• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

About 1½ cups

1½ pounds fresh whole horseradish root

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

1½ tablespoons wine vinegar

OPTIONAL: 1½ teaspoons balsamic vinegar

A 1¾- to 2-cup glass jar with a tight-fitting cap

1. Pare all the brown rind away from the root, exposing the white horseradish flesh. A vegetable peeler with a swiveling blade is the easiest tool to use for the job. If there are stumps branching off from the root, detach them, if necessary, to get at the rind where they join the main root.

2. Rinse the pared root under cold running water, pat it dry with kitchen towels, and cut it into ½-inch pieces. Roots are hard stuff: Take a sharp, sturdy knife and use it with care.

3. Put the cut-up root in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and begin processing. While the horseradish is being ground fine, pour the olive oil into the bowl, adding it in a thin stream. Add the salt and process a few more seconds. Add the wine vinegar and process for about 1 minute. If you like the sauce creamier, process it longer, but it is most satisfying when grainy and slightly chewy.

4. Remove the sauce from the processor bowl. If using the optional balsamic vinegar, beat it in at this point with a fork. Pour the sauce into a glass jar, packing it tightly, close securely, and refrigerate. It keeps well for several weeks.

Serving note At table, you may want to freshen and loosen the sauce with a little more olive oil.

Peppery Sauce for Boiled Meats

La Pearà

THE ORIGINS of la pearà can be traced to the Middle Ages, to the Venetian condiment known as peverata, a name that can be translated as “peppery” and accurately describes the flavor of the present-day sauce. The body of la pearà is formed by the slow swelling and massing of bread crumbs as broth is added to them a little at a time while they cook with butter and bone marrow. The slower the sauce cooks, the better it becomes. Calculate about 45 minutes to 1 hour of cooking time to achieve excellent results. Essential to the quality of the sauce is the quality of the broth; there is no satisfactory substitute here for good homemade meat broth.

La pearà is an earthy, substantial, creamy seasoning, a perfect accompaniment when served hot for mixed boiled meats, such as beef, veal, and chicken.

About 1 cup

1 cup beef marrow chopped very fine

1 ½ tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs

2 or more cups Basic Homemade Meat Broth

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

1. Put the marrow and butter into a small saucepan. If you have one, a flameproof earthenware would be ideal for this kind of slow cooking, and enameled cast iron would be a suitable alternative. Turn on the heat to medium, and stir frequently, mashing the marrow with a wooden spoon.

2. When the marrow and butter have melted and begin to foam, put in the bread crumbs. Cook the crumbs for a minute or two, turning them in the fat.

3. Add ⅓ cup broth. Cook over slow heat, stirring with the wooden spoon while the broth evaporates and the crumbs thicken. Add 2 or 3 pinches of salt and a very liberal quantity of ground pepper.

4. Continue to add broth, a little at a time, letting it evaporate before adding more. Stir frequently, and keep the heat low. The final consistency should be creamy and thick, without any lumps. Taste and correct for salt and pepper. If the sauce is too dense for your taste, thin it by cooking it briefly with more broth. Serve hot over sliced boiled meat, or in a sauceboat on the side.

A Peppery Sauce for Roast Birds

La Peverada di Treviso

La peverada is one more descendant of the medieval peverata sauce referred to in the immediately preceding recipe for la pearà. The principal components are pork sausage and chicken livers, pounded or processed to a creamy consistency and cooked in olive oil with sautéed onion and white wine. All such sauces are subject to variations in the choice of ingredients: Garlic can