278.—SORREL SAUCE. (Fr.—Sauce l'Oseille.) (For Boiled or Braised Fowls.)
Ingredients.—½ a pint of good gravy, No. 6, a small handful of sorrel.
Method.—Wash and pick the sorrel, cover it with cold water, bring to the boil, cook for a few minutes, and drain well. Have the gravy ready in a saucepan. Chop the sorrel finely, add it to the gravy, and serve.
Time.—15 to 20 minutes. Average Cost, 3d.
Sorrel (Fr. surelle).—The Romans cultivated the sorrel, which is a native of Italy and France, and ate its acrid leaves, stewed with mustard, and seasoned with oil and vinegar. In French cookery, sorrel is largely used, both as a salad and for culinary purposes. Although the leaves are both wholesome and pleasant to the taste, sorrel finds little favour with English cooks. There are two species of this plant, but in England they are scarcely grown as a vegetable. In most parts of Britain sorrel wild in the grass meadows. Tartaric acid, tannic acid, and binoxalate of potash are constituents of sorrel, and impart to it its characteristic acid taste.
279.—SPANISH SAUCE. (Fr.—Sauce Espangole.)
See Espagnole Sauce.
280.—TEXAS SAUCE. (Fr.—Sauce a la Texas.)
Ingredients.—¾ of a pint of curry sauce, No. 241, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, ½ a teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, a good pinch of saffron, 1 oz. of butter.
Method.—Make the curry sauce as directed, and just before serving add the lemon-juice, parsley, saffron, and lastly the butter, which should be whisked in gradually in small pieces, to prevent it oiling.
Time.—45 to 50 minutes. Average Cost, 2d., in addition to the curry sauce.
281.—TOMATO SAUCE. (Fr.—Sauce Tomate.)
Ingredients.—1 lb. of tomatoes, 2 shallots, 1 bay-leaf, 1 sprig of thyme 10 peppercorns, 1 oz. of butter, 2 ozs. of lean ham, 1 tablespoonful of vinegar.
Method.—Melt the butter in a stewpan, add the ham cut small, and shallots chopped. Cook over the fire, but do not brown. Now add the seasoning, herbs, peppercorns, and tomatoes sliced, stir altogether, and boil for about 20 minutes, or until well reduced. Pass the sauce through a tammy-cloth, warm up, season, and serve.
Time.—From 30 to 35 minutes. Average Cost, 7d. to 8d.
The Tomato, or Love Apple (Fr. Tomate), is a native of South America, but was introduced into Europe in the sixteenth century. It is successfully cultivated in warm or temperate climates, and thrives in southern Europe; it is extensively grown in England. The fruit is eaten raw, or cooked in various ways, and is also used as an ingredient in salads, and as a sauce. In its green state it is made into pickle. Reference is made to the tomato as the "Love apple," by the late Charles Dickens, in the celebrated trial of Bardell v. Pickwick, in his Pickwick Papers.
282.—TOMATO SAUCE. (Fr.—Sauce Tomate.) (Another Method.)
Ingredients.—2 lb. of tomatoes, ¼ of a pint of good stock, 1 small
