Practical West African cookery

in the three-pint saucepan with one pint of cold water, the salt and pepper (and the parsley and sugar if obtainable). Put on the lid and boil very slowly for three quarters of an hour, till the liquid is reduced to a breakfast cupful. 2. Take the saucepan off the fire and pour the whole of the contents through the wire sieve into a soup plate. 3. Put the butter into the empty saucepan. When melted and beginning to bubble, shake in the flour and stir until the flour has absorbed all the butter. Then pour in the mashed tomatoes and liquid left over and let it cook slowly for ten minutes, stirring from time to time. A small pinch of sugar added to the sauce is an improvement. Butter Sauce. (I). 1 dessertspoonful butter. A few drops of fresh lime juice. A pinch of salt and pepper. (Half a teaspoon chopped parsley) . This sauce can only be good if made with good tinned butter or fresh native butter. Put the butter in the small enamel saucepan and stand it near the fire so that it heats but does not even begin to sing. Add the salt, pepper, lime juice (and parsley) and serve at once in a small hot cup with grilled or fried fish. This sauce barely takes two minutes to make and must be served immediately. Sauce Holiandaise. (II). 2 yolks of eggs. 2 tablespoons milk (if Ideal, 1 teaspoon to the rest of water). 1 small dessertspoon good butter (lard will not do) . Half a teaspoon vinegar and a few drops of fresh lime juice. A pinch of salt and pepper. 1. Lightly mix the yolks in a cup with the salt, pepper, butter and milk. 2. Stand the cup in a saucepan containing enough boiling water to reach half way up the cup. Stir the mixture with a teaspoon till it looks like a custard, then remove the saucepan from the fire, add the vinegar or lime, and serve the sauce in the cup it has been cooked in. Very good with fried or grilled fish or grilled salmon ; can also be served cold. Mayonnaise. (II). 1 yolk of egg. A pinch of salt and pepper. 4 tablespoonfuls olive oil. £ teaspoon of mustard. 1 teaspoonful vinegar. 1. Break the egg, letting the yolk only drop into a breakfast cup. With the left hand hold the cup by the handle, with the right hand hold the bottle of oil, which must be poured in drop by drop. After every four or five drops put the bottle down and stir very smoothly with a teaspoon from left to right. The oil must be completely mixed each time with the egg before adding any more and the stirring must be done very smoothly and always in the same direction. 2. When the oil has been all dropped in, the sauce should be like a thick cream. Add the vinegar, also drop by drop, then the salt, pepper and mustard. If not wanted immediately, it can be left in the cup, which should be covered with a saucer and stood in cold water. This makes mayonnaise just for one, double the quantities for more. Notes. — The reasons why mayonnaise so seldom succeeds are : — that it is made in a hot kitchen, the cook probably holding the cup in a very hot hand ; that the oil is poured in too quickly and not stirred smoothly and continuously; that the vinegar is poured in too quickly and curdles the sauce; and most important of all, that the egg was not perfectly fresh. A dessertspoonful capers or a chopped sweet pepper (tatassa), green or red, can be added to the sauce just before serving and make a slight change.