CES, PICKLES, GRAVIES, AND FORCEMEATS.

CHAPTER IX.

GENERAL REMARKS.

354. AN ANECDOTE IS TOLD of the prince de Soubise, who, intending to
give an entertainment, asked for the bill of fare. His _chef_ came,
presenting a list adorned with vignettes, and the first article of
which, that met the prince's eye, was "fifty hams." "Bertrand," said the
prince, "I think you must be extravagant; Fifty hams! do you intend to
feast my whole regiment?" "No, Prince, there will be but one on the
table, and the surplus I need for my Espagnole, blondes, garnitures,
&c." "Bertrand, you are robbing me: this item will not do."
"Monseigneur," said the _artiste_, "you do not appreciate me. Give me
the order, and I will put those fifty hams in a crystal flask no longer
than my thumb." The prince smiled, and the hams were passed. This was
all very well for the prince de Soubise; but as we do not write for
princes and nobles alone, but that our British sisters may make the best
dishes out of the least expensive ingredients, we will also pass the
hams, and give a few general directions concerning Sauces, &c.

355. THE PREPARATION AND APPEARANCE OF SAUCES AND GRAVIES are of the
highest consequence, and in nothing does the talent and taste of the
cook more display itself. Their special adaptability to the various
viands they are to accompany cannot be too much studied, in order that
they may harmonize and blend with them as perfectly, so to speak, as
does a pianoforte accompaniment with the voice of the singer.

356. THE GENERAL BASIS OF MOST GRAVIES and some sauces is the same stock
as that used for soups (_see_ Nos. 104, 105, 106, and 107); and, by the
employment of these, with, perhaps, an additional slice of ham, a little
spice, a few herbs, and a slight flavouring from some cold sauce or
ketchup, very nice gravies may be made for a very small expenditure. A
milt (either of a bullock or sheep), the shank-end of mutton that has
already been dressed, and the necks and feet of poultry, may all be
advantageously used for gravy, where much is not required. It may, then,
be established as a rule, that there exists no necessity for good
gravies to be expensive, and that there is no occasion, as many would
have the world believe, to buy ever so many pounds of fresh meat, in
order to furnish an ever so little quantity of gravy.

357. BROWN SAUCES, generally speaking, should scarcely be so thick as
white sauces; and it is well to bear in mind