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To Make Onion Sauce

A historical recipe from The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph (1860).

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A historical recipe

The Virginia Housewife; Or, Methodical Cook, by Mary Randolph (1860). Project Gutenberg eBook #12519.

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

United States

Known as an American recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

Ingredients 2 ingredients

  1. a pound of butter
  2. ten large onions

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
  • Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.

Method

  1. Boil eight or ten large onions, change the water two or three times while they are boiling;
  2. when enough, chop them on a board to keep them a good colour, put them in a sauce pan with a quarter of a pound of butter and two spoonsful of thick cream;
  3. boil it a little, and pour it over the ducks.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Saucepan
  • Chef's knife
  • Cutting board
Source Public domain in the USA
Credit

From The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph (1860). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #12519 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12519). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

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.