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Gravy, Essence of Ham For
A ham bone is always considered a valuable addition to the stock-pot, but it may be used to greater advantage by making of it an essence with which to flavour sauces and gravies. Cut from it very carefully all the little pieces of meat. Pound these in a mortar, and put them into a saucepan with the bone broken small, a dozen peppercorns, a bunch of thyme and parsley, and a pint and a half of good beef stock. Simmer gently by the side of the fire for a couple of hours, or until the flavour is thoroughly extracted. Put the liquid into a bottle, and set aside for use. Probable cost, about 3d., exclusive of the ham bone. Sufficient for a pint of essence.
A concentrated ham stock meant to be kept on hand and spooned into sauces. The instructions are sound; only the vessels, the heat source and the storage assumptions need translating.
- Yield and reductionA pint and a half of stock is reduced to a pint over two hours, so roughly a third evaporates. Use a wide pan and a bare simmer rather than a lid clamped down, or you will finish with as much liquid as you started with and no concentration of flavour.
- "By the side of the fire"On a range this meant the cooler edge of the hob, where a pot ticks over without ever bubbling hard. The modern equivalent is the lowest setting with a heat diffuser, or a very low oven with the pan uncovered.
- Pounding in a mortarThe point is to shred the meat fibres so they release their salt and savour quickly. A few pulses in a food processor does the same job; do not reduce it to paste, or the essence will need careful straining.
- Breaking the boneCutting the bone exposes marrow and the gelatinous joint ends, which is where the body of the essence comes from. A butcher will do it in seconds; do not attempt it with a kitchen knife.
- SaltNo salt is added because the ham supplies plenty. Taste before using the essence in a sauce that already contains reduced stock or soy, and season the finished dish rather than the bottle.
- Strain and defatThe original assumes you will pour off the clear liquid. Strain through a fine sieve, chill, and lift the set fat cap off the top; ham fat turns rancid faster than beef fat and will spoil the keeping quality.
- Keeping it"Set aside for use" gives no keeping time; a cold larder would have bought a few days at most. Refrigerate in a sealed jar and use within four or five days, or freeze in ice-cube trays so you can drop one into a sauce.
- Where it goesA tablespoon or two lifts a brown sauce, a pea or lentil soup, a bean stew, or the pan juices of roast poultry. It is a seasoning, not a stock, and will overwhelm anything delicate.
Bottled essences, glazes and "cullis" were the backbone of nineteenth-century sauce-making, giving a cook depth of flavour on demand at a time when there were no stock cubes and no commercial bouillon beyond a few expensive extracts. The costing of threepence is characteristic of Cassell's, which priced almost every dish for a household running to a budget, and the phrase "exclusive of the ham bone" makes the argument neatly: the bone was already paid for, so the essence was nearly free flavour. The same thrift survives wherever a Parmesan rind goes into a soup or a chicken carcass into a pot.