Soyer's standard cookery

QUANTITIES FOR MAKING ABOUT ONE POUND. — Eight ounces of clarified butter, nine ounces of best quality flour. PREPARATION. — Mix the flour and butter in a very thick stewpan, and put it on the side of the fire or in a moderate oven. Stir the mixture repeatedly so that the heat may be evenly distributed throughout the whole. The time allowed for the cooking of brown roux cannot be precisely determined, as it depends upon the degree of heat employed. The more intense the latter, the speedier will be the cooking, while the stirring will of necessity be more rapid. Brown roux is known to be cooked when it has acquired a fine, light brown color, and when it exudes a scent resembling that of the hazel-nut, characteristic of baked flour. Pale Roux. The quantities are the same as for brown roux, but cooking must cease as soon as the color of the roux begins to change, and before the appearance of any coloring whatsoever. The observations made relative to brown roux, concerning the coloring element, apply also to pale roux. White Roux. Use the same quantities as for brown and pale roux, but limit the time of cooking to a few minutes, as it is only necessary to do away with the disagreeable taste of raw flour which is typical of those sauces whose roux has not been sufficiently cooked. Brown Sauce or Espagnole. To MAKE FOUR QUARTS. — Take one pound of brown roux dissolved in a tall, thick saucepan with six quarts of brown stock. Put the saucepan on the fire, and stir the sauce with a spatula or a whisk until it begins to boil. Then remove the spatula, and put the saucepan on a corner of the fire, letting it lean slightly to one side with the help of a wedge, so that boiling may only take place at one point, and the scum be easily removed as it collects. During despumation change saucepans twice or even three times, straining every time, and adding a quart of brown stock to replace what has evaporated. At length, when the sauce begins to get lighter, and about two hours before finally straining it, add two pounds of fresh tomatoes, roughly cut up, or an equivalent quantity of preserved tomatoes, and about one pound of Mirepoix. The sauce is then reduced so as to measure four quarts when strained, after which it is poured into a wide tureen, and must be kept in motion until quite cool lest a skin should form on its surface. Remember: — 1. Only to use strong, clear stock with a decided taste, and 2. Be very careful of the roux, however it may be made. By following these two rules, a clear, brilliant, and consistent Espagnole will always be obtained in a fairly short time. Half Glaze. This is the Espagnole sauce, having reached the limit of perfection by final despumation. It is obtained by reducing one quart of Espagnole and one quart of first-class brown stock until its volume is reduced to nine-tenths of a quart, it is then put through a strainer into a bain-marie of convenient dimensions, and it is finished, away from the fire, with one-tenth of a quart of excellent sherry. Cover the bain-marie, or slightly butter the top to avoid the formation of a skin. This sauce is the base of all the smaller brown sauces. Veloute Sauce. QUANTITIES REQUIRED FOR FOUR QUARTS. — One pound of pale roux, five quarts of white veal stock.