the best italian sauces

by

alessandro del pita 

Contents
Italian Sauces
1. Espagnole or Brown Sauce.

2. Velute Sauce.

3. Bechamel Sauce.

4. Mirepoix Sauce
5. Genoese Sauce.

6. Italian Sauce.

7. Ham Sauce (Salsa di Prosciutto).

8. Tarragon Sauce.
9. Tomato Sauce.

10. Tomato Sauce Piquante.

11. Mushroom Sauce.

12. Neapolitan Sauce.

13. Neapolitan Anchovy Sauce.

14. Roman Sauce (Salsa Agro-dolce).

15. Roman Sauce (another).

16. Supreme Sauce.

17. Pasta marinate (for masking Italian Frys).

18. White Villeroy.

Modern Italian Sauces
1. Fish Sauce.

2. Sauce Piquante (for Meat, Fowl, Game, Rabbit).

3. Sauce for Venison, Hare
4. Tomato Sauce Piquante.

5. Sauce for Roast Pork, Ham etc.

6. For masking Cutlets

Italian Sauces
As the three chief foundation sauces in cookery, Espagnole or brown
sauce, Velute or white sauce, and Bechamel, are alluded to so often
in these pages, it will be well to give simple Italian recipes for
them.
Australian wines may be used in all recipes where wine is
mentioned: Harvest Burgundy for red, and Chasselas for Chablis.
No. 1. Espagnole, or Brown Sauce
The chief ingredient of this useful sauce is good stock, to which
add any remnants and bones of fowl or game. Butter the bottom of a
stewpan with at least two ounces of butter, and in it put slices of
lean veal, ham, bacon, cuttings of beef, fowl, or game trimmings,
three peppercorns, mushroom trimmings, a tomato, a carrot and a
turnip cut up, an onion stuck with two cloves, a bay leaf, a sprig
of thyme, parsley and marjoram. Put the lid on the stewpan and
braize well for fifteen minutes, then stir in a tablespoonful of
flour, and pour in a quarter pint of good boiling stock and boil
very gently for fifteen minutes, then strain through a tamis, skim
off all the grease, pour the sauce into an earthenware vessel, and
let it get cold. If it is not rich enough, add a little Liebig or
glaze. Pass through a sieve again before using.

No. 2. Velute Sauce
The same as above, but use white stock, no beef, and only
pheasant or fowl trimmings, button mushrooms, cream instead of
glaze, and a chopped shallot.

No. 3. Bechamel Sauce
Ingredients: Butter, ham, veal, carrots, shallot, celery bay leaf,
cloves, thyme, peppercorns, potato flour, cream, fowl stock.

Prepare a mirepoix by mixing two ounces of butter, trimmings of

lean veal and ham, a carrot, a shallot, a little celery, all cut
into dice, a bay leaf, two cloves, four peppercorns, and a little
thyme. Put this on a moderate fire so as not to let it colour, and
when all the moisture is absorbed add a tablespoonful of potato
flour. Mix well, and gradually add equal quantities of cream and
fowl stock, and stir till it boils. Then let it simmer gently.
Stir occasionally, and if it gets too thick, add more cream and
white stock. After two hours pass it twice slowly through a tamis
so as to get the sauce very smooth

No. 4. Mirepoix Sauce (for masking)
Ingredients: Bacon, onions, carrots, ham, a bunch of herbs,
parsley, mushrooms, cloves, peppercorns, stock, Chablis.
Put the following ingredients into a stewpan: Some bits of bacon
and lean ham, a carrot, all cut into dice, half an onion, a bunch
of herbs, a few mushroom cuttings, two cloves, and four
peppercorns. To this add one and a quarter pint of good stock and
a glass of Chablis, boil rapidly for ten minutes then simmer till
it is reduced to a third. Pass through a sieve and use for masking
meat, fowl, fish, &c.

No. 5. Genoese Sauce
Ingredients: Onion, butter, Burgundy, mushrooms, truffles,
parsley, bay leaf, Espagnole sauce, blond of veal, essence
of fish, anchovy butter, crayfish or lobster butter.
Cut up a small onion and fry it in butter, add a glass of Burgundy,
some cuttings of mushrooms and truffles, a pinch of chopped parsley
and half a bay leaf. Reduce half. In another saucepan put two
cups of Espagnole sauce, one cup of veal stock, and a tablespoonful
of essence of fish, reduce one-third and add it to the other
saucepan, skim off all the grease, boil for a few minutes, and pass
through a sieve. Then stir it over the fire, and add half a
teaspoonful of crayfish and half of anchovy butter.

