The Introduction of Ham, or Lean Bacon, the latter being more often used than ham, into the leading brown sauce is but one out of many other ways of incorporating a smoky or hammy flavour, which makes the espagnole so characteristic, and there is no question as to whether this addition really improves the flavour or not, for I can say with every confidence that the best French cooks put the ham, with due discretion, into practically every first-class brown meat sauce, or brown meat soup. We do not, therefore, need any further conviction as to the usefulness of ham in brown sauces. It is well worth noting that though the addition of ham is excellent for brown preparations, the introduction of anything approaching the flavour of ham into white sauces has just the opposite effect, being entirely opposed to its character. This shows at once that the nature of white sauce is produced by blending and ebullition alone, so as to keep it quite free from any smoky flavour. This brings us back to the starting point of this article, and before proceeding any further, we must come to a clear under- standing as to the actual difference of the brown and white funda- mental sauces, into which all others are, so to speak, divided. Bechamel, White Sauces, Veloutee. — These, as everyone knows, need not always be white, for very often they are found to be of a creamy, yellow, or greenish tint ; but the white sauces, the foundation sauces proper, are the result of what has already been explained, viz. a blending of flour and butter, perfected by a certain amount of ebullition, which in the first stage becomes a white coulis, or a H THE NEW CENTURY COOKERY BOOK 98 veloutee, which is subsequently enriched with cream, yolks of eggs, or butter, in order to give it the required distinctive character. Brown Sauces. — The brown sauce, on the other hand, has to go through a process of roasting in the first instance, viz. the preparation of the brown roux, which is roasting flour and butter, to impart the distinctive flavour. This, in addition to the boiling and simmering processes by which the various meats, vegetables, and other ingre- dients are prepared, produces a brown sauce. Ordinary or Plain Sauces. — It must be remembered that ordinary sauces, prepared on the quick system, should be allowed to boil at least ten minutes from the time the liquid is added. When a sauce is cooked- less than ten minutes the flour will not have had time to develop its full flavour for sauces, and the butter only partially separates, which gives to the sauce a greasy appearance. Overcooking of Sauces. — It sometimes happens that by some oversight or error a sauce is cooked so long that it becomes oily. In this case a little cold stock, cold milk, or water should be added, and if the sauce is stirred until it begins to boil, it will again become perfectly smooth, but it must not on any account be allowed to boil any longer. It must be removed from the fire immediately after it boils.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The Introduction of Ham, or Lean Bacon, the latter being more often used than ham, into the leading brown sauce is but one out of many other ways of incorporating a smoky or hammy flavour, which makes the espagnole so characteristic, and there is no question as to whether this addition really improves the flavour or not, for I can say with every confidence that the best French cooks put the ham, with due discretion, into practically every first-class brown meat sauce, or brown meat soup. We do not, therefore, need any further conviction as to the usefulness of ham in brown sauces. It is well worth noting that though the addition of ham is excellent for brown preparations, the introduction of anything approaching the flavour of ham into white sauces has just the opposite effect, being entirely opposed to its character. This shows at once that the nature of white sauce is produced by blending and ebullition alone, so as to keep it quite free from any smoky flavour. This brings us back to the starting point of this article, and before proceeding any further, we must come to a clear understanding as to the actual difference of the brown and white fundamental sauces, into which all others are, so to speak, divided. Bechamel, White Sauces, Veloutee. — These, as everyone knows, need not always be white, for very often they are found to be of a creamy, yellow, or greenish tint ; but the white sauces, the foundation sauces proper, are the result of what has already been explained, viz. a blending of flour and butter, perfected by a certain amount of ebullition, which in the first stage becomes a white coulis, or a H veloutee, which is subsequently enriched with cream, yolks of eggs, or butter, in order to give it the required distinctive character. Brown Sauces. — The brown sauce, on the other hand, has to go through a process of roasting in the first instance, viz. the preparation of the brown roux, which is roasting flour and butter, to impart the distinctive flavour. This, in addition to the boiling and simmering processes by which the various meats, vegetables, and other ingredients are prepared, produces a brown sauce. Ordinary or Plain Sauces. — It must be remembered that ordinary sauces, prepared on the quick system, should be allowed to boil at least ten minutes from the time the liquid is added. When a sauce is cooked- less than ten minutes the flour will not have had time to develop its full flavour for sauces, and the butter only partially separates, which gives to the sauce a greasy appearance. Overcooking of Sauces. — It sometimes happens that by some oversight or error a sauce is cooked so long that it becomes oily. In this case a little cold stock, cold milk, or water should be added, and if the sauce is stirred until it begins to boil, it will again become perfectly smooth, but it must not on any account be allowed to boil any longer. It must be removed from the fire immediately after it boils.

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