Napoleon Sauce

History

"Napoleon Sauce" is recipe No. 80 in "What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking" (San Francisco: Women's Co-operative Printing Office, 1881), printed in the book's Pickles, Sauces, Etc. section. It is a cooked pickle-and-vinegar condiment. As Fisher gives it: "Twenty green cucumbers to one quart of Chili peppers and one dozen Bell peppers, (take out seeds), and chop the cucumbers and pickles fine, and mix well together, and sprinkle half a teacupful of salt over them. Chop half dozen red onions in it. Pour one gallon of vinegar over it and let it stand that way one day and night, then put it to cook next morning and cook slowly all day, stirring it occasionally to keep it from burning, then strain through a sieve." It is finished with brown sugar baked in a pan "just next to burning," dissolved in vinegar and stirred through, then corked in a demijohn — which, she notes, keeps better than bottles.

This recipe sits in exactly the work Fisher was decorated for: her title page records two medals at the San Francisco Mechanics' Institute Fair in 1880, for best pickles and sauces and best assortment of jellies and preserves, and a diploma at the Sacramento State Fair in 1879.

Abby Fisher was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, in June 1831 to Abbie Clifton; genealogical research in San Francisco records identifies her father as James J. Andrews, an Orangeburg planter who held some seventy people in slavery, and an 1869 receipt from the Freedman's Savings and Trust in Mobile records her under her mother's name. Before 1865, censuses recorded only an enslaver's name with the age and sex of those he held, so no surviving record names Fisher herself; Karen Hess, who rediscovered her book, noted that absence of documentation. Fisher could neither read nor write and composed the book by dictation, drawing on "an experience of upwards of thirty-five years," and signed it "Late of Mobile, Ala."

The historical record documents no earlier or separate origin for this sauce, and no source for its name. It is Abby Fisher's own recipe, set down in her own name.

Ingredients

• 20 green cucumbers
• 1 quart Chili peppers
• 12 Bell peppers
• 6 red onions
• 1 gallon vinegar
• 0.5 teacupful salt
• 0.5 teacupful brown sugar
• 1 pint vinegar

Instructions

1. Chop the twenty green cucumbers and the pickles fine.
2. Remove seeds from the Chili peppers and Bell peppers.
3. Mix the chopped cucumbers, peppers, and chopped red onions together well.
4. Sprinkle half a teacupful of salt over the mixture.
5. Pour one gallon of vinegar over all and let it stand undisturbed for one day and night.
6. The next morning, put the mixture to cook and cook slowly all day, stirring occasionally to keep it from burning.
7. Strain through a sieve.
8. In a separate frying pan on the fire, place half a teacupful of brown sugar and let it bake thoroughly until it approaches burning point.
9. Stir one pint of vinegar into the caramelized sugar.
10. When it comes to a light boil, strain it through a sieve into the cooked sauce and stir until well mixed.
11. When cooled, cork up in a demi-john for storage.