Sauces for the Gander

"Cooking and Roasting are things to teach," said Brillat-Savarin; "it needs a genius to make a sauce."

Possibly. But a genius without a recipe might find himself outclassed by a lesser talent equipped with a really sound set of instructions. Such a fellow, if he keeps his wits about him, can turn out a fine sauce that will do much more than merely flatter food -- it will also stand in its own right as an exciting experience in eating, for few snacks are more savory than a saucy sauce and a small heel of French bread.

What the novice American saucier does lack, and what his French brother has in abundance, is tradition. Ever since the middle ages when hawkers drove their carts through the streets of Paris shouting their latest sauce creations, and professional sauciers had already set up their own independent guild, a great culinary tradition has been nurtured. Sauces like the mère or "mother" sauces -- the basic brown and white sauces from which other sauces are derived -- were developed literally over hundreds of years of labor, experimentation and criticism. Fortunately, Americans can dip into this tradition and select for their own repertoire innumerable sauces that no longer require 14 hours of stirring, reduction and despumation. Luscious velvety sauces can now be prepared in a matter of minutes.

It's important to understand the two main ways in which sauces are concocted. First of all, there are the sauces that are made apart from the food with which they are served. The tomato sauce under a breaded veal cutlet or the egg sauce poured over boiled fresh salmon are examples of this type. Then there is the second category -- those sauces that are created as part of the preparation of other foods. For instance, if you sautéed breast of chicken, then added sherry and light cream, and simmered the liquid slowly until it reached the consistency of heavy cream, you'd have this second type of sauce dish. In America we often call this type of sauce a gravy, such as the gravy of a lamb stew.

The quantity of sauce accompanying a particular dish may vary greatly. It may completely cloak the food as does the robe of golden hollandaise poured over fresh asparagus. At other times it may be merely a small liquid ribbon like the dark devil sauce poured around a grilled pork chop. But in either case it must be so luscious that it transmutes the food it punctuates. Naturally there are some foods that require no sauce at all. A broiled thick spring lamb chop, for instance, should be adorned with nothing more than a light brushing of butter and perhaps a drop of lemon juice. But other dishes -- like calf's liver, smoked ham, veal chops, duckling and filet of sole, to mention only a few -- fairly cry for a fine piquant sauce.

A sauce cook's worst potential enemy is flour. Now, in most sauces flour is indispensable as the thickening agent. But if the flour remains raw or semi-cooked, as it does too often, you don't have a sauce but a thick mucilaginous mess that suffocates any food with which it is served. The graduate sauce cook simmers his sauce not merely until it is thick but until it is glossy, the signal that every bit of raw floury taste has disappeared. The most nearly perfect thickening agent (that is, the one which conveys practically no flavor of its own to a sauce) is arrowroot, a powder made from the root of a West Indian plant. It takes only one third as much arrowroot as flour to thicken an equal quantity of sauce, but arrowroot leaves the sauce transparent rather than opaque, and is therefore not widely used. Other sauces in which rich flavors must be maintained intact, like hollandaise, are thickened with egg yolks. Finally there are sauces that are self-thickening -- like the tomato sauces served with spaghetti, which become thick as their own ingredients are gradually reduced in the saucepan. Just remember: the best sauce betrays as little floury taste as possible.

The sauce cook and the soupçon are inseparable. In no other branch of cookery does the shred of herbs, the scintilla of spice, the gleam of sherry or the hint of garlic count for so much. When completing sauces, immediately before they go to the table, you may wish to avail yourself of such finishers as monosodium glutamate, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and others, never forgetting to use them in grains or droplets, not shovelfuls.

The soul of a fine sauce is its liquid or stock. Some liquids like milk, cream, tomato juice or melted butter are all ready for the saucepan, and require no previous preparation. Other liquids, like the stock for brown sauces, once took hours, even in some cases days, to make. During the dark ages of American cookery (continued on page 36) Sauces for the Gander (continued from page 30) ordinary tap water was used. In France the fonds or foundation stocks were always the long cooking variety. Here is where the old-line sauce cook and today's bachelor chef part company. The modern kitchen benedict uses the bouillons now available in a bewildering variety of concentrated powders, cubes, granules, pastes and soups. Even in hotels noted for their haute cuisine you will now find such concentrated stocks in common use. Many of them are actually superior to the ordinary run of stocks found in the average restaurant.

