 Kent Coast Sea Fishing Compendium |
Soups and Dressed Fish à la Mode |
"Soups and Dressed Fish à la Mode" (1888) Harriet Anne De Salis
at pages 9, 10, 12, 20, 21, 26, 36 and 39 to 84
SOUPS À LA MODE
Crayfish Soup (Bisque d'Écrevisses)
Wash half a hundred crayfish and boil them on a brisk fire with salt, white pepper, a little nutmeg, and a piece of butter; toss them and stir them without intermission for a quarter of an hour. When they are all red, take out the meat from the shells, and take out the gut which goes to the end of the tail. Fry some bread very crisp and brown, and pound it with the meat, reserving a few fine pieces; dilute with light veal broth to the thickness of cream; add the butter in which the crayfish were done, coloured with red lobster spawn; pound it well and add it to the purée; then pour the whole through the tammy [3] and keep it hot till it is wanted. Fried bread cut to very small dice should be handed with it.
Eel Soup à l'Anglaise (Potage d'Anguilles à l'Anglaise)
Soak three pounds of middle-sized eels in salt and water. Cut off the heads and slice them thinly. Simmer them in a stewpan with two ounces and a half of fresh butter for ten minutes, and then add two quarts of water, a sliced onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, some peppercorns, salt to taste, and a small roll. Simmer till the eels are tender, then remove them and strain the liquid. Make a smooth batter with two tablespoonfuls of flour and a quarter of a pint of cream; put this and the liquid together, then boil up and pour over the sliced eels in the tureen [7]. An imperceptible dust of sugar and a squeeze of lemon is an improvement.
Fish Soup à la Pêcheur (Potage à la Pêcheur)
Trim two good-sized haddocks, and boil the trimmings with a head of celery, a small quantity of parsley, two onions, a bay-leaf, and four cloves; cover the saucepan closely, and let all boil for one hour. Then add as much more water as will be required to make the soup. Strain it and stir in a cupful of cream. Season with salt and white pepper. Lay in the tureen some eggs nicely fried in butter, allow one for each person. Pour the soup over and serve.
Fish Soup (Potage au Consommé de Poisson)
Boil down the trimmings and bones of any fish such as skate, plaice, &c., put them with three pints of fish stock into a saucepan, add three good-sized onions, two lemons sliced, the rind of one grated, a bunch of parsley and some chervil. When well stewed, strain through hair sieve. Have ready some fillets of sole, and when fried put them into the soup. Season with a little salt and cayenne, and put into the soup about five ounces of butter rolled in flour, and two glasses of sauterne or sherry. Simmer ten minutes, and serve with fish quenelles. [4]
Lobster Bisque (Bisque de Homard)
Take the pithy part, the coral [2] and the spawn from two hen lobsters. Pound a small quantity of the coral and spawn in a mortar with a piece of butter the size of a walnut and an anchovy, add a very little cayenne, rub through a sieve and keep it in a cool place till wanted; cut the meat into small pieces and fry it in a little butter with a carrot and a head of celery, cut it into very small pieces; add to this a sprig of thyme, a quarter of a blade of mace [5], and a very little pepper and salt. Fry this for five minutes, taking care that it does not burn, and if necessary moistening it with a little Rhenish wine - it will take about half a pint. Pour any of the wine that may have been used in the frying into the stewpan, into which the mixture must now be put. Let it boil quickly for twenty minutes, stirring all the time. Then strain the lobster through a sieve after pounding it in the mortar; replace it into stewpan with the coral and spawn (which was put aside) with the liquor in which it was boiled, add a pint and a half of good white stock, rub the purée through a tammy into a basin till wanted.
A quarter of an hour before serving put it into a stewpan to make it hot, stirring all the time, and be careful not to let it boil, or it will curdle; stir in a small piece of pale glaze, and season with a very little cayenne and the juice of half a lemon; the lobster butter made from the coral must also now be added. Have in the tureen some small balls made of whiting and egg, and pour the purée over them.
Oyster Soup (Potage aux Huitres)
Take a couple of whitings, cut them in pieces and put them in a stewpan, with two quarts of white stock, some parsley roots, one carrot, one stick of celery, a little thyme, a few peppercorns, two anchovies, and a little salt; let all boil up, skim it well, and let it simmer for one hour, then strain it off. Put two ounces of butter and two ounces of flour into a stewpan, mix well together and pour in the stock; stir it well and let it boil for ten minutes, then strain through a tammy sieve. Blanch and beard three dozen oysters, strain them and keep the liquor. Boil the stock, then draw it off the fire. Mix one gill of cream with two yolks of eggs, together with a few drops of lemon-juice and a little cayenne; pour this into the soup, and stir over the fire till the eggs are cooked, taking great care it does not boil. Just before serving, put in the oysters and oyster liquor.
Clear Turtle Soup (Tortue Claire)
Take one pound of the sun-dried turtle and soak it in cold water for four days, constantly changing the water; cook it for twelve hours in good clear stock, into which a little celery, one carrot, one turnip, one leek, one large bay-leaf, two onions and some turtle herbs (which can be bought ready prepared), three cloves, and a few black peppercorns have been put; keep all this gently simmering, adding stock as it reduces. When the turtle is cooked, strain off the stock, and next day remove all fat and clarify with two or three whites of eggs and half a pound of lean veal; let the saucepan with the soup stand on the stove till it boils, stirring from time to time; then draw it to one side and let it simmer gently for about one and a half hours; strain very carefully through a wet, hot table-napkin, and boil up again, and take one tablespoonful of the best arrowroot, which has been mixed up with a gill of sherry; strain into the soup and stir till it re-boils. Take the turtle from the vegetables and cut it into pieces about one inch square; rinse them in a little warm water, and put them into the boiling soup, adding a small tin of turtle fat, and boil for a few moments. Just before serving flavour with lemon-juice and a little cayenne. Lemon cut in quarters should be handed with this soup.
DRESSED FISH À LA MODE
Brill à la Conte (Barbue à la Conte)
Skin and clean a fresh brill, cut several slits down the back, simmer over a slow fire till cooked in a tumblerful of olive oil, half a tumbler of stock, the same quantity of chablis or sauterne, a little salt, pepper, and a bouquet garni [9]; drain and dish up. For the sauce have two tumblersful of stock reduced to half that quantity, season with a pinch of finely-chopped parsley, and pour over the brill.
Brill à la Provençale (Barbue à la Provençale)
Soak a brill in oil for an hour, fry it, and when done, fillet it and serve "en couronne" [6], garnished with stuffed olives in the centre and anchovy sauce around.