No. 6. Italian Sauce
Ingredients: Chablis, mushrooms, leeks, a bunch of herbs,
peppercorns, Espagnole sauce, game gravy or stock, lemon.
Delicious Italian dishes
Put into a stewpan two glasses of Chablis, two tablespoonsful of
mushroom trimmings, a leek cut up, a bunch of herbs, five
peppercorns, and boil till it is reduced to half. In another
stewpan mix two glasses of Espagnole or Velute sauce and
half a glass of game gravy, boil for a few minutes then blend
the contents of the two stewpans, pass through a sieve, and add the
juice of a lemon.

No. 7. Ham Sauce, Salsa di Prosciutto
Ingredients: Ham, Musca or sweet port, vinegar, basil spice.
Cut up an ounce of ham and pound it in a mortar then mix it with
three dessert spoonsful of port or Musca and a teaspoonful of
vinegar a little dried basil and a pinch of spice. Boil it up, and
then pass it through a sieve and warm it up in a bain-marie. Serve
with roast meats. If you cannot get a sweet wine add half a
teaspoonful of sugar. Australian Muscat is a good wine to use.

No. 8. Tarragon Sauce
Ingredients: Tarragon, stock, butter, flour.
To half a pint of good stock add two good sprays of fresh tarragon,
simmer for quarter of an hour in a stewpan and keep the lid on. In
another stewpan melt one ounce of butter and mix it with three
dessert-spoonsful of flour, then gradually pour the stock from the
first stewpan over it, but take out the tarragon. Mix well, add a
teaspoonful of finely chopped tarragon and boil for two minutes.

No. 9. Tomato Sauce
Ingredients: Tomatoes, ham, onions, basil, salt, oil, garlic,
spices.
Broil three tomatoes, skin them and mix them with a tablespoonful
of chopped ham, half an onion, salt, a dessert-spoonful of oil, a
little pounded spice and basil. Then boil and pass through a
sieve. Whilst the sauce is boiling, put in a clove of garlic with
a cut, but remove it before you pass the sauce through the sieve.

No. 10. Tomato Sauce Piquante
Ingredients: Ham, butter, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, thyme,
cloves, peppercorns, vinegar, Chablis, stock, tomatoes, Velute or

Espagnole sauce, castor sugar, lemon.
Cut up an ounce of ham, half an onion, half a carrot, half a stick
of celery very fine, and fry them in butter together with a bay
leaf, a sprig of thyme, one clove and four peppercorns. Over this
pour a third of a cup of vinegar, and when the liquid is all
absorbed, add half a glass of Chablis and a cup of stock. Then add
six tomatoes cut up and strained of all their liquid. Cook this in
a covered stewpan and pass it through a sieve, but see that none of
the bay leaf or thyme goes through. Mix this sauce with an equal
quantity of Velute or Espagnole sauce, let it boil
and pass through a sieve again and at the last add a teaspoonful of
castor sugar, the juice of half a lemon, and an ounce of fresh
butter. (Another tomato sauce may be made like this, but use stock
instead of vinegar and leave out the lemon juice and sugar.)

No. 11. Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients: Velute sauce, essence of mushrooms, butter.
Mix two dessert-spoonsful of essence of mushrooms with a cupful of
Velute sauce, reduce, keep on stirring, and just before
serving add an ounce of butter. This sauce can be made with
essence of truffle, or game, or shallot.

No. 12. Neapolitan Anchovy Sauce

Ingredients: Onions, ham, butter, Marsala, blond of veal, thyme,
bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, mushrooms, Espagnole sauce,
tomato sauce, game stock or essence.
Fry an onion in butter with some bits of cut-up ham, then pour a
glass of Marsala over it, and another of blond of veal, add a sprig
of thyme, a bay leaf, four peppercorns, a clove, a tablespoonful of
mushroom cuttings, and reduce half. In another saucepan put two
cups of Espagnole sauce, one cupful of tomato sauce, and half a cup
of game stock or essence. Reduce a third, and add the contents of
the first saucepan, boil the sauce a few minutes, and pass it
through a sieve. Warm it up in a bain-marie before using.

