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Sweet Sauce for Savoury Joints
292. This is served with mutton and venison, and often with hare also. It is made by dissolving two or three table-spoonsful of red currant jelly in a small enamelled saucepan, and when hot adding one or two table-spoonsful of port-wine.
A two-ingredient sauce that stands or falls on gentle heat: jelly boiled hard loses its set and its fresh fruit flavour, turning to a dull syrup.
- Quantity and yieldTwo or three tablespoons of jelly with one or two of port gives roughly a quarter cup of sauce — enough for two to four servings. Scale up in the same proportion for a full roast.
- Melt, do not boilWarm the jelly over low heat until it just liquefies, then add the port off the heat or at the barest simmer. Sustained boiling drives off the wine's aroma and cooks the pectin into something sticky.
- The enamelled panThe specification most likely reflects a wish to keep acidic fruit off bare iron, which can taint the sauce. Any modern stainless steel, enamelled or nonstick pan does the job.
- Red currant jellyStill sold, though often in the imported-preserves section rather than with the jams. A tart redcurrant or lingonberry jelly works; sweetened cranberry sauce is much sweeter and will need less port, not more.
- Choice of portA ruby port suits this better than a tawny — more fruit, less nut and caramel. Tawny gives a rounder but duller result.
- ConsistencyThe sauce should coat a spoon thinly and pour freely. If it looks thin after the port goes in, let it stand a few minutes off the heat rather than reducing it hard.
- ServingSend it to the table warm, not hot, in a small jug or sauceboat; the recipe says only that it is served with mutton, venison or hare.