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Gravy, Jelly For
Take a pound and a half of the shin of beef, a pound and a half of the knuckle of veal, and a quarter of a pound of lean uncooked ham. Cut the meat into small pieces, break the bone, remove the marrow, and add a bunch of savoury herbs, a sliced carrot, two blades of mace, eight peppercorns, the rind of a quarter of a lemon, a few grains of cayenne, a lump of sugar, and a small tea-spoonful of salt. Pour on four pints of water, or, better still, veal broth, and let the mixture simmer very gently for six hours. If quickly boiled the jelly will be spoilt. Remove the scum as it rises, and strain the gravy, which should be kept in a cool place, and boiled for a minute or two every two or three days, if it is to be kept some time. The above is an excellent recipe for making strong gravies and sauces. Probable cost, about 3s. Sufficient for three pints.
This is a rich veal-and-beef stock, strong enough in gelatine to set firm when cold, meant as a base for sauces rather than as a gravy to pour. Most of it translates directly; the storage instructions do not.
- The hinge: never let it boilThe recipe says it plainly and it is the whole technique. A bare simmer, with barely a bubble breaking the surface, keeps the liquid clear and the gelatine clean-tasting; a rolling boil emulsifies fat and albumen into the stock and gives a cloudy, greasy result that will not set brightly.
- Imperial pintsFour imperial pints is 80 fl oz, about 2.3 litres, and the three-pint yield is roughly 1.7 litres. If you measure in US pints you will start with about a sixth less water and finish with a stronger, saltier liquid, which is not a disaster but changes the seasoning.
- The cutsShin of beef and knuckle of veal are chosen for connective tissue, not flavour alone. Beef shin is still sold as such; for veal knuckle, ask for veal shank or veal bones, and if veal is hard to find, a split oxtail or a pig's trotter supplies the same gelatine.
- Lean uncooked hamThis means raw rather than boiled ham: the trimmings of a gammon, or a thick slice of prosciutto-style ham. It is there for savour and salt. Heavily smoked bacon will dominate the pot.
- Blades of maceMace is the lacy outer covering of the nutmeg; a blade is one whole piece. Two blades are roughly an eighth to a quarter teaspoon of ground mace, and ground mace is better added late so it does not turn dusty over six hours.
- Salt is deliberately lightA small teaspoon in four pints seems mean, and it is meant to. Stock destined for reduction into sauces must be undersalted, since concentrating it doubles or trebles the salt in the finished glaze.
- Skimming and strainingSkim in the first half hour, when the grey scum rises hardest, then leave it alone. Strain through a cloth-lined sieve without pressing the solids, and lift the set fat off the top once it is cold.
- Ignore the keeping instructionsStoring stock in a cool larder and re-boiling it every two or three days was standard before refrigeration and is not a method to revive. Chill it fast, refrigerate for three to four days, or freeze it — a strong jelly like this freezes well in ice-cube trays for sauce-making.
- CostThe recipe gives the probable cost as about 3s, a real outlay for what is only a foundation for other dishes.
In Victorian kitchen language "gravy" rarely meant the pan juices of a roast; it meant a made stock, and a strong one, held in reserve to give body and depth to sauces, ragouts and made dishes. The reliance on veal knuckle follows French practice, where veal bones supply gelatine and a neutral savour that beef alone cannot give, and the direction to keep it in a cool place and re-boil it every few days is a plain record of a kitchen without refrigeration — a habit abandoned only as domestic ice chests and, later, refrigerators became common.