auce, which, as in the
case of bechamel, may be made of fish stock when for use with fish; chop
half a dozen mushrooms, and add a gill of the liquor to the sauce, half
a saltspoonful of powdered thyme (or one sprig, if fresh), two sprigs of
parsley, and half a bay-leaf; simmer for fifteen minutes; strain through
a scalded cloth; replace on the fire; add a piece of glaze as large as a
hazel-nut, or a tablespoonful of strong meat-gravy, just enough to give
it the shade of _palest_ cafe au lait; thicken with two yolks of eggs,
as for Allemande sauce. All articles served with this sauce are termed
_a la Villeroi_. It differs from d'Uxelles only in having no ham, nor
acidity from the lemon; also, all flavor of onion is omitted.

III.

WHITE SAUCES.

Supreme sauce gives its name to several dishes dear to epicures--supreme
de volaille, supreme de Toulouse, etc. It is made with a pint of thick
white sauce, a pint of very strong chicken broth, four stalks of
parsley, and six white pepper-corns, boiled down to half a pint. Stir
sauce and broth together until thoroughly blended, then boil rapidly
down till thick again, taking great care it does not burn. Add one gill
of double cream, and half a saltspoonful of salt (if the stock was
already seasoned). Boil up till thick enough _to mask the back of a
spoon_, strain, and the last thing add a small teaspoonful of lemon
juice.

When the white sauce has to be made expressly for the supreme, it is
easier to use strong chicken broth in place of ordinary white stock;
then it is not necessary to add it after. The term "to mask the back of
a spoon" is a common one to indicate the proper thickness for sauces,
but to the untrained eye it may not be easy to decide just what
"masking" means. Most sauces should be thin enough to run quite freely
from the spoon, yet not so thin as to leave the color of the spoon
visible through the coating of sauce it will retain if it be dipped into
it; there should be a thin _opaque_ coating or "mask" to the back of the
spoon. Sauce of this thickness is produced by using one ounce (exact
weight) of flour of fine quality to half a pint of liquid. Meat, fish,
or vegetables over which sauce of this consistency has been poured will
be quite masked, but the sauce will not be too thick to serve readily
with a spoon. This consistency is worth some practice to attain, for it
is the perfection of sauce-making.

White sauce, when intended for the foundation