To Make Fish Sauce

This recipe emerges from the culinary ingenuity of the English late 1600s—a time when imported flavors, preserved ingredients, and elaborate sauces declared status and taste. Fish sauces like this accented boiled or baked fish, often at banquets, lending depth with anchovies, tang from lemon and capers, and the unmistakable punch of horseradish. The inclusion of wine, preserved fish, and brined shellfish showcases both trade-influenced pantries and the desire for bold, layered flavors—early ancestors of the later classic sauces of French cuisine.

In the late 17th century, this sauce would have been prepared over an open hearth or on a domestic fire using a brass or copper saucepan. The cook would use a small knife for shredding anchovies, a mortar and pestle for grinding butter ('beaten butter'), and possibly a wooden spoon or a long-handled whisk for stirring. Lemon peel would be removed with a knife or simple peeler, and the sauce strained or sieved if a fine texture was desired. Modern cooks can easily replicate the process on a stovetop with a stainless-steel saucepan, a grater for horseradish, and a whisk for emulsifying the butter.