Men who are absolute neophytes in cookery can now buy prepared sauces that require no toil whatever. First of all there are the frozen sauces put up by the Restaurant Maxim's de Paris corporation, processed in the United States. These frozen gourmet sauces merely need thawing and heating. For some time, fresh hollandaise sauce put up in jars and kept under refrigeration has been available in specialty food stores. It may not be as superb as the best fresh hollandaise sauce, but it excels the average hollandaise you'll find in public eating places. There are now instant hollandaise and instant béarnaise sauces put up in powdered form under the Maison Julien label. They are reconstituted with butter and water. The comparatively new General Foods line of gourmet items includes imported sauces from France put up in 4-1/2-ounce cans. Under Sardi's label you will find an 8-ounce can of Sauce Magic, a basic white sauce that can be easily converted to such varieties as curry sauce, paprika sauce and others. Many of the thick concentrated soups are quickly adaptable as sauces. Thus frozen shrimp soup may be thawed, laced with sherry or brandy and cream, and poured over fish, seafood and egg dishes.

Of course, all these sure-fire ready sauces include a certain cost in addition to the money you pay. That cost is simply that you give up some of your own creative fun for a certain standardization. Some fellows don't mind if their palates react in exactly the same way as everybody else's. Others prefer the unique experience that comes from coaxing their own individual miracles out of a saucepan.

The following oddments of culinary advice will be helpful for all disciples of the sauce-maker's art. Whenever possible, in place of onions, use shallots, the small yellow bulbs that look like miniature onions. Shallots give a lush mellow flavor to any sauce, but unhappily are seldom available at ordinary fruit and vegetable stands. When melted fat and flour are combined to make a sauce, use a fine wire whip to prevent lump formation. If lumps do form, in spite of every care, force the sauce through a fine wire strainer. While sauce is simmering, stir it with a wooden or stainless steel spoon to prevent a thick layer from forming around the bottom rim of the saucepan. Continued beating with a wire whip in a soft aluminum pan may discolor a white sauce. For eye appeal, brown gravy color may be added to any brown sauce and a drop or two of yellow color to any white sauce. When wine is added at the end of the cooking period rather than at the beginning, use a fine table wine rather than ordinary cooking wine if possible, since the wine flavor will emerge rather distinctly.

In the following recipes for basic sauces and variations on them, no portions are indicated, since there is actually no such thing as a portion of sauce. Most of the recipes will yield approximately one measuring cup of sauce.

[recipe_title]Sauce Espagnole[/recipe_title]

This is the basic French brown sauce called Espagnole or Spanish because it's dark or brunette. It should not be confused with the thick Spanish sauce made largely of unstrained tomatoes, frequently served with omelets. Be sure the consommé used for the stock is the condensed type which normally requires an equal quantity of water for serving as soup. In the recipe below, however, it should not be diluted with water. The dried onion flakes, parsley flakes, chervil and dried mushrooms in this recipe are all excellent labor savers that perform just about as nicely as the fresh vegetables for this particular job. Fresh vegetables, of course, can be used, if such is your fancy. Use Sauce Espagnole, or any suitable variation, on smoked beef tongue, baked ham, veal steaks or chops, calf's liver, broiled veal kidneys or lamb kidneys, Salisbury steak or hot meat sandwiches.

[drinkRecipe]10-1/2-oz. can condensed consommé or bouillon[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/4 cup tomato juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/4 cup water[/drinkRecipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons butter[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons flour[/recipe]

[recipe]1 tablespoon onion flakes[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes[/recipe]

[recipe]1/8 teaspoon dried chervil[/recipe]

[recipe]3 medium-sized pieces dried mushroom[/recipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce[/drinkRecipe]

In a small saucepan pour the consommé, tomato juice and water. Slowly bring to a boil. In another saucepan, melt the butter slowly, without browning it. Stir in the flour. Mix with a wire whip until the flour is well blended. Let the mixture, called a roux, remain over a very low flame and stir it constantly until it turns a deep golden color similar to coffee ice cream. Slowly stir in the hot liquids from the first saucepan. Add the onion flakes, parsley flakes, chervil and mushrooms. Simmer over the lowest possible flame 25-30 minutes. Skim when necessary. Strain the sauce. Add Worcestershire sauce and seasoning to taste.

Sauce Chasseur: Omit dried mushrooms and onion flakes from brown sauce recipe. Slice thin 3 medium-sized fresh mushrooms. Finely mince 1 small onion. Sauté mushrooms and onion in butter before adding flour. Add 3 tablespoons sherry to sauce when finished cooking. Use the sauce, unstrained, for glorifying braised beef, roast chicken or guinea hen, veal cutlets or venison steak.

Devil Sauce: To consommé add 12 crushed whole peppercorns. Cook sauce as directed. Make a paste of 1 teaspoon dried mustard, 1 teaspoon prepared mustard and 1 tablespoon cold water. Add mustard mixture and 1/4 cup finely chopped sour pickle to strained brown sauce. Ladle it around roast fresh ham, roast loin of pork, grilled pork chops, smoked tongue or broiled fresh mackerel.

