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By Root 919 0

than in French ones. Perhaps the reason is that we use gooseberries in so many ways, for pies or tarts, for boiled puddings and for jam, whereas in France it is largely a question of gooseberries with mackerel.

1. The first sauce is made by substituting 250 g (8 oz) gooseberries for the sorrel leaves in the recipe for sorrel sauce (see p. 35). Strain the purée through a sieve and add the boiled cream and the fish stock or juice.

2. The second sauce requires:

500 g (1 lb) gooseberries

30 g (1 oz) butter

1 egg or 3 tablespoons béchamel sauce*

1 teaspoon sugar

ground ginger or freshly grated nutmeg

Top and tail the gooseberries (it is easiest to use scissors for this). Cook over a low heat with the butter, until soft enough to put through a sieve or mouli-légumes. Beat in either the egg or the sauce. Reheat without boiling, and season with the sugar, and the ginger or nutmeg, to taste.

3. The third sauce includes fennel:

500 g (1 lb) gooseberries

30 g (1 oz) butter

3 tablespoons béchamel sauce*

1 heaped dessertspoon of fennel leaves, chopped

nutmeg, salt, pepper, lemon juice, sugar

Prepare and cook gooseberries as described above until one taken from the pan will give between the fingers without collapsing completely. Drain, and set aside while you make a béchamel sauce in the usual way. Let the sauce reduce, simmering, up to the consistency of thick cream. Mix in the gooseberries and the chopped fennel, and add the seasonings to taste: the sugar should not be added unless the gooseberries are very young and tart. Reheat gently.

The gooseberries may be sieved into the sauce, instead of being left whole.

MARINARA OR ITALIAN TOMATO SAUCE

This is the basis for fish stews and soups, and for pasta sauces. One of the girls in our family once worked in Rome. The first time she came home on holiday, she pushed me affably from the stove. ‘I’m going to show you how to make a proper tomato sauce,’ she announced. ‘First, you must put in some chopped carrot – and second, you mustn’t keep stirring it once it comes to the boil.’

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 generous tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 kg (2 lb) tomatoes, peeled and chopped or 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) can of Italian tomatoes

salt, pepper

Brown the onion and carrot lightly in the oil. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil, stirring. Leave to simmer, uncovered, until the sauce reduces to a fairly thick stew – at least 30 minutes. Sieve or not, as you please.

A glass of red wine may be added to the ingredients above. And the sauce may be finished by the addition of a nice lump of butter and some cayenne or chilli flakes, but be careful not to overdo them.

This is one of the most useful of all fish sauces. Small fish, squid, shrimps or prawns, clams and mussels can all be added to it, or cooked in it, to make the most satisfactory fish stews. Dilute with fish stock, add some shellfish, and you have a delicious soup.

ROMESCO SAUCE

One of the most famous sauces of Spanish cookery, from the province of Tarragona where the small hot Romesco peppers are grown. In this country I would recommend you buy fresh red chillis and hang them up to dry in your kitchen. The other essential ingredient – except of course for tomatoes – is hazelnuts, which add texture and their oil to the sauce.

2 huge tomatoes, Marmande or Eshkol type

3 fine fat cloves garlic

24 hazelnuts, blanched or 12 each almonds and hazelnuts

2 large red home-dried chillis, seeded

salt, pepper

250 ml (8 fl oz) olive oil

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or 1 each wine vinegar and dry sherry

chopped parsley

Bake the whole tomatoes and whole, peeled garlic in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes. After 10 minutes add the nuts and chillis. Transfer to the blender, scraping the tomato pulp free of its skin, and blend to a purée, adding the seasoning and the olive oil – gradually – to make a smooth sauce. Finally stir in the vinegar or vinegar and sherry, and