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Piquant Sauce
1 cupful good clear stock; 1/2 tablespoonful minced onion or shallots; 2 tablespoonfuls butter; 1 tablespoonful flour; 1/2 teaspoonful sugar; 1/2 teaspoonful Worcestershire sauce; 1 tablespoonful chopped capers; 1 tablespoonful cucumber pickles, chopped or sliced thin; 2 tablespoonfuls tarragon or wine vinegar; a dash of cayenne; 1/2 teaspoonful salt. Heat the butter in a pan and add the flour. Stir until very smooth, and let it cook until brown. Gradually add the stock, salt and pepper, and let it come to a boil, and simmer ten minutes.
Put the vinegar, onion, and sugar in a pan over a hot fire, and simmer five minutes. Add this and pickles, capers, and Worcestershire sauce to the hot stock; then let it boil up, and serve it very hot with either fish, meat, or game.
This is one of the sauces that may have extract of beef substituted for the stock, as it should be clear. Use the extract in the proportion of 1/2 teaspoonful of extract dissolved in 1 cupful boiling water. Serve with fried or broiled fish, or roast or boiled meats.
A classic brown sauce piquante, built on a browned roux and a sharp vinegar-and-onion reduction. Nothing here is obsolete, but two details decide whether it tastes balanced or merely sour.
- Brown the roux properlyThe recipe uses more butter than flour (2 tablespoonfuls to 1), and directs that the mixture be cooked until brown; a pale roux gives a raw, pasty flavour. Keep the heat moderate and stir constantly until it smells toasted and darkens.
- Reduce the vinegar separatelyThe point of simmering vinegar, onion and sugar apart from the stock is to drive off the raw acetic bite while concentrating the flavour. Do not skip it and dump the vinegar into the finished sauce, or the result is harsh.
- The pepperThe ingredient list gives only a dash of cayenne, while the method says to add "salt and pepper" with the stock. Add the cayenne at the end with the other seasonings and grind in black pepper to taste along the way if you want it.
- Extract of beefThis is the Victorian meat concentrate sold as Liebig's or Bovril. A modern equivalent is a good beef bouillon concentrate or demi-glace base; use enough for one cup of strong, clear broth. Reduce the added salt, since these products are salty.
- Stock qualityWith only a cupful of liquid, the stock carries the sauce, and the recipe explicitly says it should be clear. A clear brown stock is worth the difference.
- Capers and pickle go in lastBoth are added off the main simmer for a reason. A brief boil-up is all they need; longer cooking flattens the caper's floral edge and turns cucumber pickle limp.
- YieldAbout one cup of finished sauce, enough for roughly four to eight servings alongside fish, steak or roast meat. It thickens as it stands, so thin it with a spoonful of hot stock before serving.