Brown Cucumber Sauce

Source: Anonymous, 1846

History

"Brown Cucumber Sauce" is one of two cucumber sauces — alongside a "White Cucumber Sauce" — printed in the sauces chapter of The Jewish Manual (London, 1846). The recipe directs the cook to peel and thickly slice one or more fresh cucumbers, fry them until brown in a little butter or clarified fat, then add a little strong beef gravy with pepper, salt and a spoonful of vinegar; "some cooks add a chopped onion browned with the cucumbers".

The Jewish Manual is generally described as the first Jewish cookbook written in English (the first Anglo-Jewish cookbook). It was published anonymously — the title page reads "Edited by a Lady" — and is traditionally attributed to Lady Judith Cohen Montefiore, though that attribution is not certain; a standard reference work calls her the book's "author, or coauthor". The book's preface states its object was "to guide the young Jewish housekeeper in the luxury and economy of 'The Table'", and describes its contents as receipts "bequeathed only by memory or manuscript, from one generation to another of the Jewish nation, as well as those which come under the denomination of plain English dishes; and also such French ones as are now in general use" — without assigning any one dish to a particular tradition.

Beyond this appearance in print, the historical record I could open does not document who ate this particular sauce, an earlier origin for it, or that it carried any social standing. The earlier claim tracing it to a French "sauce a la courgette" and a "17th-century tradition of vegetable reductions" is unsupported and is not repeated here.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Peel and cut the cucumbers into thick slices. Fry them in a little butter or clarified fat until they turn brown. Add the strong beef gravy, and season with pepper and salt. Stir in a spoonful of vinegar. If desired, some cooks brown a chopped onion together with the cucumbers before adding the gravy.

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