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Gravy, Jugged
Take half a pound of lean ham, and two pounds of lean beef-the shin is the best for this purpose. Cut them into small square pieces, and put them into an earthen jar. Strew over, and amongst them, chopped vegetables and seasoning, consisting of a carrot, an onion, a salt-spoonful of bruised celery-seed, tied in a piece of muslin, a blade of mace, three sprigs of parsley, and one each of marjoram and thyme, six peppercorns, and a clove. Pour a quart of water on these ingredients, cover the jar closely, and place it in a moderate oven for five or six hours. At the end of that time, skim and strain the gravy, which will be ready for use. Probable cost for this quantity, 2s. 6d. Sufficient for four or five persons.
This is a Victorian brown stock rather than a pan gravy: meat and aromatics sealed in an earthenware jar and left in the oven until they give up everything they have. Nothing is browned first, so the flavour comes entirely from the long, undisturbed heat.
- The hinge: keep the jar sealed and stillThe recipe says to cover the jar closely, and a tight seal holds the steam in so the liquid stays below a rolling boil, which should also help keep the gravy clear. Use a lidded stoneware or ceramic pot, or a Dutch oven, and seal the rim with foil under the lid; do not stir or lift it to check.
- Oven temperatureA Victorian "moderate oven" is around 350F, but that is a baking figure. For five or six hours in a sealed jar, set 275-300F so the liquid barely trembles. At 350F you will lose too much water and cloud the gravy.
- A quart of waterAn imperial quart is 40 fl oz, about 1.1 litres or 5 US cups, not the 4-cup US quart. The meat should be barely covered; if it is not, add a little more water rather than less.
- Shin of beefShin (US: beef shank) is specified for its collagen, which sets the finished gravy to a light jelly when cold. A leaner cut gives you flavour but no body. Ask for it boneless and cut it into half-inch dice so it exhausts fully.
- Half a pound of lean hamThis is the salt in the recipe; none is added separately, so taste before seasoning at the end. An uncooked or dry-cured gammon or country ham gives the most flavour, and is also the saltiest, so go carefully. Supermarket wet-cured sandwich ham is blander and less salty per ounce; if that is all you have, expect less depth.
- A blade of maceMace is the lacy outer coat of the nutmeg, sold as dried "blades" in spice shops. Roughly a quarter teaspoon of ground mace substitutes for one blade, though it will tint the gravy slightly.
- The celery-seed bundleTying the bruised celery seed in muslin keeps the small seeds out of the strained liquid; a tea infuser or a knotted square of cheesecloth does the same job. A salt-spoon is about a quarter teaspoon.
- Yield and keepingExpect somewhat less liquid than the quart you started with, since the meat takes up some of it, though a tightly sealed jar loses little to evaporation. Strain it, chill it quickly in a shallow container, and lift off the set fat next day; it keeps three or four days refrigerated and freezes well in ice-cube trays.
- What to do with the meatThe beef and ham will have given up most of their flavour to the liquid. Victorian cookery books commonly direct that such residue be minced into potted meat or rissoles rather than thrown out.
"Jugged" describes the vessel, not the dish: a lidded earthenware jar set either in the oven or standing in a pan of simmering water, so that the contents cooked in their own enclosed steam without ever boiling hard. The technique is best known from jugged hare, but it was also applied to gravies and beef teas. This is a foundation rather than a dish -- a concentrated brown stock to be drawn on for sauces, hashes and made-up meats -- and it occupies an oven for five or six hours at a stretch. The costing of 2s. 6d. is worth noting: two and a half pounds of meat spent on a jar of gravy was not an economy measure.