Brill à la Ravigote (Barbue à la Ravigote)
Score a small brill down the back, season with salt and pepper, wrap it up in buttered paper, and bake it in the oven; send it up hot. Make a mayonnaise sauce, adding tarragon, chervil, mustard, cayenne, and a little spinach greening; mix all together, and serve in a tureen.
Carp à la Russe (Caipe à la Ruse)
Sprinkle a carp with flour and place it in a saucepan thickly lined with butter; pour over it a pint of chablis or sauteme, and cook it in the oven with hot coals on the lid; when done, make a foundation of pickled cabbage warmed in butter, and lay the carp on it, and garnish with glazed onions, mushrooms, sliced gherkins, and hand round horseradish sauce with it.
Cod à la Garonne (Morue à la Garonne)
Put into a stewpan some pieces of cold cod with a small bit of butter, two tablespoonfuls of oil, some capers, anchovies, parsley, and green onions, all chopped very fine; pepper and salt to taste. Stir all together well till the oil and butter are well mixed; then put into a dish, sprinkle over with fine breadcrumbs, salamander [1] the top, and serve.
Cod Roes in Tomato Sauce (Laitances de Morue aux Tomates)
Take one or two cod roes, wash well, be careful to break them. Boil till quite soft, drain from water, and when cold cut into slices about half inch thick. Take one ounce of butter, warm it over the fire in a small stewpan, stir into it the yolks of two eggs beaten, half a teaspoonful of salt, a little cayenne, a grate of nutmeg, and two dessertspoonfuls of tomato sauce; mix well, and stir over the fire to thicken. Put in the slices of roe, let them soak for a few minutes. Have some slices of toast ready, put the cod's roe on them, pour the sauce over, and put in the oven for a few minutes and serve hot.
Conger-eel à la Pêcheur (Anguille Congre à la Pêcheur)
Take the middle of a conger-eel weighing about two pounds, and stuff it with a good veal stuffing. Bind the fish securely with tape, and put it into a deep dish half filled with water. Dredge flour plentifully over it, place little lumps of butter on the top, and bake it in a good oven. Baste it often. When sufficiently cooked, take it out, thicken the gravy into a good brown sauce. Stewed tomatoes are very good served with it.
Stuffed Cod (Cabillaud farci)
Choose a thick cod's-tail, boil it in court-bouillon; when done, cut off the under fillets and lay on a cloth. Make some fish forcemeat, with either whiting or fresh-water fish; cut all the small bones off the centre bone of the tail with a pair of scissors, cover with a layer of forcemeat, lay the fillets in their original position, wrap all up in a buttered sheet of paper after sprinkling the cod with breadcrumbs, brown in the oven, and dish up with stewed roe, made by cooking the roe in a saucepan with butter, crayfish tails, chopped parsley, chives, and some bottoms of artichokes; when done, thicken the same with yolks of eggs, flavour with a few drops of vinegar, and serve.
Eel à la Bordelaise (Anguilles à la Bordelaise)
Wash and clean the eel, split it in two, remove the backbone, and boil in vin de Grave [8] flavoured with salt, pepper, parsley, and slices of onion; when cooked place the fish between two cloths, press with a heavy weight till quite flat, cut it into fillets and warm in some white wine sauce which has been reduced and thickened with fish glaze [10]; when quite hot, dish up the fillets in a pyramid, and cover with its own sauce. Garnish with small white onions glazed.
Collared Eels (Anguilles en Forme)
Clean and boil the eels in water highly seasoned with pepper, salt, an onion, bay-leaf, a clove, and a little vinegar. When the eels are done enough slip out the bones and cut them up into pieces about two inches long. Take the liquor in which the fish is boiled, strain it, let it boil in the stewpan without the lid, skimming it till it becomes clear. Dissolve a quarter of an ounce of gelatine to each half-pint of the fish gravy, and boil together for a minute; let it stand till cool. Arrange the pieces of eel tastefully in a plain mould, with small sprigs of curled parsley, and slices of hard-boiled eggs, and a fillet or two of anchovies cut up into dice. When all the fish is thus arranged in the mould, pour the jelly in very gently, a tablespoonful at a time, in order not to disturb the solid material. Let the mould stand on ice (or in cold water for seven or eight hours), when it can be turned out. Ornament with parsley, lemon, and beetroot.
Matelote of Eels (Anguilles en Matelote)
Take a couple of skinned eels, cut into pieces, dip in flour, and fry them a light brown in butter. Melt four ounces of butter, mixing with it a tablespoonful of flour; add half a pint of stock and the same quantity of Burgundy, a small bundle of herbs, two shalots, pepper, salt, and cloves to taste. Boil this sauce for a quarter of an hour, strain it over the eels in a saucepan with a few button mushrooms, and let the whole stew gently for half an hour. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, and serve very hot.
Eel Pout à l'Italienne (Lottes à l'Italienne)
Fry the eel pout and dish them up covered with the following sauce. Take a small parsnip, a young carrot, two sliced onions, a bead of garlic, a bay-leaf, and three cloves; warm in butter, and moisten with three-quarters of a pint of champagne and a little stock; simmer for an hour, pass through a tammy, skim off all grease, and reduce the sauce if too thin. Season with a pounded anchovy, some chopped capers, salt, and black pepper.
Eel Pout à la Parisienne (Lottes à la Parisienne)
Boil the eel pout in mirepoix sauce and serve covered with oyster sauce, to which have been added the livers chopped very fine.
Eel à la Poulette (Anguille à la Poulette)
Skin the eel, cut off its head and tail, and cut it into joints of equal length and thickness; wash them thoroughly. Put these pieces and some button mushrooms into a stewpan, in which some butter has been melted; let these fry; occasionally dredge them with some browned flour. Mix some thin stock and chablis wine together, and stir in till it boils; then season with pepper, salt, fine herbs, and a Spanish onion finely minced. Let all stew till the eel is tender; skim off all fat, take the stew off the fire, and then stir in the yolk of two eggs and a teaspoonful of lemon. Serve with sippets of toast and cut lemon as garnish.
Eel Pout à la Prussienne (Lottes à la Prussienne)
Warm a slice of ham in a stewpan and leave until the fat begins to melt; moisten with two tumblerfuls of Saumur, a cupful of brown thickening, the same quantity of strong gravy, a wineglassful of olive oil, a bouquet of parsley, chives, a bay-leaf, and a sliced onion; boil for an hour and pass through a tammy. Sprinkle the eel pout with salt and pepper, and cook in this sauce; when done, remove the pout, reduce the sauce, and pour over the fish.
Eel à la Tartare (Anguilles à la Tartare)
Brown some chopped carrots, onions, and a bouquet of mixed herbs in butter; sprinkle with flour and moisten with white wine; cook for half an hour and pass through a tammy. Skin the eel, roll it round into a spiral shape, and cook in the sauce. When done place it on a dish and leave till cold, after which dip into beaten yolks of egg, breadcrumb it, and broil over a slow fire; hold hot coals over the eel so as to save turning it. Serve on a round dish with either anchovy butter, or rémoulade sauce.
