FoodNetArchive

Cookery for every household

1914

Page 289

Presented as published in 1914. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
The thickness of the sauce can be regulated, ac- cording to the purpose for which it is to be used, by adding more or less liquid. When it is required for coating a piece of meat, fish, &c., it should be made thick enough to coat the back of the spoon with which it is stirred. When it is required for pouring round a dish it should be made thin in order to flow smoothly without being lumpy. "When wine is used allow the sauce to boil 182 for two or three minutes after it has been added, in order to blend the flavour. If cream is added, let it also boil in the sauce for a minute or two. Before adding yolks of eggs to a sauce, draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, then put them in, and do not let the sauce boil again. When lemon juice has to be added to any sauce containing milk or cream add it last of all, and do not boil again. Strain all sauces before using, except those which have a chopped ingredient served in them, such as caper, parsley, egg sauce, &c. A pointed strainer is the best to use for this, as it will be more easy to direct the flow of the liquid. Many of the best sauces are rubbed through a hair sieve or wrung through a tammy-cloth (see below) in order to give them a smooth and glossy appearance. TO KEEP SAUCES WARM When a sauce has to stand some time before being used, stand the small saucepan containing it Bain-marie in a larger one with hot water, or bain-marie, and cover the sauce with a lid to prevent a skin forming. SAUCES SAVOURY AND SWEET 183 With very thick sauces a spoonful of liquid, water, stock, on milk, may be run over the top. TO TAMMY A SAUCE The material used for tammy-cloths is a special kind of fine but very strong woollen muslin. Rather more than a yard should be allowed for each cloth. The tammy-cloth should always be wet with boiling water before using it, as this will prevent the sauce or other liquid spurting out un- necessarily. It requires two people to do the work easily. The tammy -cloth must be spread over a basin, and the sauce poured well into the middle of it ; gather the edges of the cloth at the two ends Wringing Sauce through Tammy together, and then twist tightly in opposite direc- tions until all the sauce has been wrung through. If a thick mixture is being tammied it must be rubbed through with two long wooden spoons. The spoons must be held obliquely, with their backs upwards. To make the mixture go through, work the spoons briskly to and fro, keeping accurate time, so that their points do not clash in the middle. Tammying produces a peculiarly smooth sauce, which is never obtained by ordinary straining. Care must be taken to keep the cloths perfectly clean. They should be put to soak directly after use, and then well rinsed out, scalded, and dried. gives a better flavour than the ordinary plain milk. Put as much milk, or milk and water, as is re- quired into a lined saucepan, with a small piece of carrot, turnip, onion, and celery, a bay-leaf, one or two cloves, and a few parsley stalks. Let the saucepan stand by the side of the fire until the milk is well seasoned, then strain and cool before using. FOUNDATION SAUCES