

Serve this sauce with big ground-game.