Sometimes you will want to colour gravy, etc., and yet not use brown thickening; for instance, in hash, where brown thickening would be unsuitable for the gravy. You should thicken this gravy with a little corn-flour, and you should try and get a nice rich colour. To add extract of meat in sufficient quantity would be extravagant; therefore, use what the French call Caramel, which is burnt sugar and water. The best way is to have a little always ready in a bottle. Take some brown sugar, and melt it in a frying-pan till it is quite dissolved and looks like brown paint, then add enough water so as to make it into a sort of syrup. Put this by in a bottle for use. Don't make anything too dark, so be careful in using burnt sugar not to overdo it. You should not be able to taste the sugar.

Sweets are coloured pink and red with cochineal; a sixpenny bottle of cochineal will last a very long time, as a little goes a long way. Cochineal may be used for making a corn-flour pudding look pink; it will colour sweet sauce pink; it will also make jelly a beautiful colour; and it helps to make rhubarb when young a nice colour; also stewed pears, etc. Don't use cochineal for lobster sauce or shrimp patties; the red coral of the lobster should be used for this.

To colour anything green, such as green pea-soup, by far the best thing is spinach-juice. Parsley-juice is sometimes used, but it is often bitter. Still, where there is a large garden with plenty, it may be tried; very little water should be added and great pressure used. A lemon-squeezer will be found useful in extracting the juice. Turmeric may be used sparingly if a yellow colour is wanted, or saffron is harmless.