RATAFIA SAUCE.—­Add a few drops of essence of ratafia to some sweetened arrowroot or to some butter sauce.  The sauce can be coloured pink with a few drops of cochineal.

RAVIGOTTE SAUCE.—­Put a tablespoonful each of Harvey’s sauce, tarragon vinegar, and chilli vinegar into a small saucepan, and let it boil till it is reduced to almost one-half in quantity, in order to get rid of the acidity.  Now add about half a pint of butter sauce, and throw in a tablespoonful of chopped blanched parsley.

ROBERT SAUCE.—­Take a couple of onions, cut them up into small pieces, and fry them with about an ounce of butter in a frying-pan.  Drain off the butter and add a couple of tablespoonfuls of vinegar to the frying-pan, and let it simmer for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour so as to get rid of the acidity of the vinegar.  Now add a very little stock or water, stir it tip, and thicken the sauce with a little brown roux.  Add a dessertspoonful of fresh mustard and a little pepper and salt.

SOUBISE SAUCE.—­Sauce Soubise is simply white onion sauce, rubbed through a wire sieve, and a little cream added.  It is more delicate than ordinary onion sauce, and is often served in France with roast pheasant.  It owes its name to a famous French general.

SORREL SAUCE.—­Put about a quart of fresh green sorrel leaves (after being thoroughly washed) into an enamelled saucepan, with a little fresh butter, and let the sorrel stew till it is tender.  Rub this through a wire sieve, add a little powdered sugar and a little lemon juice; a little cream may be added, but is not absolutely essential.

SWEET SAUCE.—­Take half a pint of butter sauce, and sweeten it with a little sugar.  It can be flavoured by rubbing a little sugar on the outside of a lemon, or with vanilla, essence of almonds, or any kind of sweet essence.  A little wine, brandy, or, still better, rum, is a great improvement.  Some persons add cream.

TARRAGON SAUCE.—­Blanch a dozen tarragon leaves, chop them up, and stew them in any kind of stock thickened with brown roux.

TARTAR SAUCE.—­Take two or three tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise sauce, and add to this a brimming teaspoonful of chopped blanched parsley, as well as a piece of onion or shallot about as big as the top of the thumb down to the first joint, chopped very fine, and a brimming teaspoonful of French mustard.  Mix the whole well together.

N.B.—­A teaspoonful of anchovy sauce would be a great improvement were anchovy sauce allowed in vegetarian cookery.

TOMATO SAUCE.—­The great secret of tomato sauce is to taste nothing but the tomato.  Take a dozen ripe tomatoes, cut off the stalks, and squeeze out the pips, and put them in a stew-pan with a little butter, and let them stew till they are tender, and then rub the whole through a wire sieve.  This, in our opinion, is the best tomato sauce that can be made, the only seasoning being a little pepper and salt.  This wholesome and delicious sauce can, however, be spoilt in a variety of ways—­by the addition of mace, cloves, shallots, onions, thyme, &c.  It can also be made very unwholesome by the addition of a quantity of vinegar.