The Bizarre British Sauce I Convince Americans to Put on Their Thanksgiving Turkeys

With a history going back to the Middle Ages, and traditionally served as an accompaniment to fowl of all kinds — chicken, turkey, and game birds — bread sauce is to a British Christmas dinner what a green bean casserole is to an American Thanksgiving.

When I explain that it is basically a gloop made of stale white breadcrumbs soaked in hot milk and then smeared on turkey, my American friends can be relied upon to make disgusted faces as every story they’ve ever heard about the horrors of British cuisine flash through their minds. But I always end up having the last laugh because whenever I’ve managed to persuade an American to taste this bizarre concoction (I usually bring some as my contribution to Thanksgiving dinners), they immediately turn into raving fans.

This sauce is a relic of the times when bread was used instead of a roux to thicken sauces and soups. Greek skordalia, Spanish gazpacho, and Italian pappa al pomodoro are all very distant cousins. Properly made — that is, with oodles of butter and cream infused with fragrant aromatics like onion, cloves, nutmeg, and bayleaf — this homely sauce becomes almost sophisticated.

Think of the lightest, creamiest grits, with a sumptuous texture and milky sweetness, that magically seem to make everything on the plate taste better. It soothes the tartness of cranberry sauce, enhances the nutty bite of Brussels sprouts, swirls richness into a thin, savory gravy made from the pan juices, and gives succulence to every mouthful of turkey. Weirdest of all, it takes the place of mayonnaise to make divine cold turkey sandwiches.

Because the components of this dish are so simple, use the best-quality white loaf and creamiest milk you can. This is not the place for bendy, ready-sliced wonder loaves.

Have you tried bread sauce?