Eels à la Suffren (Anguilles à la Sufiren)
When the eel is skinned, it must be larded with fillets of anchovies and gherkins; lay it in a circle in a stewpan, and cook with marinade sauce. Put hot coals on the cover of the stewpan; when done, serve covered with tomato sauce, to which add a dust of cayenne pepper.
Flounders au Gratin (Carrelets au gratin)
Cut up parsley, shalot, and small button mushrooms very finely. Fry them in butter with a seasoning of salt and pepper. Cover the bottom of a flat tin baking dish, previously buttered, with the herbs, and lay on them a flounder neatly trimmed. Strew breadcrumbs thickly over, and bits of butter on the top of all; moisten with white wine; cook; crisp the top with a salamander. Serve very hot, and with a squeeze of lemon over the dish.
Fillets of Gurnet with Tomato Sauce (Filets de Grondins aux Tomates)
Take some fillets of gurnet, cut them up into scallops half an inch thick, and trim them all to the same size. Toss over a quick fire in a saucepan with butter, salt, and mignonette pepper; when done, drain and place round a dish; fill the centre with tomato sauce, and serve.
Fillets of Haddock à la Génoise (Filets de Merluche à la Génoise)
Take a good-sized haddock, fillet it, and leave the skin on the fish; cut in pieces diamond shape, and lay them on a buttered baking tin and cover them with little dabs of butter, and coat them with a sauce made of one ounce of butter, two or three mushrooms, and a piece of lean ham chopped small, one bay-leaf, one teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, which have boiled together for five minutes; then add two tablespoonfuls of claret, and cook all well together, and when it is glazing put in a dessertspoonful of flour, add a little fish-stock, minced truffles, and lemon-juice.
Smoked Herrings à la Bruxellaise (Harengs fumés à la Bruxellaise)
Hold kippered herrings over hot steam, after which skin and fillet them; oil a large round paper case, and place the fillets inside in a circle; stir some chopped mushrooms, parsley, mixed herbs, chives, shalots, a little garlic and white pepper into a large lump of butter, spread a layer of this stuffing between each fillet, sprinkle with olive oil and grated bread crust; broil on the gridiron over a quick fire, and when done dish up in the case and serve with quarters of lemon handed round.
Herrings à la Marinière (Harengs à la Marinière)
Choose herrings with roes, split them open, wash, scrape, cut off the heads and take out the roes; then with the thumb and finger of the right hand draw the backbones out, sprinkle well with pepper and salt, and some finely-chopped parsley; roll up tightly from the head. Have ready some boiling water seasoned with pepper, salt and vinegar; put in the herrings, simmer about twelve and a half minutes, cut the roes into pieces and fry nicely; place the herrings on buttered toast, add the roes, and serve. Garnish with watercress.
Rolled Herrings to Eat Cold
Proceed as in the last, but omit the chopped parsley and roll the roes up with the fish; put the fish into a pie dish. Mix a gill of water, about half that quantity of vinegar, salt, pepper, two cloves, one bay-leaf; pour this over the herrings, cover the dish and place it in a moderate oven for a couple of hours. Serve cold with a little of the liquor on the dish.
John Dory en Matelote (Dorade en Matelote)
Chop small a dozen oysters and mix them thoroughly with three boned anchovies also finely minced, a tablespoonful of finely-grated breadcrumbs, and three ounces of butter. Mix all thoroughly, add pepper and salt to taste, the beaten yolks of two eggs, and eight tablespoonfuls of new milk. Put all into a stewpan, stir briskly over a gentle fire till the mixture thickens, then fill the dory with the forcemeat, and sew up the slit. Put the fish into a stewpan barely covered with cold water, and put with it a turnip, a carrot, a bunch of savoury herbs, a sprig of parsley, a gill of vinegar, half a teaspoonful of bruised celery seed, and a dessert-spoonful of salt Boil gently till the fish is cooked. Send the following sauce in a tureen with it. Melt a piece of butter the size of an egg in a saucepan; fry in this three small onions sliced very thin, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, another of chives, a tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup [13], a glass of claret, and a glass of the liquid in which the fish was boiled. Stew gently for a few minutes till the onions are done. When strained add half a pint of good brown sauce. Boil till sauce coats the spoon; add a few drops of essence of anchovy and the juice of half a lemon.
Gratin of Lobster (Homard au Gratin)
Take the meat from a good-sized lobster, cut the body in half and pick out all the meat, which cut into thin slices. Put an ounce of butter into a stewpan, with two shalots finely minced. Brown them lightly, then mix in a tablespoonful of flour, and when quite smooth half a pint of milk; boil for five minutes; put in the sliced lobster, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a little salt and cayenne, and half a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies. Stir all over the fire, and when boiling draw the saucepan back and add the well-beaten yolk of an egg. Fill the shell of the lobster with the mixture, sprinkle breadcrumbs over it, and pour on a little clarified butter. Put the shell in a hot oven for twenty minutes, dish on a napkin, and serve.
Mayonnaise of Lobster (Mayonnaise de Homard)
Take out the meat of a freshly-boiled hen lobster, and cut it into small neat pieces. Trim and wash two large fresh lettuces, taking care they are quite dry before being used. Tear these into neat pieces and arrange a layer of them at the bottom of a dish; place several pieces of lobster on them, and repeat until the materials are finished. Just before serving pour over them a sauce made as follows. Beat the yolks of two raw eggs for two or three minutes until they begin to feel thick; add by drops at first, ten tablespoonfuls of salad oil, and two of plain vinegar and one of tarragon vinegar. The mixture should be as thick and smooth as cream. Season the sauce with half a teaspoonful of dry mustard, half a saltspoonful of salt, and half a saltspoonful of white pepper; cover the salad with this sauce and sprinkle over all the lobster coral, which has been powdered and well sifted. Garnish the dish with slices of cucumber, beetroot, and hard-boiled eggs.
Miroton of Lobster (Miroton de Homard)
Soak the crumb of a penny roll till it is quite soft in as much cream as will just cover it. Pick all the meat from a medium-sized hen lobster, pound it well with its spawn thoroughly in a mortar, and mix with it the soaked crumb and the well-beaten yolks of three fresh eggs; season with pepper and salt. Just before boiling this mixture add a whole egg which has been well whisked. Line a plain round mould with some thin slices of ham, fat and lean together, pour in the mixture, and boil until it is done enough. Send lobster sauce to table with it.
