Christmas Sauce Secrets
The culinary spotlight at Christmas is usually centred on the main course – but the unsung hero is often as not, the amazing sauces and gravies that accompany the star attractions. So, this week we are looking at 3 of the best sauces you can make to bring an added zing to your star attraction…
The Sloe in this recipe has nothing to do with speed or the lack of it. The Sloe in Sloe Gin comes from Sloes which are the fruit of the blackthorn. A densely growing bush, packed with thorns, it’s often used in hedgerows to keep livestock in check. They’re tremendously astringent, but, with a little preparation, and a lot of patience, they’ll transform a plain old bottle of gin into a deeply delicious liqueur. Recipe HERE
Port wine is as much a British creation as a Portuguese one. During wars with France (17th and 18th centuries), Britain boycotted French wine and looked elsewhere. At that time Portuguese wines often didn't survive the longer sea journey to England.
It's said that the port-making process was invented accidentally by a pair of brothers who fortified the wine with grape brandy to maintain its quality during the long trip. The wine picked up the flavour of the oak, which the English grew to appreciate. The British perfected port production in the succeeding centuries, hence many ports carry British-sounding names (Taylor, Croft, Graham). Recipe HERE
The term "gravy" first appears in Middle English as gravé and comes from French. The original medieval meaning was precise: the gravé consisted of the natural cooking juices that flowed from roasting meat. This recipe is much more than that and you can see the full recipe HERE