No. 493

Maitre d'Hotel Sauce, Thickened

Sauce a la Maitre d'Hotel, Liee

Put into a high saucepan three gills of veloute (No. 415) or bechamel (No. 409) with two gills of water; let it warm up and then add to it slowly half a pond of butter, working it in well, pass through a tammy; season with the juice of a lemon, some salt and pepper, and should the sauce be too thick then add a little more water; strain again through a tammy, add one teaspoonful of chopped parsley.

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For the Modern Kitchen

A butter-mounted velouté, essentially maître d'hôtel butter in pourable form. The whole thing hinges on temperature control while the butter goes in.

GillsA gill is half a cup. Three gills of velouté or béchamel is 1 1/2 cups; two gills of water is 1 cup.
"Half a pond of butter"A printer's slip for half a pound — 8 oz, two sticks. That is a large proportion of butter to roughly 2 1/2 cups of liquid, which is what makes the sauce rich rather than merely thickened.
The hinge: warm, not simmering"let it warm up" means the base should be hot but well below a simmer before the butter goes in a little at a time; the book gives no temperature. If the sauce boils while you are mounting it, the emulsion is liable to break and throw a greasy layer on top.
A tammyA tammy is a fine worsted cloth through which sauce was forced, usually by two people twisting the ends. A fine-mesh conical strainer does the same job; a doubled layer of damp cheesecloth in a sieve is closer to the original texture.
High saucepanThe recipe calls for one but does not say why; a tall, heavy-bottomed pan works, and heavy matters as much as tall, since thin metal will scorch the base.
Lemon and parsley lastThe acid goes in after the butter is absorbed, not before, and the parsley after the final straining — otherwise it is simply strained out again. Chop the parsley fine and dry, and add it off the heat so it keeps its color.
Velouté or béchamelRanhofer's velouté (No. 415) is a white roux thinned with veal or chicken stock and reduced; béchamel (No. 409) is the milk version. Either gives about the same body, but the stock version suits fish and poultry better.
Yield and serviceRoughly 3 to 3 1/2 cups before any loss in straining. It is a service sauce for grilled fish, boiled poultry or vegetables, and does not hold well -- keep it barely warm in a water bath and use it within the hour.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) records the kitchen of Delmonico's in New York, and its hot-sauce chapter is essentially the French repertoire as it was practiced in an American luxury restaurant. Ma u00eetre d'h u00f4tel — literally master or steward of the house — attached itself in French cooking to the simple compound of butter, chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and by the nineteenth century the name signaled that combination of flavors wherever it appeared. This version is marked liée, bound or thickened, distinguishing it from the plain kneaded butter served in a pat on a grilled steak: here the same seasoning is carried in a flour-thickened base enriched with butter, so it can be spooned over a dish and stay put.