Mackerel à la Colchester (Maquereau à la Colchester)
Make a seasoning of breadcrumbs, oysters, a little of their liquor, parsley, one onion, two cloves, pepper and salt to taste; the parsley and onion must be chopped very fine and the cloves pounded. Work to a paste with a little butter, and fill the inside of a mackerel. Sew up neatly and roast before the fire, basting with butter till done.
Orlys of Fillets of Mackerel (Filets de Maquereau en Orlys)
Take the fillets of three mackerel, cut them lengthwise in three pieces, put them in a deep dish with some salad oil, sliced onions, sprigs of parsley, salt and pepper. Let the fish soak in this for half an hour; then drain the pieces on a cloth, dip them in frying batter, and fry them in hot fat; drain and pile the pieces of mackerel on a napkin or silver drainer, garnish with fried parsley, and serve with tomato sauce.
Plaice à l'Orly (Plie à l'Orly)
Fillet the plaice, cut each fillet into two or three according to size, then marinade them by placing them in a well-buttered stewpan with a carrot, bay-leaf, two sprigs of parsley, a chopped onion, a sliced tomato, a grate of nutmeg, pepper, salt, and a cupful of fish stock or water; let it lie in this mixture for half an hour in the oven, then dry and dip them into well-beaten white of egg, then into finely-baked breadcrumbs, and fry them in clarified dripping and serve with ravigote sauce, which is made with white sauce to which chopped herbs, chervil, tarragon, and parsley, previously tossed in a little vinegar and butter, have been added.
Plaice with Parmesan Cheese (Plie au Parmesan)
Lay some marinaded fillets in a well-buttered baking-tin, add a very little water and a squeeze of lemon-juice on each fillet; cover with buttered paper and bake gently for twelve and a half minutes. Boil the bones and trimmings in a little water with an onion stuck with cloves and peppercorns, and three sprigs of parsley. Let all simmer together for nearly an hour; skim, and then stir in over the fire two ounces of flour and two ounces of butter, mix in gradually half a pint of the fish stock and gravy from the fillets. Let all boil up, stirring all the time; then add a tablespoonful or two of milk and a teaspoonful of anchovy, and pass all through a fine strainer. Cover the fillets with this gravy, and sprinkle thickly with grated Parmesan cheese. Salamander and serve quickly.
Fillets of Plaice à la Royale (Filets de Plie à la Royale)
Take the fillets from the fish, remove all bone, and bat them well, skin them, season with salt and a dust of cayenne, put them into a buttered pan and squeeze a little lemon-juice over each fillet. Put buttered paper over them, and cook in a moderate oven for about a quarter of an hour; then dish them up in a circle. Take the liquor from the pan the fillets have been cooked in, and work into it gradually one and a half ounces of butter, a gill of cream, a dust of red pepper, and a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy; work these smooth and colour with a little cochineal, and pour this sauce over the fillets. Sprinkle with a little finely-chopped parsley, and place on the top of each an anchovy rolled round a stoned olive, and a little hard-boiled yolk of egg that has been passed through a wire sieve should be sprinkled over all.
Red Mullet à l'Italienne (Rougets à l'Italienne)
Wrap the fish in buttered paper, retaining the tail, and bake them in the oven, dishing them up in the buttered paper. Send the following sauce in a tureen. One chopped shalot, one chopped mushroom, some chopped fine herbs mixed in a brown sauce, into which put a glass of chablis or sauterne.
Red Mullet in Cases (Rouget en Caisses)
Do not clean the inside of the mullet, but take out the livers and replace them with some salted butter and finely-chopped parsley, pepper, salt, and a little garlic; place them on the gridiron with red-hot coals underneath, and hold a salamander over them - this prevents having to turn the fish. When cooked squeeze the juice of a lemon over the mullet.
Red Mullet à la Métropole (Rougets à la Métropole)
Make a sauce of three glassfuls of hock and sherry mixed (hock predominating); slice thinly a small carrot and turnip and half a lemon; add a bay-leaf, a grate of nutmeg, a sprig of thyme and parsley. Lay in three red mullets and stew over a slow fire; strain the gravy, thicken with butter rolled in flour, season with pepper and salt, and serve the fish on a very hot dish with the sauce poured over.
Red Mullet with Tomatoes (Rougets aux Tomates)
Butter a baking-dish plentifully, and lay in it side by side four red mullets; sprinkle them with pepper, salt, and chopped parsley, then pour over them six tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce; cover the whole with a sheet of buttered paper and bake for about half an hour.
Salmon Cutlets Broiled (Côtelettes de Saumon Grillées)
Leave the skin on thick slices of salmon from the middle, dip them in clarified butter, sprinkle pepper and salt over them, lay them on a hot gridiron, and broil gently over a clear fire; turn them over every three or four minutes till they are done. Make a sauce as follows. Take a quarter of a pint of good gravy and mix with it a teaspoonful of vinegar, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy, half a teaspoonful of Harvey's sauce [11], and a teaspoonful of finely-mixed pickles. Boil the sauce, thicken with a little flour, and serve.
Fillets of Salmon aux Concombres (Filets de Saumon aux Concombres)
Take a piece of salmon about two pounds, and cut it into eight slices or fillets; remove the skin, season with pepper and salt and a squeeze of lemon over each, and put them into a stewpan with enough fish stock to cover them, and let them cook for about a quarter of an hour. When done take them up and dish them with cucumber round, which should be dressed by cutting the cucumber into thin strips in Julienne fashion, and cooked in boiling water till tender; then strain and mix in a little warm clear butter, a sprinkling of chopped tarragon and chervil, and a few drops of lemon-juice. This should be placed round like a wreath, and chopped aspic on the top of the fillets, as it is a cold entrée or luncheon dish.
Salmon Fritters (Beignets de Saumon)
Take some flakes of cold salmon, shake pepper, salt, and chopped parsley over them; make a batter with two large tablespoonfuls of flour, one beaten egg, add enough milk or cream to bring it to the consistency of thick cream. Dip in each piece of salmon and drop it immediately into boiling butter. Fry a nice brown, drain, and serve on cut paper garnished with cucumber.
Salmon à l'lnde (Saumon à l'lnde)
Take slices of salmon, boil, and send it up to table covered with a rich brown mushroom sauce, with a tablespoonful of chutnee in it.
Salmon Marinade (Saumon en Marinade)
Boil three thick slices from the tail end of a large salmon. When done enough, drain the fish, put it upon a dish without a napkin, and pour over and around it the following sauce. Put three quarters of a pint of thick brown sauce into a stewpan, with eighteen button onions which have been fried in butter till brown. Let them boil for ten minutes, and add two glassfuls of claret, a small lump of sugar, a little pepper, salt, grated nutmeg, and a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy. Stir the sauce over the fire till it is thick and coats the spoon. After it is taken from the fire, stir in a small piece of fresh butter until it is dissolved. Mushrooms or oysters may be added to this sauce if liked.
