624 MEALS MEDICINAL. 
benefits on the guests; indeed, quite the reverse. ‘“ The soup 
was represented by Gravy Sauce; whilst Oyster, and Lobster 
Sauce were handed round in lieu of fish; Egg Sauce did duty 
for a joint, on the ground probably that an egg is proverbially 
‘full of meat’; Bread Sauce suggested pheasant to the hungry 
guests; and Brandy Sauce stood in stead of plum pudding; 
wine was served after each Sauce-boat had been emptied.” 
Anchovies (for a Sauce) form a flavouring zest of high value ; 
these small fish are taken on the Eastern Coasts of Italy, France, 
and Spain, by night, and are salted in barrels with brine, to be 
cooked in various ways; if made too dilute they lose their 
flavour, and become spoilt. They are deservedly called “ the 
drunkard’s delight,” because of their powerfully saline taste, 
and stimulation of palate; moreover, they are noted of old as 
good against agues, and for loosening the belly. 
Bread Sauce, delicious when properly made, and suggestive 
to the invalid of toothsome game, even when such meat cannot 
be allowed, is nevertheless a positively repulsive mess when 
wrongly treated,—a mixture which can only be described then 
as a spiced bread-poultice. The backbone, as it were, of good 
Bread Sauce is the proper flavouring of the milk used in making 
it. To effect this, “take a three-ounce onion, peel off the outer 
skin, and blanch it for five minutes in scalding water; then cut 
it into quarters, and put them with a dozen peppercorns, six 
cloves, a blade of mace, a pinch of grated nutmeg, and a salt- 
spoonful of salt into a saucepan containing not less than half a 
pint of good milk. Remove the pan from the fire as soon as 
the surface of the milk looks frothy ; let it cool, and replace it, 
continuing the operation till the flavour is extracted, adding a 
little milk from time to time to make good the loss by evaporation. 
Then strain it through a piece of muslin into a clean saucepan, 
and stir into it (off the fire) sufficient finely-sifted stale crumbs 
of white bread (that have been dried in the oven) to bring the 
mixture to the consistency of an ordinary purée, but on no 
account any thicker. Finally finish off with a good tablespoonful 
of cream at the moment before serving. The yolk of one egg 
beaten up in a little warm milk until it looks creamy may be 
used as a substitute for the cream, though the latter is to be 
preferred.” 
The Sauces of classic times (Greek, and Roman) have been 
told about in Kitchen Physic, particularly their “ garum,” and 
