Sauces in cookery are like the first rudiments of grammar, which consists of certain rules called Syntax, which is the foundation of all languages: these fundamental rules are nine, so has cookery the same number of sauces, which are the foundation of all others; but these, like its prototype the grammar, have two - brown and white, which bear a resemblance to the noun and verb, as they are the first and most easily learnt, and most constantly in use; the others are the adjuncts, pronouns, adverbs, and interjections; upon the proper use of the two principal ones depends the quality of all others, and the proper making of which tends to the enjoyment of the dinner; for to my fancy they are to cookery what the gamut is in the composition of music, as it is by the arrangement of the notes that harmony is produced, so should the ingredients in the sauce be so nicely blended, and that delightful concord should exist, which would equally delight the palate, as a masterpiece of a Mozart or a Rossini should delight the ear; but which, if badly executed, tantalize those nervous organs, affect the whole system, and prove a nuisance instead of a pleasure. I will therefore be very precise in describing the two, in order that when you make them, you will not cause your guests to make grimaces at each other, when partaking of them at your festive board, for the present age is a little more refined than at the time of Dr. Johnson, and we are often obliged to swallow what we do not like; for it is reported of him, that being at a ceremonious dinner-party, and indulging in his usual flow of wit, he unconsciously partook of a spoonful of very hot soup, which he immediately returned to the plate he had taken it from; and observing the astonishment of some of his neighbors, he very coolly remarked, "A fool would have burnt his mouth."

When we are at home alone, I very seldom trouble myself by making white or brown sauce, which I can avoid by selecting simplified dishes, which easily produce their own sauce whilst cooking them. But when I expect a little company, the first I order of my cook is to make me half of the quantity of the following receipts for white and brown sauces: -