Bechamel, by English Cooks commonly called White Sauce. (No. 364.)
Cut in square pieces, half an inch thick, two pounds of lean veal, half a pound of lean ham; melt in a stew-pan two ounces of butter; when melted, let the whole simmer until it is ready to catch at the bottom (it requires great attention, as, if it happen to catch at the bottom of the stew-pan, it will spoil the look of your sauce); then add to it three table-spoonfuls of flour; when well mixed, add to it three pints of broth or water (pour a little at a time, that the thickening be smooth); stir it until it boil; put the stew-pan on the corner of the stove to boil gently for two hours; season it with four cloves, one onion, twelve pepper-corns, a blade of mace, a few mushrooms and a fagot made of parsley, a sprig of thyme, and a[258] bay-leaf. Let the sauce reduce to a quart, skim the fat off, and strain it through a tamis cloth.
To make a bechamel sauce, add to a quart of the above a pint of good cream; stir it until it is reduced to a good thickness; a few mushrooms give a good flavour to that sauce; strain it through a tamis cloth.
Obs. The above was given us by a French artist.
A more economical Method of making a Pint of White Sauce.—(No. 364—2.)
Put equal parts of broth and milk into a stew-pan with an onion and a blade of mace; set it on the fire to boil ten minutes; have ready and rub together on a plate an ounce of flour and butter; put it into the stew-pan; stir it well till it boils up; then stand it near the fire or stove, stirring it every now and then till it becomes quite smooth; then strain it through a sieve into a basin; put it back into the stew-pan; season it with salt and the juice of a small lemon; beat up the yelks of two eggs well with about three table-spoonfuls of milk, strain it through a sieve into your sauce, stir it well and keep it near the fire, but be sure and do not let it boil, for it will curdle.
Obs. A convenient veil for boiled fowls, &c. whose complexions are not inviting.
Mem. With the assistance of the Magazine of Taste (No. 462) you may give this sauce a variety of flavours.
Obs. Bechamel implies a thick white sauce, approaching to a batter, and takes its name from a wealthy French Marquis, maître d’hôtel de Louis XIV., and famous for his patronage of “les Officiers de Bouche,” who have immortalized him, by calling by his name this delicate composition.
Most of the French sauces take their name from the person whose palate they first pleased, as “à la Maintenon;” or from some famous cook who invented them, as “Sauce Robert,” “à la Montizeur,” &c.
We have in the English kitchen, our “Argyll” for gravy, and the little “Sandwich,” “monumentum ære perennius.”
——“And thus Monteith Has, by one vessel, saved his name from death.” King’s Art of Cookery.