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Venison Gravy for Mutton (Browning to colour it if)
browning, to colour it if necessary. Put it in a basin, and, when cold, melt some suet and pour over it to preserve it. Sheep's melts for gravy very cheap, one penny each, and enough for twice, stewed like other meats. 282. CULLIS OR BROWN GRAVY.-Lay over the bottom of a stewpan as much lean veal as will cover it an inch thick; then cover the veal with thin slices of undressed gammon, two or three onions, two or three bay-leaves, some sweet-herbs, two blades of mace, and three cloves; cover the stewpan, and set it over a slow fire; but when the juices come out let the fire be a little quicker; when the meat is of a fine brown, fill the pan with good beef-broth; boil and skim it, then simmer an hour, and add a little water, mixed with as much flour as will make it properly thick; boil it half an hour, and strain it. This will keep for a week. 283. VEAL GRAVY is made as directed under par. 282. but without the spice, herbs, and flour. 284. CLEAR GRAVY.-Slice beef thin; broil a part of it over a very clear quick fire, just enough to give colour to the gravy, but not to dress it; put that and the raw part into a very nicely tinned stewpan, with two onions, a clove or two, whole black peppers, berries of allspice, and a bunch of sweet herbs; cover it with hot water, give it one boil, and skim it well two or three times; then cover it, and simmer till quite strong.
Four related gravy formulas, all built on the same principle: draw the juices out of meat over low heat, brown what is left in the pan, then extend with broth or water. Nothing here is difficult, but the terms and the storage advice both need translating.
- CullisAn anglicisation of the French coulis, meaning a strained meat essence rather than the fruit or vegetable purée the word signals today. It is a concentrated brown stock used by the spoonful to enrich sauces, though this book treats "cullis" and "brown gravy" as interchangeable terms.
- The hinge: sweat, then brownThe instruction to set the pan over a slow fire until "the juices come out", and only then raise the heat, is the whole method. The meat gives up its liquid, that liquid reduces to a sticky brown glaze on the pan bottom, and the broth dissolves it. Rush straight to high heat and you get scorched veal with no glaze.
- GammonThe cured hind leg of pork, sold raw; it may be smoked or unsmoked. "Undressed" here means uncooked. A thick slice of raw ham or a piece of pancetta stands in; heavily smoked bacon will dominate the flavour.
- Sheep's meltsMelt is the spleen. Cheap offal used to stretch a gravy, and effectively unobtainable at retail now; a butcher may order it. Ordinary beef shin or veal knuckle gives a comparable body without the strong flavour.
- Blades of maceThe dried outer covering of the nutmeg, sold in brittle strips called blades. A blade is usually reckoned as somewhere between a quarter and a half teaspoon of ground mace, though the whole spice infuses more gently and can be strained out.
- Quantities and thickeningNo pan size, broth quantity or flour weight is given, so all three must be judged by eye: enough lean veal to cover the pan bottom an inch deep, broth to fill the pan, and flour slaked in cold water added until the gravy is as thick as wanted.
- A very nicely tinned stewpanCopper pans were lined with tin, and a worn lining tainted long-simmered acidic liquids. Any stainless or enamelled pan answers the requirement; the point was simply that the metal must not react over a long simmer.
- StorageSealing the cooled gravy under a layer of melted suet excluded air, and "this will keep for a week" assumed a cold larder. Meat stock held at room temperature under a fat seal is not safe by current standards. Chill it fast, refrigerate for three or four days, or freeze it in portions.
- Clear gravyBroiling only part of the beef is deliberate: enough scorched surface for colour, the rest left raw so the liquid stays bright. Keep the simmer at a bare tremble and skim repeatedly, or the sauce clouds.