A Rich Brown Foundation Sauce

Required: One pint of brown stock. Two ounces of butter. Two ounces of flour. Three ounces of ham or bacon. A bunch of parsley and herbs. One sliced onion. One sliced carrot.

One tablespoonful of chopped mushrooms. Three tomatoes. Three peppercorns. One clove. One glass of sherry. Salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a stewpan, add the ham (cut in dice), the herbs (tied together), the vegetables, and spice, and fry all these a light brown. Then add the flour, and brown that very carefully. Put in the stock, and the tomatoes cut in slices, and let the sauce simmer gently for half an hour. Stir occasionally, and keep it well skimmed. Add the sherry, and a careful seasoning of salt and pepper. Rub the sauce through a sieve, or, if preferred, through a tammy cloth, specially sold for this purpose. If the sauce seems too thick, add a little more stock.

N.B. - The wine and mushrooms may be omitted if desired.