Superlative Salmon Mayonnaise (Mayonnaise de Saumon Superlative)
Put into a stewpan a small salmon weighing about five pounds, let it boil with a moderate-sized carrot sliced, four shalots, a handful of parsley, sprigs of thyme, chervil, a bay-leaf, a teaspoonful of salt, and a slice of fresh butter. Steam the ingredients for four or five minutes, then pour in as much boiling water as will barely cover the fish, and add two glassfuls of light wine, and let it boil up quickly; skim the liquor, then draw the saucepan back a little and simmer the fish gently till it is done; drain, and leave till cold, then dish it on a napkin, garnish round with small salad and crayfish, and stick prawns and parsley into the salmon with silver skewers. Send mayonnaise sauce in a boat.
Salmon à la Métropole (Saumon à la Métropole)
Trim a pound of salmon into neat fillets, dry these, dip them in flour, partially fry them, and put them on a sieve to drain. Dissolve three ounces of butter in a saucepan. Mix smoothly with a tablespoonful of flour, and add one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, half a teaspoonful of powdered thyme, and a little pepper and salt. Stir the mixture over the fire for five minutes, add a glassful of Marsala, and put into the sauce the half-fried fillets. Let them simmer gently for ten minutes. Lift the fish out with a slice, and place it on a hot dish. Let the sauce cool for two minutes, then stir into it two well-beaten yolks of eggs, then whisk over the fire for two minutes till it thickens, and pour it over the fish. Garnish with fried sippets.
Fillets of Salmon en Papillote à la Suède (Filets de Saumon en Papillote à la Suède)
Take a pound of salmon, remove all bone and skin, and cut it into neat little cutlets; bat out the pieces with a wet cutlet bat, season with pepper, salt, and melted butter; cut up some foolscap paper into neat pieces, oil them, and place a fillet of salmon on each with a tablespoonful of tomato purée, with a little chopped parsley and lemon-juice added to it. Wrap the fillets over with a piece of the paper left on purpose, and put them in a greased tin with a paper over the top. Place the tin in oven for ten minutes, then dish the cases up on a dish-paper, and garnish with tarragon and chervil.
Boiled Salt Fish and Egg Sauce (Morue bouillie, Sauce aux Œufs)
Soak the fish for two days in cold water before cooking, changing the water constantly. When it is ready for cooking, put in the fish-kettle and cover it with cold milk and water. Let it come steadily to the boil, removing the scum as it rises; let the pan remain on the side of the stove for ten minutes more, taking care the fish does not boil fast. When ready, take it up carefully and place on a fish-paper on the dish, brush the fish over with a little melted butter, and garnish the dish with parsnips, peeled and well blanched and cut crosswise in lengths of one and a half inches. Cut them up fine into Julienne lengths and shapes, blanch, strain, and rinse them well in cold water; then put them in a pan with boiling water, a little salt, and the juice of a lemon; boil gently for about half an hour, keeping the parsnips under the water. Strain off the water and mix in a pat of butter that has been slightly warmed, a tablespoonful of small parsley leaves that have been blanched; arrange the parsnips in a wreath round the fish, with quarters of hot hard-boiled eggs placed round at equal distances. Egg sauce must be served with this dish.
Sole à I'Aurore
Butter a tin dish and lay on it a sole, covering it with buttered paper; place it for ten minutes in the oven, take it out and carefully remove the centre bone, strew a little chopped onion and parsley, and replace the upper fillets and pour over a white sauce and return it to the oven. Boil some eggs hard, take the white and cut in fancy shapes, and pass the yolks through a sieve and sprinkle over the top of the fish; garnish the side with the fancy shapes of the white.
Sole à l'Américaine (Sole à l'Américaine)
This dish is cooked exactly like Sole à la Normande, only that it is stuffed with a tomato forcemeat, and served with either tomato or brown mushroom sauce.
Soles in Cases (Soles en Caisses)
Take two parts finely-minced mushrooms, one part shalots and parsley in equal proportions, also finely minced; toss them in butter for a few minutes, adding pepper and salt to taste. Put this mixture aside; when cold spread a thin layer on each fillet, roll them up, and cook them between two buttered plates in the oven. Have ready some white fireproof or paper cases, place one rolled fillet in each, then fill up the case with white sauce and place a button mushroom on the top of each, and keep quite hot till time for serving. Small tomatoes can be used instead of the mushrooms. The sauce should be made of the usual white sauce with a few button mushrooms in it; then let it boil for ten minutes and stir in, off the fire, the yolks of two eggs beaten up with the juice of half a lemon.
Fillets of Soles in Aspic (Filets de Soles en Aspic)
Take two pounds of lean beefsteak and cut it into dice, put it on in two quarts of cold water, and as soon as it boils take off the scum as it rises. Let it simmer gently for half an hour, then add four onions, a turnip, carrot, a bouquet garni, half a dozen white peppercorns, and when it has again boiled for an hour, strain it through a napkin. Let it stand until cold, remove all the fat, boil it up, and to a quart of the liquor put an ounce of gelatine previously soaked in a gill of cold water. Add salt and a dust of cayenne pepper, and when the jelly cools, stir in the whites and shells of two eggs well beaten. Let the jelly boil briskly for two minutes; let it stand by the side of the fire, then strain through a jelly-bag, when it will be quite clear. A little sherry and tarragon vinegar can then be added. Take some fillets of sole and boil them gently in salted water, with a little vinegar, till done; take them up and dry them on a cloth. Have ready some picked parsley and hard-boiled eggs cut in quarters; arrange these neatly at the bottom of a plain mould, so as to form a pretty pattern. Pour in very gently enough jelly to cover the first layer, let it stand till beginning to set, then put in another layer of fish, eggs, and parsley, then more jelly, and so on till the mould is full. Put mould on ice and turn out; garnish with parsley, beetroot, and cut lemon.
Fillets of Soles à la Bohémienne (Filets de Soles à la Bohémienne)
Fillet two soles, fold them over, put them on a buttered tin, and cover them with buttered paper to prevent burning, and cook in the oven. Melt three-quarters of an ounce of butter in a stewpan, add one ounce of flour and one gill of fish stock made from the bones; when well cooked add half a gill of cream, a little salt, cayenne, and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice. Chop up two truffles and two hard-boiled eggs and a tablespoonful of parsley very finely; pound a tablespoonful of lobster coral in the mortar, and pass through hair sieve. Then arrange the soles on a dish; pour the sauce over, ornament each fillet thus - one with truffles, one with eggs, one with lobster coral, another with parsley alternately.
