Sauce for Hashes

Ingredients

• bones and fragments of the joint
• boiling water
• 6 peppercorns
• 6 allspice berries
• a handful of parsley
• ½ head of celery, cut in pieces
• 1 small sprig of savory, lemon thyme, or sweet marjoram
• ½ ounce onion, sliced
• 1 ounce butter
• flour (for thickening)
• pickled onions, walnuts, or gherkins (for garnish)
• 1 tablespoon ketchup or walnut pickle, or capers and caper liquor, or 1 tablespoon ale
• a little shallot or tarragon vinegar
• sippets of bread (for serving)

Directions

1. Chop the bones and fragments of the joint and place them in a stewpan. Cover with boiling water.

2. Add the peppercorns, allspice, parsley, celery, and savory. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

3. In another stewpan, fry the sliced onion in butter over high heat for 2-3 minutes until slightly colored.

4. Thicken the onion with flour, then gradually mix in the gravy from the bones. Boil gently for 15 minutes until creamy.

5. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a basin. Return to the stewpan, season, and add pickled onions, walnuts, or gherkins.

6. Stir in ketchup, capers, or ale, and a little shallot or tarragon vinegar.

7. Cover the bottom of the serving dish with sippets of bread to absorb the gravy, and garnish with fried sippets.

8. To serve hash meat, warm it in the gravy just until heated through.