Red Wine Marrow Sauce: Prepare basic brown sauce. In a separate pan combine 1/2 cup dry red wine and 1 tablespoon minced shallots or spring onions if shallots are not available. Cook wine and shallots until wine is reduced to 1/4 cup. Strain wine into brown sauce. With a paring knife gouge out enough marrow from raw beef marrow bones to fill 1/4 cup. Cut the marrow into small dice. Wash the marrow and add it to the strained brown sauce. Heat for one-half minute. Spoon sauce over minute steaks, London broil or broiled lamb kidneys.

Sauce Bigarrade: Remove the peel, in large pieces, from one medium-sized California orange. With a very sharp knife cut away the inner white membrane from the outer peel. Cut the peel into very thin slivers about one-inch long. Put the slivers in water and boil for one minute. Drain. To strained brown sauce add orange slivers, 2 tablespoons orange juice, 2 tablespoons dry white wine, 2 tablespoons curaçao and ? teaspoon lemon juice. Simmer one minute. This is the classic sauce for roast duckling or broiled baby duckling.

[recipe_title]Sauce Béchamel[/recipe_title]

This sauce named after Louis de Béchamel, an officer in the court of Louis XIV, may seem similar to the usual white sauce untutored brides learn before they know how to boil an egg, but a few small additions transform it into an epicurean elixir.

[recipe]2 tablespoons butter[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons flour[/recipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 cup hot milk[/drinkRecipe]

[recipe]1 small onion sliced[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 small bay leaf[/recipe]

(concluded on page 64) Sauces for the Gander (continued from page 36)

[recipe]1/4 cup light cream[/recipe]

[recipe]2 tablespoons dry sherry[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 teaspoon salt[/recipe]

[recipe]Dash white pepper[/recipe]

Heat the milk and cream in a small saucepan, but do not boil. In another saucepan, melt the butter. As soon as it is melted, remove the pan from the fire to keep the roux from browning. Stir in the flour. Blend well. Slowly add hot milk and cream. Stir well. Add onion and bay leaf. Return to a slow flame. Simmer, don't boil, or sauce may burn. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Add sherry, salt and pepper. Strain. Combine Sauce Béchamel with cooked fresh mushrooms, crab meat or shrimp. Use it as an escort for croquettes or cutlets or as a base for cream soups.

Sauce Velouté: In place of milk in the above recipe use a strong chicken broth. Add a chicken bouillon cube if sauce seems weak in flavor. Pour it over fricassee of chicken, grilled sweetbreads, hot chicken or hot turkey sandwiches. Combine it with chicken cut into hash-size pieces for creamed chicken hash.

Sauce Mornay: Beat 2 egg yolks well. Add 1/4 cup strained Sauce Béchamel to egg yolks. Mix well. Pour egg yolk mixture into balance of Sauce Béchamel slowly, stirring well. Add 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese and a dash of cayenne pepper. Pour over boiled or baked fish. Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese and paprika. Place under broiler until cheese melts.

Horseradish Sauce: Add 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish to Sauce Velouté. Dissolve 1 teaspoon dry English mustard in 1 tablespoon cold water. Add to sauce. Indispensable with boiled beef. May also be used for boiled corned beef, tongue or chicken.

Egg Sauce: To strained Sauce Béchamel add 1 finely chopped hard boiled egg, 2 tablespoons minced parsley and a dash of Tabasco sauce. Delightful with steamed finnan haddie or boiled fresh salmon.

[recipe_title]Sauce Hollandaise[/recipe_title]

The richest and most delicate of all French sauces (named after Holland because Holland was once the source of the best butter in Europe) is largely a combination of egg yolks and butter. For best results use sweet rather than salted butter. Sauce Hollandaise is used in generous portions with fresh asparagus, broccoli or cauliflower. Use it for poached eggs Benedict. Hollandaise curdles easily if it is hot. It is always served just lukewarm.

[recipe]1/2 lb. sweet butter[/recipe]

[recipe]4 large egg yolks[/recipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 tablespoon cold water[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 teaspoon lemon juice[/drinkRecipe]

[recipe]1/4 teaspoon salt[/recipe]

[recipe]Dash cayenne pepper[/recipe]

Beat the egg yolks in an electric mixing machine until deep lemon colored and thick. While the egg yolks are being beaten, melt the butter over a moderate flame. Remove the butter from the fire as soon as it is all melted. While continuing to beat the egg yolks, begin adding the melted butter in the smallest possible stream, almost drop by drop at first. The butter will be emulsified by the egg yolks into a sauce somewhat resembling mayonnaise in appearance. Gradually add the balance of the butter in small driblets. When all the butter has been added, stir in the water, lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper. Remove sauce from mixing bowl. It may be cold. To reheat it, place the sauce over warm, not hot, water, stirring occasionally.

Sauce Béarnaise: Omit water and lemon juice from Sauce Hollandaise. Add 2 teaspoons tarragon vinegar, 1 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon, 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley and 1 teaspoon melted beef extract. Pass Sauce Béarnaise with filet mignon, broiled chicken, broiled scallops or brochette of sweetbread. Remove your beret before eating.