There are hundreds of sauces, but you need to know how to make
only two. Only one, really, and that is a white sauce or, as it is
also called, a cream sauce. This is the basis, or binding element, for
dish after dish. Directions for it appear throughout this book in
connection with individual dishes, but it will be repeated here so
that it can be referred to easily in the event that you are coping
with leftovers not referred to elsewhere or you want to try a recipe
from some other source and it calls for the use of white sauce.
     The second sauce, Hollandaise, is not essential-you could
get along perfectly well without knowing how to make it-but it
does such nice things for vegetables, which frequently need all the
help they can get, that it is included here.

     WHITE SAUCE
RECIPE: WHITE SAUCE
1 (thin), 2 (medium), or 3 (thick) tablespoons butter             
1 (thin), 2 (medium), or 3 (thick) tablespoons flour              
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
sprinkle of paprika

     A thin, medium, or thick white sauce may be made by varying
the amount of butter and flour, 1 tablespoon of each for thin, 2
tablespoons of each for medium, 3 tablespoons of each for thick,
with the other ingredients remaining the same. A medium white
sauce answers almost every need.

     1. Put the butter in a saucepan and melt it over a very low
flame,
     2. Sprinkle in the flour and stir until the butter and flour arc
blended smoothly, without lumps.
     3. Pour in the milk, a small quantity at a time, and stir con-
stantly. Again, the object is to avoid lumping. Keep stirring until tho
sauce thickens.
     4. After it has thickened, add 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon
of pepper, and a dash of paprika.
     5. Aliow the sauce to bubble gently for several minutes. Taste
for sufficient seasoning.

For flavoring, you may, if you wish, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of dry
sherry or dry vermouth.

     For mushroom sauce, add fresh mushrooms that have been
lightly cooked in butter until wilted. Or add a drained can of mush-
rooms.
     For shrimp sauce, add cooked or canned shrimp cut in small
pieces.
     For oyster sauce, add canned oysters that have been cookcd
3 minutes in the juice from the can.
     For clam sauce, add a drained can of minced clams.
     For egg sauce, add I chopped hard-boiled egg.
     For olive sauce, add sliced stuffed olives.
     For cheese sauce, add 4 tablespoons grated cheese.
     For lobster sauce, add cooked or canned lobster.
     For crabmeat sauce, add cooked or canned crabmeat.
     For pimento sauce, add chopped canned red pimentos.