Fillets of Soles à la Cadiz (Filets de Soles à la Cadiz)
Take some fillets of sole, season them lightly with pepper and salt and a little lemon-juice; roll each fillet on a piece of carrot the size of a cork, and tie it in buttered paper. Cook them in a little Chablis or Saumur in a covered pan in the oven for a quarter of an hour; when the fillets are cold remove the carrot and stuff them with lobster forcemeat made thus. Put two shalots in half a pint of milk; when cold mix with it an ounce of flour and an ounce of butter which have been slightly fried, add some coral or spawn, and boil up; then add the yolks of two eggs, a dust of cayenne, a teaspoonful of anchovy essence; stir till it thickens, but it must not boil; pass it through sieve; add some lobster chopped fine with a little chopped parsley. When the fillets are filled, dip them in butter and fry a pale colour, and serve with a very sharp tomato sauce.
Fillets of Soles à la Cardinal (Filets de Soles à la Cardinal)
Take eight moderate sized fillets of sole and put them in a sauté pan with the bones of the fish, a little water, a teaspoonful of salt, a bunch of herbs, one chopped onion; squeeze a little lemon-juice over the fillets, put buttered paper over them, and let them cook for about ten minutes. Dish the fillets on a potato border, and mask each fillet with cardinal sauce, and garnish with button mushrooms, lobster quenelles, truffles, and one or two crayfish.
Fillets of Soles with Crayfish and Truffles à la Joinville (Filets de Soles à la Joinville)
Trim eight fillets of soles, fold them in two, and fix a crayfish claw in the top of each fillet. Put the fillets in a buttered sauté pan and cover them with a round of buttered paper, cook them, and dish them in a circle; fill up the centre with pickled prawns and slices of truffles; pour some Dutch sauce, in which some crayfish butter has been stirred, over the garnish, but not over the fillets.
Fillets of Sole à la Déesse (Filets de Sole à la Déesse)
Bat the fillets of sole and then put them in a fireproof china dish well-buttered; season them with a little salt and white pepper, and squeeze the juice of a small lemon over them; add a wine-glass of chablis and a very small shalot; put a well-buttered paper over and stand the dish in the oven for about ten to fifteen minutes; drain away any moisture into a basin and arrange the fillets lengthwise in the same dish, and decorate each fillet alternately with chopped parsley, chopped truffle and lobster coral, and pour a sauce round made of the drainings in the basin, the fish bones - which have been simmered with an onion - a bouquet garni, and some peppercorns, with the juice of half a lemon, and added to it an ounce of butter and half an ounce of flour fried together. When all these are properly mixed and cooked, one ounce of grated Parmesan cheese should be added, a dust of cayenne and a few drops of cochineal; then boil up again and strain.
Fillets of Sole à la Maître d'Hôtel (Filets de Sole la Maître d'Hôtel)
Put the bones and fins of the sole into a saucepan with half a pint of water, and let it boil. Fold the fillets and put them on a greased tin, sprinkle with pepper and salt, and squeeze lemon-juice over them; cover with a buttered paper and place in a moderate, oven for about six minutes. Melt in a stewpan an ounce of butter, and add three-quarters of an ounce of flour and mix well; pour in the fish stock and boil for five minutes. Now add a little salt and pepper, half a gill of cream, and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, and one teaspoonful of chopped parsley. Arrange the fillets in a circle and pour the sauce over them.
Fillets of Sole à l'Orly (Filets de Sole à l'Orly)
Steep the fillets for an hour in lemon-juice, pepper, salt, parsley, and slices of onion; then drain and dry the fillets. Fry the fillets in butter; serve on silver drainer, and send tomato purée to hand round in a sauce boat.
Fillets of Soles with Oysters (Filets de Soles aux Huitres)
Take eight fillets of soles as directed in the last recipe, cook them, and dish them round a croustade filled with oysters mixed in lemon sauce.
Fillets of Soles with Prawns (Filets de Soles aux Crevettes)
Dress them as in preceding recipe, and dish them round a croustade filled with pickled prawns. Pour over all some Dutch sauce in which some shrimp butter has been stirred.
Fillets of Sole à la Rothschild (Filets de Sole à la Rothschild)
Season some fillets of sole with lemon-juice, pepper and salt; cut each fillet in half, cut some carrots into the shape of wine-corks, and roll each fillet round one of these and tie them up in buttered paper. Put these rolls in a stewpan with a gill of chablis or sauterne, and about half a pint of fish stock; add a dust of salt, and let these cook for between fifteen and twenty minutes, then take them out and remove the carrots. Make a farce with a piece of butter size of a walnut, a teaspoonful of flour; mix it with a little stock in which the fish was cooked, a tablespoonful of whipped cream; stir this in a stewpan till it boils; add some pounded lobster spawn which has been pounded with butter; let this all boil again, keeping it well stirred. Mix in the yolk of an egg and pass through a sieve, then add a few minced prawns or oysters, and mix well. Stuff the soles with this mixture. Egg and breadcrumb them, and fry a pale colour; garnish with crayfish and fried parsley. Tomato or oyster sauce should be handed with this dish.
Fillets of Sole en Turban (Soles en Turban)
Cut a piece of crumb of bread into the shape of a small sugar-loaf, place in the centre of a tin dish with the narrowest part downwards; cover with slices of bacon, spread a layer of forcemeat over them, and stick on the fillets of sole in such a way as to form the shape of a turban; garnish with small rounds of truffles, moisten with white sauce, flavour with lemon-juice, and cover with slices of bacon and a buttered sheet of paper. Bake, and when done, remove the paper, slices of bacon, and the piece of bread from the centre, and fill the hole with tomato sauce.
Sole au Gratin
Skin a sole, cut off the fins and nick it with a knife on both sides. Dry it well; chop up one teaspoonful of parsley, half a shalot, and four mushrooms, and mix them well together. Butter a dish, sprinkle half the chopped mushrooms and shalot on the dish. Lay the sole on this, and sprinkle the rest of the parsley etc. over. Squeeze over a little lemon-juice, season with salt and pepper, and then shake over some breadcrumbs that have been previously browned in the oven. Lay the butter in little bits here and there on the fish, and then put it in a moderate oven and bake it about ten minutes. Melt two tablespoonfuls of glaze, and pour it round as sauce.
Sole à la Monte Carlo
Trim and skin a sole, remove the head and tip of its tail, and slit it along the centre of the backbone, so that the knife cuts the flesh right to the bone; then pass the knife across between the fillet and the bone on each side of the slit, repeat this on the other side, and remove the bone. Butter a dish on which the fish is to be served, put the fish on it, and season the inside with a little pepper and salt, and fill the inside with a stuffing made of breadcrumbs, sweet herbs, and mushrooms; close up the fillets together as neatly as possible, sprinkle the juice of a lemon and a tablespoonful of chablis over the fish, cover it with buttered paper; place the dish in a tin containing boiling water, and put it in the oven for about fifteen or sixteen minutes. When the sole is ready pour some Cardinal sauce over it and sprinkle with finely-chopped parsley and lobster coral.
