Ingredient

Bread sauce

Bread sauce is stale bread swollen in spiced milk, and it is almost entirely about the infusion. Made properly it is one of the best things on a Christmas table; made in a hurry it is wallpaper paste.

Two stages, hours apart

The first stage is infusion. Milk is warmed with an onion studded with cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns and a blade of mace, then left to sit for at least an hour and preferably several. Nothing is cooking; the aromatics are simply giving up their flavour into the fat and water of the milk.

The second stage takes five minutes: strain the milk, add breadcrumbs, warm gently until they swell, and finish with butter and cream.

Skipping or shortening the infusion is what produces a bland sauce, and no amount of extra clove at the end repairs it — the aroma compounds need time and gentle warmth to move into the milk.

The method

1. Peel an onion, cut it in half, and stud each half with four or five cloves. Put it in a pan with the milk, two bay leaves, a few peppercorns and a blade of mace if you have one.
2. Bring it barely to a simmer, then take it off the heat, cover, and leave it for at least an hour. Overnight in the fridge is better.
3. Strain the milk, discarding the aromatics. It should smell strongly of clove and onion.
4. Tear or blitz stale white bread into crumbs — crusts removed for a smooth sauce, left on for a rustic one.
5. Warm the milk, stir in the crumbs, and let them swell over a low heat for a few minutes. It will thicken considerably.
6. Beat in a good lump of butter and a splash of double cream. Season generously with salt and a scrape of nutmeg.
7. Adjust the consistency with more milk. It thickens as it stands, so make it looser than you want it.

Getting the texture right

Stale white bread

Day-old, crusts off. Fresh bread goes gluey; sourdough is too sour and too dense.

Torn, not blitzed

Torn crumbs give a coarser, more interesting texture. Blitzed gives a smooth, almost custard-like sauce. Both are correct.

Loose, not stiff

It should pour thickly from a spoon. It sets considerably on standing and on the plate.

Butter at the end

Not optional. It carries the aroma and stops the sauce tasting austere.

Cream

A splash of double cream at the end is the difference between good and very good.

Common mistakes

• No infusion time. The commonest, and it decides the sauce.
• Boiling the milk with the aromatics. It catches and tastes scorched. Barely a simmer, then off the heat.
• Too much bread. Add it gradually; you can always add more and you cannot take it out.
• Under-seasoning. Bread and milk need a lot of salt to taste of anything.
• Making it too far ahead without loosening it. It will have set solid. Reheat with plenty of extra milk.

Common questions