Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/255

Rh beef or game bones, or from stock. Clear stock must be used for clear gravies, but with this exception, any good second stock will serve. An economical cook will always contrive to provide the basis of gravies, sauces, and soups out of the bones and trimmings of poultry and meat, except, of course, the clear soups and gravies, which must have a good clear stock for their foundation.

STOCK FOR SAUCES.

Béchamel, Veloutée, Allemande, and sauces of a similar character, must have for their foundation white stock made from chicken or veal, or the bones and trimmings of the same. The stock for Espagnole sauce, and those sauces of which it forms the basis, may be made from any kind of meat, trimmings, bones, livers, and gizzards of game and poultry; it must be rich, of good colour, but not necessarily very clear. The second stock (No. 7,) well reduced, would be suitable for this purpose.

CONSISTENCY OF SAUCES.

The consistency of a sauce varies according to its use. For a coating sauce, that is, a sauce thick enough to mask a chicken, cutlets, etc., over which it is poured, the proportions are 1½ ozs. of flour to 1 pint of liquid, when made by the slow process, during which the sauce becomes considerably reduced, but when made by the quick process nearly 2 ozs. of flour must be allowed to 1 pint of liquid. Sauces to be served separately in a sauceboat or poured round the base of a dish, should be made a little thinner, but it is always better to err on the side of overthickening, it being much easier to reduce the consistency by adding a little more stock or milk, than to increase the consistency by reducing the quantity. The latter can only be done by boiling the liquid rapidly in an uncovered pan, which is not always convenient at the time of serving dinner. Reducing by rapid boiling is a method which may be usefully employed in dealing with stock too poor to make a suitable foundation for a good soup or sauce. As the stock is reduced by evaporation, its flavour and richness become concentrated, and if frequently skimmed it gains considerably in brightness and colour.

TIME REQUIRED FOR COOKING.

Sauces made by the slow process are allowed to simmer for 2 or 3 hours, or until all the unabsorbed fat comes to the surface. Frequent stirring is necessary, also occasional skimming to remove the fat as it rises. The ordinary, or quickly-made sauces, should not have the liquid added until the flour and butter have been cooked together for 3 or 4 minutes, or, when flour kneaded with butter is used, or flour moistened with milk or stock is used, the liquid to which they are added should be allowed to simmer for at least