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Asparagus Sauce, for Lamb Cutlets

A sauce of boiled asparagus points served in thickened veal gravy or melted butter with seasoning.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Acton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Veal and white pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,057 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Asparagus Sauce, for Lamb Cutlets

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the asparagus

  1. Cut the tender points of young asparagus into half-inch lengths or pea-sized pieces and wash them well.

  2. Drain and throw them into plenty of boiling salt and water.

  3. Boil until quite tender, which may be from ten to fifteen minutes.

  4. Turn into a hot strainer and drain the water thoroughly.

Make the sauce and serve

  1. At the instant of serving, put them into half a pint of thickened veal gravy mixed with the yolks of two eggs, and season well with salt and cayenne or white pepper.

  2. Alternatively, put them into an equal quantity of good melted butter with a squeeze of lemon-juice added.

  3. Do not reboil the asparagus or leave it long in the sauce, as it will turn yellow.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

12Calories
0 gProtein
0 gFat
2 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Vealnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Eliza Acton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Veal + white peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Asparagus (in the method)
Forms the body of the sauce and gives its vegetable flavour and texture.
Thickened veal gravy
Provides the savoury base and body that the sauce is built on.
Egg yolks (in the method)
Enrich and thicken the gravy, adding richness and a smooth texture.

The step that matters

Serving the asparagus at the last moment. Asparagus turns yellow when reboiled or left too long in the sauce, because heat and time break down its green pigments. Adding it just before serving keeps its colour and texture.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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