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Gooseberry Sauce for Boiled Mackerel

A historical recipe from The Book of Household Management, by Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) (1861).

A historical recipe

The Book of Household Management, by Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) (1861). Project Gutenberg eBook #10136.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

Source and licence

From The Book of Household Management, by Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) (1861). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #10136 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10136). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

Read the original Public domain in the USA

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.

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Ingredients

Method

  1. 429.
  2. INGREDIENTS.--1 pint of green gooseberries, 3 tablespoonfuls of Béchamel, No.
  3. 367 (veal gravy may be substituted for this), 2 oz.
  4. of fresh butter;
  5. seasoning to taste of salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg.
  6. Mode.--Boil the gooseberries in water until quite tender;
  7. strain them, and rub them through a sieve.
  8. Put into a saucepan the Béchamel or gravy, with the butter and seasoning;
  9. add the pulp from the gooseberries, mix all well together, and heat gradually through.
  10. A little pounded sugar added to this sauce is by many persons considered an improvement, as the saccharine matter takes off the extreme acidity of the unripe fruit.
  11. Time.--Boil the gooseberries from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour.
  12. Sufficient, this quantity, for a large dish of mackerel.
  13. THE GOOSEBERRY.--This useful and wholesome fruit (Ribes grossularia) is thought to be indigenous to the British Isles, and may be occasionally found in a wild state in some of the eastern counties, although, when uncultivated, it is but a very small and inferior berry.
  14. The high state of perfection to which it has been here brought, is due to the skill of the English gardeners;
  15. for in no other country does it attain the same size and flavour.
  16. The humidity of the British climate, however, has doubtless something to do with the result;
  17. and it is said that gooseberries produced in Scotland as far north as Inverness, are of a very superior character.
  18. Malic and citric acid blended with sugar, produce the pleasant flavour of the gooseberry;
  19. and upon the proper development of these properties depends the success of all cooking operations with which they are connected.