We will briefly state stock to be the juice of meat — beef, veal, &c. — extracted
by placing it in water, and allowing it to simmer slowly for a long time, extra
flavour being imparted to the " meat tea " by the addition of various vegetables
and herbs, such as onions, parsley, carrots, turnips, celery, &c. Good stock made
in the old-fashioned way requires a pound of meat to every pint, and is con-
sequently, oAving to the present increase in the price of meat, very expensive. On
another occasion we shall point out various methods by which stock can be made
without this allowance of one pound to a pint. Now stock, however made, although
if done properly is a jelly when cold, is of the consistency of water when hot. By
thickening we mean the process by which the stock is brovight, when hot, from the
consistency of water to that of cream.
A great many cooks, by means of having plenty of meat placed at their disposal,
often succeed in the early stage of gravy, i.e., they get the stock good and strong,
although of a poor colour. It is too early yet in our lessons on the Princijiles of
Cookery to describe how good stock may be made to assume a bright golden coloru'
by simply being left to make its own colour in the stock-pot, and consequently it
will be more practical to show how to make a light-coloured stock into good brown
gravy. We have already described the elementary process of thickening by simply
adding flour; the next stage in advance is flour and butter combined. This Ls,
perhaps, the most common of all methods. A cook will place a small amount of
butter on a plate, and by its side a little heap of flour. She will place this plate in
front of the fire for the butter to dissolve, and will then, with a steel knife, or
if a trifle more advanced in knowledge with a spoon, knead the butter and flour
together, add this to the stock, stirring it in till it boils, when the stock will become
thick in proportion to the amount of butter and flour put in. By extravagantly
using extract of meat, or colouring of some sort, such as sugar, or still worse, a
colouring ball, a certain amount of brown colour is imparted to the gravy, which, if
the stock is really good and well flavoured and the pepper not forgotten, will be by
PRINCIPLES GRAVY.
no means bad. What, however, is the drawback 1 The flour has been used raw,
and a keen palate will detect the flavour we have mentioned and described as
" oi-uelly." What, however, is the remedy for this 1 Let the flour be fried instead
of raw ; or, in other words, instead of simply using butter and flour to thicken the
stock, use brown thickening, or brown roux, as the French call it, and let me
here tell cooks that in the end they will absolutely save both time and trouble by
making some of this roux or brown thickening beforehand in a fairly good qiiantity,
as when it is made it will keep for a very long time.
Page 24
Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
We will briefly state stock to be the juice of meat — beef, veal, &c. — extracted by placing it in water, and allowing it to simmer slowly for a long time, extra flavour being imparted to the " meat tea " by the addition of various vegetables and herbs, such as onions, parsley, carrots, turnips, celery, &c. Good stock made in the old-fashioned way requires a pound of meat to every pint, and is consequently, owing to the present increase in the price of meat, very expensive. On another occasion we shall point out various methods by which stock can be made without this allowance of one pound to a pint. Now stock, however made, although if done properly is a jelly when cold, is of the consistency of water when hot. By thickening we mean the process by which the stock is brought, when hot, from the consistency of water to that of cream.
A great many cooks, by means of having plenty of meat placed at their disposal, often succeed in the early stage of gravy, i.e., they get the stock good and strong, although of a poor colour. It is too early yet in our lessons on the Principles of Cookery to describe how good stock may be made to assume a bright golden colour by simply being left to make its own colour in the stock-pot, and consequently it will be more practical to show how to make a light-coloured stock into good brown gravy. We have already described the elementary process of thickening by simply adding flour; the next stage in advance is flour and butter combined. This is, perhaps, the most common of all methods. A cook will place a small amount of butter on a plate, and by its side a little heap of flour. She will place this plate in front of the fire for the butter to dissolve, and will then, with a steel knife, or if a trifle more advanced in knowledge with a spoon, knead the butter and flour together, add this to the stock, stirring it in till it boils, when the stock will become thick in proportion to the amount of butter and flour put in. By extravagantly using extract of meat, or colouring of some sort, such as sugar, or still worse, a colouring ball, a certain amount of brown colour is imparted to the gravy, which, if the stock is really good and well flavoured and the pepper not forgotten, will be by
PRINCIPLES GRAVY.
no means bad. What, however, is the drawback 1 The flour has been used raw, and a keen palate will detect the flavour we have mentioned and described as "flour." What, however, is the remedy for this 1 Let the flour be fried instead of raw ; or, in other words, instead of simply using butter and flour to thicken the stock, use brown thickening, or brown roux, as the French call it, and let me here tell cooks that in the end they will absolutely save both time and trouble by making some of this roux or brown thickening beforehand in a fairly good quantity, as when it is made it will keep for a very long time.