The Cumberland Sauce, or Cumberland Sauce, got its name in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, although he had nothing to do with the creation of this culinary masterpiece. Authorship is attributed to a German chef who served at the court in Hanover. He invented the sauce around the time when the Duke of Cumberland was in Hanover, and it is not even known for certain which one. How cumberland sauce entrenched in English cuisine, no one argues. However, it is known that he is mentioned in the book “English Cuisine”, published in 1904 in France. Famous French chef Auguste Escoffier made the sauce popularizer. With his light hands, Cumberland sauce began to relate not only to classic English cuisine, but also to French. In England and France, Cumberland sauce can cook most housewives, while our compatriots often buy ready-made Cumberland sauce in the store. Although in reality, cooking this spicy sauce at home is quite a realistic and even not too difficult task.
Cooking Features
In order to cook delicious Cumberland sauce at home, you need to know what its specificity is and take advice from experienced chefs.
- According to the traditional recipe, Cumberland sauce is made from currant jelly, mustard, port wine, orange and lemon zest and other seasonings. Most often, ginger, shallots and cayenne pepper are added to the sauce, which give it even more spice. Citrus juice helps to enhance the taste and aroma of the sauce, the addition of which is not mandatory. If you want to cook Cumberland sauce according to the traditional recipe, you should limit yourself to the listed ingredients, and none of them should be replaced with alternative products.
- If it is not possible to cook the sauce according to the classic recipe, you can use an alternative option, replacing currant jelly with cranberry or lingonberry jam, port wine with any other table wine, cayenne pepper with black pepper or paprika. However, it is necessary to understand that, although the taste of the finished sauce will be pleasant, it will not become identical to the original.
- It is best to make currant jelly for sauce with your own hands. Only in this case, you can be sure of its quality. However, cooked jelly does not immediately acquire the required density, it takes several hours to wait. Therefore, experienced cooks begin to prepare Cumberland sauce a day before the feast to which it is planned to serve.
- In some recipes you can find ingredients such as starch or flour. In fact, when using currants, there is no need to include this component in the composition: currant contains a lot of gelling substance, pectin, so that it turns into a jelly without additional thickeners.
- To obtain a more delicate texture of currant sauce, rub through a sieve. Grinding berries with a blender will not give such a noticeable result.
Cumberland sauce blends well with meat and poultry dishes. It is often served with lamb and ham. Put the sauce on the table already cold. Ready sauce is stored in the refrigerator for a week.
Classic Cumberland Sauce Recipe
Composition:
- red currant - 0, 2 kg;
- granulated sugar - 60 g;
- water - 40 ml;
- icing sugar - 10 g;
- lemon - 1 pc .;
- orange - 1 pc .;
- port wine - 20 ml;
- Dijon mustard - 20 ml;
- dried ginger - a pinch;
- Cayenne pepper - at the tip of a knife.
Method of preparation:
- Pick through the red currants. Remove twigs and debris. Rinse the berries thoroughly by dipping them in clean water several times. Dry, laying out on a kitchen towel.
- Put the clean, dry berry in a small saucepan, add sugar. Add a little water - no more than the amount indicated in the recipe.
- Place the saucepan with the currants on low heat and cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring constantly. Sugar during this time should dissolve completely, the berry will put the juice, and it will begin to thicken.
- Fold the contents of the pan onto a strainer and rub it into a bowl. Leave in a cool place for a few hours to currant syrup turned into jelly.
- Thoroughly wash the citrus fruits, blot them with a towel. Cut in half in a clean bowl, squeeze the juice out of them. Cut the citrus zest into thin strips.
- Fold the strips into a small saucepan or pan, pour the juice squeezed out of the fruit. Bring to a boil.
- Add powdered sugar and port wine, cook for 2-3 minutes.
- After removing from the heat, strain, add grated ginger, cayenne pepper, mustard and mix well.
- Combine the spicy mustard-citrus mixture with currant jelly, stir until smooth, warming the mixture over low heat: first the jelly will melt, then it will be easy to stir.
- Cool the prepared sauce. It should acquire a thick jelly-like consistency. So it is served to the table.
You can add shallots to the recipe. At the specified in the recipe, the number of ingredients will be enough 30 g. It is cut into thin strips and mixed with the zest before pouring it with juice and wine.
Adapted Cumberland Sauce Recipe
Composition:
- jam from currants, cranberries or lingonberries - 40 ml;
- orange - 1 pc .;
- lemon - 1 pc .;
- red table wine - 100 ml;
- paprika is a pinch;
- ground cinnamon - a pinch;
- flour - 20 g;
- Russian mustard - 5 ml;
- salt - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash the orange and lemon, squeeze the juice out of them. Peel the rub.
- Use about half of the juice to make flour, pour the rest into a container of jam. Pour wine there and add zest, paprika, cinnamon.
- Heat a mixture of jam, juice, wine and spices. Wait until the mixture has a uniform consistency.
- Thicken the sauce with flour.
- Wipe the sauce through a sieve so that there are no lumps of flour and pieces of berries.
- Heat again. As soon as the sauce boils, remove from heat, mix with mustard and cool.
The sauce prepared according to this recipe is somewhat different from the classic one, but many of our compatriots like it because of the simplicity of the preparation and the taste that is not too sweet compared to the traditional one.
Spicy currant sauce, port wine and mustard with orange and lemon zest has a unique taste and aroma. With them, any dish of meat or poultry will turn into an exquisite delicacy.
