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Chestnut Sauce, White
Roast a dozen chestnuts until quite tender, then remove the brown rind and the skin under it, and put them into a mortar with a tea-spoonful of salt, half a tea-spoonful of pepper, half a tea-spoonful of sifted sugar, and a piece of butter about the size of a walnut. Pound these together to a smooth paste, which must be put into a saucepan, and mixed with a breakfast-cupful of milk or cream; stir the liquid till it boils. This sauce is excellent for boiled fowls. Time to roast the chestnuts, varying with the quality. Probable cost, 2d. or 3d. per pint, if made with milk. Sufficient for one fowl.
A simple pounded-chestnut sauce that a food processor handles in seconds. The one thing to watch is the peeling: chestnuts only give up their inner skin while hot.
- Peel them hotScore an X in the flat side before roasting, and rub off both the shiny outer shell and the bitter papery inner pellicle while the nuts are still too hot to hold comfortably. Once they cool the inner skin welds itself to the flesh and the sauce turns gritty and slightly astringent.
- Roasting timeThe original declines to give one, and rightly, but 20-25 minutes at 400F suits fresh nuts. They are done when a skewer meets no resistance at the centre; underdone chestnuts will not pound smooth.
- A breakfast-cupfulRoughly 10-12 fl oz, larger than a modern teacup. Start with 8 oz and let the sauce down to the consistency you want, since a dozen chestnuts vary a good deal in size.
- Butter the size of a walnutAbout half an ounce, or one tablespoon.
- Vacuum-packed chestnutsCooked peeled chestnuts sold in jars or pouches work perfectly here and skip the peeling entirely. They are already soft, so warm them in the milk rather than roasting.
- Do not let it catchChestnut purée is starchy and sinks to the bottom of the pan. Stir constantly as it comes up to the boil, and use a heavy pan; a scorched patch will flavour the whole sauce.
- SeasoningA teaspoon of salt for twelve chestnuts is generous by modern taste. Add half, then correct at the end once the sauce has thickened and concentrated.
- YieldAbout a pint, matching the recipe's own costing, and by its reckoning enough for one boiled fowl. It thickens as it stands; loosen with a little more milk before serving.
Chestnut sauces belong to the older English tradition of serving boiled poultry with something thick, pale and mildly sweet rather than with gravy: bread sauce, celery sauce, oyster sauce and this all occupy the same place at the table. The title 'White' implies a brown counterpart built on stock rather than on milk or cream. The costing of "2d. or 3d. per pint" is a reminder that chestnuts were then a relatively cheap autumn commodity in Britain, sold roasted in the streets and imported from southern Europe, rather than the specialist item they have since become. Pounding in a mortar, often followed by sieving, was the usual route to a smooth purée, and the labour it implies may be one reason such sauces became less common in domestic cooking.