Sole à la Normande (Sole à la Normande)
Take a good-sized sole, trim it and cut off the fins, lay it open and take out the bone. Fill it with forcemeat, and sprinkle a little salt over it. Lay it then on a buttered tin with little dabs of butter all over it, cover with buttered paper, and bake it for ten minutes. It should not be baked brown. Squeeze lemon over it when done, add the sauce, and garnish with chopped parsley and lobster coral. The forcemeat can be made of lobster panada (or shrimp, oyster, or mushroom panada) [12]. Cardinal sauce should be served round it.
Sole à la Rouennaise
Take a medium-sized sole, cut off its fins, head and tail, and fillet it. Chop up the bones and skin very small, add a little salt and a small shalot, and put them into milk, and let all boil. Take a tin well rubbed with butter, and take each fillet and spread thinly on half of it lobster panada, then fold the other over it like a slice of bread and butter, squeeze the juice of a lemon over the prepared fillets, and cover them with buttered paper, and bake in the oven for ten minutes. Make a sauce of one ounce of butter melted with a dessertspoonful of flour stirred in it till it boils, let it boil for ten minutes, add a little lemon-juice, and a gill of cream, then strain it. Arrange the fillets in a circle, mask them well with the sauce, and sprinkle lobster coral, dried parsley, truffles, and grated hard-boiled eggs over alternately. Serve lobster quenelles in the centre.
This dish can be made with oysters instead of lobster, or with prawns or mushrooms; also with tomatoes and shalots for the stuffing and mushrooms in the centre.
The panada is made thus. Take half a pound of lobster, six ounces of panada, two ounces of butter, a tiny dust of cayenne, a spoonful of white sauce. Pound the lobster and panada separately, and then work them to a smooth paste together in the mortar; add seasoning to taste, and two eggs by degrees. When mixed pass through sieve.
Panada is made by soaking breadcrumbs in stock with pepper, salt, and a little butter, and boiling it in a saucepan till it is well cooked and leaves the side of the pan.
Sole à la Portugaise
Skin a large sole. Make an incision sufficiently large to admit of the stuffing, put an ounce of butter on a plate, add a shalot,half a teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, and half a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce; put this stuffing into the fish, and put it on a buttered dish. Peel and slice a Spanish onion and four tomatoes very fine, and lay the mixture over the sole alternately. Sprinkle over some salt and pepper, about one ounce of butter and about half an ounce of brown breadcrumbs in which some grated Parmesan cheese has been mixed. Pour round the sole three tablespoonfuls of tomato sauce, cover with buttered paper, and cook in a moderate oven for ten minutes.
Sole à la Trouville
Take the dark skin from a pair of soles, cut each sole into three pieces. Line a china fireproof dish with butter, and breadcrumbs, and onion chopped very fine; put the dish in the oven to brown, and pour in a wine-glass of cider and let it boil, then arrange the pieces of sole on the dish and return it to the oven. After the fish has been cooked for a few minutes, cover it with butter, flour and chopped parsley that have been worked up together, and finish cooking. Send up in the dish in which the fish is cooked.
Trout à l'Aurore (Truite à l'Aurore)
Take two moderate-sized trout, empty them, remove the gills and fins, scrape off the scales, wash carefully, and wipe dry. Put into the fish-kettle as much water as will cover the fish and a good tablespoonful of salt, and one of vinegar. Put the trout into the water when it is boiling, and boil gently; when the eyes start they are done enough. Lift them out carefully, drain them, and place them in a hot dish, and cover them with this sauce: Beat the yolks of three eggs, and mix with them a quarter of a pint of white sauce, an ounce of grated Parmesan, a teaspoonful of chili vinegar, and a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy. Stir the sauce over a gentle fire till it begins to thicken. Boil two eggs hard, mince them finely, mix a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan with them, and sprinkle the mixture over the fish. Put it in the oven for about a quarter of an hour till it is hot through, brown the surface with a salamander or red-hot shovel, then pour a little shrimp sauce round the fish, and serve it very hot.
Trout Souchet (Souchet de Truite)
Clean and empty five or six small trout, and dry them well. Cut four parsley roots into strips an inch long and very narrow, and boil these in a pint and a half of water, together with a teaspoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of finely-scraped horseradish. In five minutes throw in a handful of small sprigs of parsley. Let the water boil up again, put in the trout, let it boil, skim the liquor, and simmer the fish gently till done enough. Serve the fish in a deep dish with the water, parsley, etc., and send slices of thin brown bread-and-butter to table with it.
Stewed Trout in Wine (Truite étuvée au Vin)
Empty, dry and clean two or three fresh trout, put them in a stewpan, pour over them equal parts of good gravy, and either claret, port, or Madeira, and add a moderate-sized onion, half a teaspoonful of peppercorns, six allspice, two cloves, and a little salt. Let them simmer gently till done. Take them up carefully, strain the gravy, thicken it with brown thickening, and flavour with a teaspoonful of lemon-juice or chili vinegar, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy and a dessertspoonful of mushroom ketchup. Strain over the fish and serve very hot.
Turban of Trout (Turban de Truite)
Take the fillets of two small trout, flatten them and trim and cut them so that they will fit the mould, which should be a plain round one; season them with a little salt, and well sprinkle half of them on one side with lobster spawn (if lobster spawn is not procurable, sprinkle with chopped parsley). Butter the mould and line it with buttered paper; arrange the fillets of trout alternately round the mould like Savoy cakes in a Charlotte Russe mould, put over these a lobster farce; smooth this well inside with a broad knife dipped into hot water, and press the farce well on to the fillets. Fill up the centre with some cucumber cut into slices and cooked in sauce. Place some more farce on the top and smooth it again; place the mould in a stewpan with sufficient boiling water to come half-way up the mould. When the water reboils, draw the pan to the side of the stove and put the lid on, and let it steam for nearly an hour; when ready, turn out the dish, pour the sauce round, and garnish the top of the turban with quenelles of lobster farce and sliced pieces of cucumber cut in the shape of peas round the base.
The sauce for this should be made of the fish bones, an onion, a sprig of thyme, a small bay-leaf, a little salt and pepper boiled up in cold water, and when brought to the boil skim and let it boil on for fifteen minutes. Have ready a little flour that has been fried in butter, and stir into the stock and let it boil; add a glassful of chablis and a tablespoonful of cream. Boil for ten minutes, pass through a sieve, add a few capers, and serve.
