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Fish Cream Sauce, for Croquettes and Patties

A creamy sauce made with cream, butter, cornstarch, salt, celery salt, white pepper, cayenne pepper, onion juice, egg, used for fish croquettes and patties.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.) · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,518 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Fish Cream Sauce, for Croquettes and Patties

Ingredients

Directions

Gather

  1. Gather 1 pt hot cream, 2 tbsp butter, 4 heaping tbsp cornstarch or flour, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp white pepper, ½ tsp celery salt, a few grains cayenne pepper, a few drops or ½ tsp onion juice (if desired).

Make the sauce

  1. Scald the cream, melt butter in a granite saucepan, and when bubbling, add the cornstarch.

  2. Stir until well mixed.

  3. Add about one-third of the cream, and stir.

  4. As it boils and thickens, add more cream until perfectly smooth.

  5. Add seasoning and mix while hot with the meat.

  6. The sauce should be thick as for drop batter.

Finish

  1. Optionally add one beaten egg, though the sauce is creamier without it.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

691Calories
21 gProtein
18 gFat
108 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

By Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.). 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. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Celery + white peppertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together853 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. White pepper + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,312 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

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

What each ingredient does

Cream (in the method)
Forms the liquid base, and its fat gives the sauce richness and body.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel, and carries flavor.
Cornstarch
Thickens the hot liquid as its starch granules swell and gelatinize, setting the sauce.

The step that matters

Add the cream gradually while stirring. Cornstarch clumps when it meets liquid unevenly. Adding a portion of cream and stirring until smooth lets the starch disperse before it thickens, so the sauce stays lump-free.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, onion, butter, egg):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, onion, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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