Brevities

“What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander,” says the proverb and it states a distinct and not merely symbolical truth. For even the most fastidious gourmet will concede that goose and gander, and even ducks and squabs and other birds can be served and enjoyed with the same sauce, and that only for chickens, capons and turkeys, with their lighter meat and different flavor, a slight variation will be necessary.

But the habit prevailing in many cheap restaurants, and adhered to also by many an inexperienced housewife, to serve all meats with one sauce recipe will seem quite barbarous to those who look upon cooking and eating as a fine art. Different kinds of meat demand different sauces and garnishes, and the greater or lesser ability of the cook expresses itself most distinctively in the choice and the preparation of her sauces. The perfect sauce, of course, can only be created by the perfect artist, and the cook who, for instance, invented Sauce Béarnaise, was decidedly an artist who experienced an inspired moment.

But even those of us who are not culinary artists can do much with the right recipes. Lamb, for instance, will become a treat if served with a Curry Sauce, while mere boiled beef is a dish for the gods if a Horseradish Sauce gives it piquancy and flavor.

Curry Sauce: Two tablespoons shortening, two tablespoons flour, one teaspoon curry powder, one-half teaspoon salt, two cups lamb stock, one-half onion sliced, one-half cup seedless raisins. Pan—fry onion in melted fat until golden brown. Remove onion from the pan, add curry powder, flour and salt. Stir until smooth, add lamb stock, keep stirring till sauce has thickened. Add raisins and serve over cooked lamb in a rice border.

Horseradish Sauce: One teaspoon mustard, one tablespoon vinegar, three tablespoons jellied soup stock, one teaspoon salt, one-quarter teaspoon pepper, one-third cup grated horseradish. Mix ingredients in order given, beat tho###oughly. The finished sauce mus### have the consistency of thic### cream.