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Apple Sauce for Goose and Roast Pork
311. Pare, core, and slice some apples; put them in a stone jar, then into a saucepan of water, or on a hot hearth. If on a hearth, let a spoonful or two of water be put in to hinder them from burning. When they are done, bruise them to a mash, and put to them a bit of butter the size of a nutmeg, and a little brown sugar. Serve it in a sauce-tureen.
A plain apple sauce cooked in a covered jar set in water — effectively a bain-marie, which keeps the fruit from catching and lets it steam in its own juice. Everything here translates directly to a modern pan.
- The jar in waterThe stone jar standing in a saucepan of water is an improvised double boiler. A heavy-based saucepan over low heat with a lid and two tablespoons of water does the same job; stir once or twice.
- Butter the size of a nutmegConventionally read as roughly half an ounce, about one tablespoon of butter. Add it off the heat so it stays glossy rather than splitting.
- "A little brown sugar"Start with a teaspoon or two per pound of fruit and taste. Sauce for goose and pork wants to stay tart enough to cut the fat, so it should not become a dessert compote.
- Choice of appleUse an apple that collapses: Bramley, or any tart cooking variety. Modern dessert apples such as Gala or Honeycrisp hold their shape and will resist being bruised to a mash.
- TimingSliced apples with a little water soften in 15 to 20 minutes over low heat. If they are still firm, add water a spoonful at a time rather than raising the heat.
- Texture"Bruise them to a mash" means a fork or wooden spoon, not a blender — the sauce should be slightly rough. A processor makes it gluey and pale.
- QuantityNo yield is given. Three medium apples, about a pound, make roughly a cup and a half, enough for four to six people alongside a roast.
- ServingThe sauce-tureen was brought to table warm. It also keeps three or four days covered in the refrigerator and reheats gently.