The substance employed for colouring soups, gravies, broths, and other
dishes, requiring a brown colour, is burnt sugar. This imparts to the
dish a fine yellowish brown tinge, without giving any sensible flavour
to the dish. Eight ounces of powdered lump sugar, and two or three table
spoonfuls of water, are suffered to boil gently in an iron pan, till the
mass has assumed a dark brown colour, which takes place when all the
water is evaporated, and the sugar begins to be partly charred by the
action of the heat. The mass is then removed from the fire, and about a
quarter of a pint of water is gradually added to effect a solution. The
fluid thus obtained is of a syrupy consistence, and of a fine dark brown
colour; a small quantity gives to broth, soup, or gravy, a bright orange
colour, without altering sensibly the flavour of the dish. Some cooks
add to it mushroom catsup and port wine.