Basic techniques and sauce bases

Beurre manié from Erken's 1914 cookbook: equal parts butter and flour kneaded together and stirred into the sauce in small portions; simmered 5 minutes.

Blood thickening for game and poultry sauces, Erken 1914: blood mixed with lukewarm water and vinegar or lemon, strained and stirred in before serving.

Brown roux: equal parts butter and flour browned together slowly in a cast-iron pot to a dark brown color. Used for brown sauces.

Egg yolk liaison from Erken's 1914 cookbook: yolks beaten with a little cream, milk or stock, tempered with hot sauce and strained in. Must not boil.

White roux from Erken's 1914 cookbook: equal parts butter and flour stirred over low heat 10–15 minutes without color, then thinned. Base for pale sauces.

Starch thickening from Erken's 1914 cookbook: arrowroot, cornstarch or potato starch stirred into cold liquid, added to boiling sauce and cooked 2 minutes.

Sauce browning from Erken (1914): sugar burned dark brown in a frying pan, carefully thinned with boiling water, cooked to a syrup, cooled and bottled.

Light roux: equal parts butter and flour cooked over low heat or in a moderate oven until the mixture takes on a faint yellow color.

Mirepoix I from Erken 1914: veal, side pork, ham, carrot and onion lightly browned, cooked out with meat stock and thyme. Flavor base for brown sauces.

Mirepoix II from Erken 1914: diced carrot, onion, celery hearts and raw ham braised tender in butter with bay and thyme, finished with Madeira.

Butter and cream thickening: equal parts butter and cream are stirred into the sauce just before serving; the sauce should not be thinned afterward.

Soja from Erken (1914): strained brine stirred into burnt rock sugar cooked to syrup, boiled up and bottled. A dark, salty coloring for sauces.