GENERAL SAUCE.

Chop six shalots or small onions, a clove of garlic, two peach leaves,
a few sprigs of lemon-thyme and of sweet basil, and a few bits of fresh
orange-peel. Bruise in a mortar a quarter of an ounce of cloves, a
quarter of an ounce of mace, and half an ounce of long pepper. Mix two
ounces of salt, a jill of vinegar, the juice of two lemons, and a pint
of Madeira. Put the whole of these ingredients together in a stone jar,
very closely covered. Let it stand all night over embers by the side of
the fire. In the morning pour off the liquid quickly and carefully from
the lees or settlings, strain it and put it into small bottles, dipping
the corks in melted rosin.

This sauce is intended to flavour melted butter or gravy, for every
sort of fish and meat.