Brown Italian Sauce is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs BEETON's recipe of 1861, for a classic sauce of mushrooms and shallots cooked in brown meat stock and flavoured with Madeira wine, lemon juice and sugar. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Brown Italian Sauce.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
ITALIAN SAUCE (Brown).
453. INGREDIENTS.—A few chopped mushrooms and shalots, 1/2 pint of stock, No. 105, 1/2 glass of Madeira, the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley.
Mode.—Put the stock into a stewpan with the mushrooms, shalots, and Madeira, and stew gently for 1/4 hour, then add the remaining ingredients, and let them just boil. When the sauce is done enough, put it in another stewpan, and warm it in a bain marie. (See No. 430.) The mushrooms should not be chopped long before they are wanted, as they will then become black.
Time.—1/4 hour. Average cost, for this quantity, 7d.
Sufficient for a small dish.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
6 mushrooms, chopped
3 shallots, chopped
300ml medium stock
75ml Madeira
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp parsley, chopped
Method:
Combine the stock, mushrooms, shallots and Madeira in a pan. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 15 minutes before adding all the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture just to a boil then pour the sauce into a bowl (or the top of a bain-marie [double boiler]) and set over simmering water to keep warm.