No. 13. Neapolitan Anchovy Sauce
Ingredients: Anchovies, fennel, flour, spices, parsley, marjoram,
garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, cream.
Wash three anchovies in vinegar, bone and pound them in a mortar
with a teaspoonful of chopped fennel and a pinch of cinnamon. Then
mix in a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and marjoram, a squeeze of
lemon juice, a teaspoonful of flour, half a gill of boiled cream
and the bones of the fish for which you will use this sauce. Pass
through a sieve, add a clove of garlic with a cut in it, and boil.
If the fish you are using is cooked in the oven, add a little of
the liquor in which it has been cooked to the sauce. Take out the
garlic before serving. Instead of anchovies you may use caviar,
pickled tunny, or any other pickled fish.

No. 14. Roman Sauce (Salsa Agro-dolce)
Ingredients: Espagnole sauce, stock, burnt sugar, vinegar,
raisins, pine nuts or almonds.
Mix two spoonsful of burnt sugar with one of vinegar, and dilute
with a little good stock. Then add two cups of Espagnole sauce,
a few stoned raisins, and a few pinocchi* (pine nuts) or
shredded almonds. Keep this hot in a bain-marie, and serve with
cutlets, calf’s head or feet or tongue.
*The pinocchi which Italians use instead of almonds can be bought
in London when in season.

No. 15. Roman Sauce (another way)
Ingredients: Espagnole sauce, an onion, butter, flour, lemon,
herbs, nutmeg, raisins, pine nuts or almonds, burnt sugar.
Cut up a small bit of onion, fry it slightly in butter and a little
flour, add the juice of a lemon and a little of the peel grated, a
bouquet of herbs, a pinch of nutmeg, a few stoned raisins, shredded
almonds or pinocchi, and a tablespoonful of burnt sugar. Add this
to a good Espagnole, and warm it up in a bain-marie.

No. 16. Supreme Sauce
Ingredients: White sauce, fowl stock, butter.
Put three-quarters of a pint of white sauce into a saucepan, and
when it is nearly boiling add half a cup of concentrated fowl
stock. Reduce until the sauce is quite thick, and when about to
serve pass it through a tamis into a bain-marie and add two
tablespoonsful of cream.

No. 17. Pasta marinate (For masking Italian Frys)
Ingredients: Semolina flour, eggs, salt, butter (or olive oil),
vinegar, water.
Mix the following ingredients well together: two ounces of
semolina flour, the yolks of two eggs, a little salt, and two
ounces of melted butter. Add a glass of water so as to form a
liquid substance. At the last add the whites of two eggs beaten up
to a snow. This will make a good paste for masking meat, fish,
vegetables, or sweets which are to be fried in the Italian manner,
but if for meat or vegetables add a few drops of vinegar or a
little lemon juice

No. 18. White Villeroy
Ingredients: Butter, flour, eggs, cream, nutmeg, white stock.
Make a light-coloured roux by frying two ounces of butter and two
ounces of flour, stir in some white stock and keep it very smooth.
Let it boil, and add the yolks of three eggs, mixed with two
tablespoonsful of cream and a pinch of nutmeg. Pass it through a
sieve and use for masking cutlets, fish.

Modern Italian Sauces

No. 1. Fish Sauce
Add one dessert-spoonful of the sauce to a quarter pint of melted
butter sauce.

No. 2. Sauce Piquante (for Meat, Fowl, Game, Rabbit, &c.)
One dessert-spoonful to a quarter pint of ordinary brown or white
stock. It may be thickened by a roux made by frying two ounces of
butter with two ounces of flour.

No. 3. Sauce for Venison, Hare, &c.
Two dessert-spoonsful of New Century Sauce to half a pint of game
gravy or sauce, and a small teaspoonful of red currant jelly.

No. 4. Tomato Sauce Piquante
Fry three medium-sized tomatoes in one and a half ounce of butter.
Pass this through a sieve, then boil it up in a bain-marie till it
thickens, and add one dessertspoonful of New Century Sauce.

No. 5. Sauce for Roast Pork, Ham, &c.
Add to any ordinary white or brown sauce one dessert-spoonful of
New Century Sauce and two of port or Burgundy if the sauce is
brown, two of Chablis if white.

No. 6. For masking Cutlets, &c.
Making a roux by frying two ounces of butter with two ounces of
flour, and add two tablespoonsful of boiling stock. Stir in one
dessert-spoonful of New Century Sauce. Let it get cold, and it
will then be quite firm and ready for masking cutlets.