Melted Butter. — Many years ago a French valet, when
visiting with his master at English country houses, used to
delight in teaching cooks the real method, as he called it, of
making Melted Butter. He used to say : “ Melted Butter is
“ Melted Butter ; it is not flour and water and butter, nor flour
“ and milk and butter, but it is the butter and nothing else.”
The valet’s recipe was : For one pint of Melted Butter use half
a pound of fresh butter✪ Melted Butter. Put it in a saucepan on one side of
the hot hearth, or on a very slow fire. Beat the butter with a
wooden spoon as it melts. Continue beating till it is even and
white, like cream. Simmer it for five minutes, beating all the
time. This recipe still holds its own, but many people, in spite
of the knowledge that a little of a good thing is better than a
great deal of a bad thing, would consider it too expensive.
Melted Butter is supposed to be the standard English Sauce,
but it is very seldom well made by English cooks. Everyone
knows the story of the bride who entreated her cook not to put
lumps into the Melted Butter, but everyone does not know how
to prevent the presence of lumps, or how to avoid the paste-like
flavour given by the raw flour to the Sauce. Both these defects
are due to the same cause, that is, the stirring of the uncooked
flour into the Sauce, instead of previously cooking the flour and
butter together. Besides, it is very wasteful to stir in the
flour, for lumps must form, and when they are strained off they
are good for nothing, and can only be thrown away.
For one pint of Melted Butter ( sauce blanche ), take two
ounces of butter, one ounce of flour, a saltspoonful of salt,
and half a pint of liquid. The liquid may be warm water,
or milk and water, or broth made from scraps of meat, giblets
of poultry, or fish cuttings. Or the broth in which peas,
carrots, celery, onions, or leeks have been boiled may be used.
Of these liquids broth, or eau de cuisson from vegetables, are
MELTED BUTTER
129
much the best. Water makes Melted Butter poor, and milk,
particularly in summer, is apt to turn sour in a few hours.
To make Melted Butter with these ingredients, first melt one
ounce of the butter at the bottom of a saucepan. When it
is quite melted over a slow fire, add the flour, working it
well with a wooden spoon till it forms a smooth paste. Reduce
the fire, and cook the roux gently for a few minutes, but do
not let it colour. Now add by degrees whichever liquid has
been selected, and the saltspoonful of salt. Increase the heat
under the pan, and work the Melted Butter well with the
wooden spoon till it is soft and creamy. Have ready a hot
sauce-boat, and pass the Melted Butter into it through the
tin strainer. Just as the sauce reaches the sauce-boat add
the second ounce of butter. This, melting of its own accord,,
will give the fresh buttery flavour which the sauce requires.
If these directions of Wyvern's are strictly followed the
Melted Butter will be excellent, and will not resemble (as
Melted Butter too often does) the paste used for sticking
pictures into scrap-books, only in a weaker form. For Melted
Butter to be used as a basis for fish sauce it is quite worth
while to spend a few pence in buying “ fish cuttings.” If the
Melted Butter seems too thick add a little more of whatever
liquid has been used.
Page 83 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1898. 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
Melted Butter. — Many years ago a French valet, when visiting with his master at English country houses, used to delight in teaching cooks the real method, as he called it, of making Melted Butter. He used to say : “ Melted Butter is “ Melted Butter ; it is not flour and water and butter, nor flour “ and milk and butter, but it is the butter and nothing else.” The valet’s recipe was : For one pint of Melted Butter use half a pound of fresh butter. Put it in a saucepan on one side of the hot hearth, or on a very slow fire. Beat the butter with a wooden spoon as it melts. Continue beating till it is even and white, like cream. Simmer it for five minutes, beating all the time. This recipe still holds its own, but many people, in spite of the knowledge that a little of a good thing is better than a great deal of a bad thing, would consider it too expensive.
Melted Butter is supposed to be the standard English Sauce, but it is very seldom well made by English cooks. Everyone knows the story of the bride who entreated her cook not to put lumps into the Melted Butter, but everyone does not know how to prevent the presence of lumps, or how to avoid the paste-like flavour given by the raw flour to the Sauce. Both these defects are due to the same cause, that is, the stirring of the uncooked flour into the Sauce, instead of previously cooking the flour and butter together. Besides, it is very wasteful to stir in the flour, for lumps must form, and when they are strained off they are good for nothing, and can only be thrown away.
For one pint of Melted Butter ( sauce blanche ), take two ounces of butter, one ounce of flour, a saltspoonful of salt, and half a pint of liquid. The liquid may be warm water, or milk and water, or broth made from scraps of meat, giblets of poultry, or fish cuttings. Or the broth in which peas, carrots, celery, onions, or leeks have been boiled may be used. Of these liquids broth, or eau de cuisson from vegetables, are
MELTED BUTTER
much the best. Water makes Melted Butter poor, and milk, particularly in summer, is apt to turn sour in a few hours. To make Melted Butter with these ingredients, first melt one ounce of the butter at the bottom of a saucepan. When it is quite melted over a slow fire, add the flour, working it well with a wooden spoon till it forms a smooth paste. Reduce the fire, and cook the roux gently for a few minutes, but do not let it colour. Now add by degrees whichever liquid has been selected, and the saltspoonful of salt. Increase the heat under the pan, and work the Melted Butter well with the wooden spoon till it is soft and creamy. Have ready a hot sauce-boat, and pass the Melted Butter into it through the tin strainer. Just as the sauce reaches the sauce-boat add the second ounce of butter. This, melting of its own accord, will give the fresh buttery flavour which the sauce requires. If these directions of Wyvern's are strictly followed the Melted Butter will be excellent, and will not resemble (as Melted Butter too often does) the paste used for sticking pictures into scrap-books, only in a weaker form. For Melted Butter to be used as a basis for fish sauce it is quite worth while to spend a few pence in buying “ fish cuttings.” If the Melted Butter seems too thick add a little more of whatever liquid has been used.
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