Gooseberry Sauce for Mackerel

Ingredients

• 0.5–1 pint young gooseberries
• cold water
• small quantity melted butter
• 0.5–1 teaspoonful sugar
• 1 walnut-sized piece fresh butter
• pinch ginger

Instructions

1. Trim the stalks and tops from half to a whole pint of quite young gooseberries.
2. Wash the gooseberries well.
3. Just cover them with cold water and boil very gently until tender.
4. Drain the gooseberries.
5. Turn them into a hair-sieve and press them through with a wooden spoon to strain and mash them.
6. Transfer the pressed gooseberries to a clean stewpan or saucepan.
7. Stir them over the fire with half to a whole teaspoonful of sugar to soften their extreme acidity, and a piece of fresh butter about the size of a walnut.