TRADITIONAL BREAD SAUCE

Serves 8

110g (4oz) freshly made white breadcrumbs 1 large onion 15-18 whole cloves or 1 whole nutmeg 1 bay leaf 8 black peppercorns 570ml (1pt) full fat whole milk, the creamier the better 50g (1¾oz) butter 2 tablespoons double cream Seasoning Cut the onion in half and stick the cloves in it (how many you use is a personal matter – I happen to like a pronounced flavour of cloves).

If you don’t like them at all, you can use some freshly grated nutmeg instead for a more subtle flavour.

Place the onion studded with cloves, plus the bay leaf and the peppercorns, in a saucepan together with the milk. Add some salt, then bring everything up to boiling point. Take off the heat, cover the pan and leave in a warm place for the milk to infuse for 2 hours or more.

Remove the onion, bay leaf and peppercorns, and keep the onion on one side. Stir the breadcrumbs into the milk and add half of the butter.

Leave the saucepan on a very low heat, stirring now and then, until the crumbs have swollen and thickened the sauce – approximately 15 minutes.

Now replace the clove-studded onion and again leave the pan in a warm place till the sauce is needed (see below).

Just before serving, remove the onion and spices and squeeze it between two saucers to extract all the juice.

Reheat gently, then beat in the cream and taste to check the seasoning.

Pour into a warm serving jug and dot the remaining butter on top and keep warm until needed. Then stir in the butter before serving.