Turbot à la Sainte-Ménehould
Cut the turbot in neat pieces, dip each into a very thick sauce, light coloured and well flavoured; pile them in a dish, sprinkle thickly with fine breadcrumbs; over this grate some Parmesan cheese, and brown it nicely in the oven and serve very hot.
Whitebait (Blanchailles)
Wash the whitebait well in iced water, and dry them well in a cloth. Take a sheet of paper and put on it a good teacupful of flour, sprinkle the whitebait in the flour; they must be fingered as little as possible, and not allowed to touch each other. Take up the paper and shake the whitebait well in the flour, so that they are completely covered. Now turn the whitebait from the paper of flour into a whitebait basket, and sift all the loose flour back on to the paper. Then put one and a half pounds of lard or clarified dripping (which is better) into a saucepan, and heat the fat over a fire; when the fat smokes turn in the whitebait, a few at a time, into the frying-basket, and put it into the fat for one minute. The whitebait should be quite crisp. Put a piece of whitey-brown paper on a plate, put the whitebait on it to draw off the grease; serve piled up on a hot dish. Cut lemon and thin slices of brown bread-and-butter should be handed with the whitebait.
Devilled Whitebait (Blanchailles Grillées)
Fry the whitebait in the usual way till it is crisp. Lift the basket out of the fat, shake the fish and sprinkle over it a little salt and black pepper. Plunge the basket again in the fat and let it remain for a few seconds. If a red devil is required, sprinkle a little cayenne upon the fish in addition to the black pepper, after it is taken out of the fat for the last time.
Paupiettes of Whiting (Merlans en Paupiettes)
Fillet three or four full-sized whitings. Trim the fillets, season with pepper and salt, and spread upon each a little whiting forcemeat. Roll them round, tie securely with twine, and wrap them in strips of oiled paper. Put them in the oven and bake till done enough. Remove the paper, place the paupiettes upright on a dish, put upon the top of each a turned mushroom, pour a little lobster sauce round them, and serve.
Whiting Soufflé (Soufflé de Merlan)
Make panada the same as for lobster, add one good-sized whiting, and then pound in mortar with the yolks of two eggs. Pound in with this mixture three or four oysters, pass all through wire sieve, add a little salt, a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, and a trifle of cayenne; put into a mould and steam till done. Coat it with Cardinal sauce and serve hot.
Anchovy Sauce (Sauce aux Anchois)
Take one ounce of butter and half an ounce of flour, and mix them well together; add one gill and a half of cold water. Put the stewpan over the fire and stir well with a wooden spoon till the mixture is quite smooth and boils. Take it off the fire and add a good dessertspoonful of anchovy essence, and stir it well into the butter. Six drops of chili vinegar is an immense improvement to this sauce.
Brown Butter for Broiled Fish (Beurre Noir)
Take two ounces of butter, stir it over the fire in a stewpan till it is brown, then add one dessertspoonful of tarragon vinegar, the same of chopped capers, one large glassful of gravy, and boil all together for three minutes. A teaspoonful of Clarence's cayenne sauce is an improvement.
Cardinal Sauce (Sauce Cardinal)
Make half a pint of white sauce, with a few drops of lemon in it, and stir well into lobster coral pounded in butter.
Court Bouillon (Sauce Court Bouillon)
Fill a fishpan nearly to the brim with white wine, a wineglassful of brandy, the same quantity of sherry, and season with salt, pepper, two heads of cloves, a head of garlic, sliced onions, carrots, turnips, parsnips, celery, chervil, parsley, a bay-leaf, thyme, and a lump of fresh butter. Boil over a quick fire till reduced a third; if the wine catches fire it will greatly improve the flavour of the sauce. When used for cooking fish, see that the court bouillon is boiling before putting it in, and have sufficient to cover the fish entirely.
A more economical way of preparing this sauce is by using equal quantities of vinegar and water instead of white wine, and by omitting some of the vegetables.
Dutch Sauce (Sauce Hollandaise)
Put four tablespoonfuls of French vinegar into a stewpan, with two bay-leaves and some crushed black and white peppercorns, about a dozen; reduce to half the quantity, then add three yolks of eggs. Stand the pan in another in which there is boiling water (unless there is a bain-marie), and work the mixture with a wooden spoon, adding three ounces of fresh butter by degrees. When it thickens great care must be taken for it not to curdle; pass it through a tammy and serve. A little salt should be added at the last.
Egg Sauce (Sauce aux Œufs)
Put two ounces of butter into a stewpan, and one and a half of flour, mix well together; add half a pint of water, and a saltspoonful of salt. Put the stewpan on the fire and stir all smooth till it boils. Now add a gill of cream and let it boil, stirring all the time. Stand the stewpan by the side of the fire to keep it warm, but it must not boil again. Next boil two eggs hard for ten minutes; throw them into cold water for a minute, and then shell them. Cut the eggs into little square pieces and add them to the sauce, stirring them lightly to avoid breaking them.
Horseradish Sauce for Fish (Sauce Raifort)
Grate two tablespoonfuls of horseradish, put it into a stewpan with half a pint of good brown gravy, and let it stand by the side of the fire until quite hot. Add a teaspoonful of mixed mustard, a clove of garlic pounded with a little butter, and a dessertspoonful of vinegar.
Geneva Sauce (Sauce Genève)
Stir a lump of butter the size of an egg and a dessertspoonful of flour in a saucepan over the fire till brown; moisten with a tumblerful of claret and a pint of the liquor the fish has been boiled in; flavour with three sliced onions, a bouquet of mixed herbs, salt, pepper, and a few chopped mushrooms. Simmer for half an hour, and just before serving add a wineglassful of Madeira or Marsala, pass through a tammy, and serve.
Italian Sauce (Sauce Italienne)
One ounce of butter, six chopped mushrooms, a small shalot, salt, and pepper; fry all these together, add one gill of sherry, cook it well, and reduce it. Then stir in a dessertspoonful of flour and brown it; then pour half a pint of stock and boil for fifteen minutes; chop up in it either truffles or mushrooms.
Lobster Sauce (Sauce au Homard)
Take a small hen lobster, remove all the shell, and take out the flesh and cut it up in pieces to the size of small dice. Take the coral out of the lobster and wash it carefully, and then put it in a mortar with one ounce of butter, and pound them well together; scrape it cleanly out of the mortar and rub it through a hair sieve; when it has all passed through and the bottom of the sieve carefully scraped, make it all into a little pat. Then take a stewpan, and put in it one ounce of butter and half an ounce of flour; mix all well together. Add one gill and a half of cold water, and stir this mixture over the fire till it boils and thickens. Now add a gill of cream, and stir well till it boils again. Then add off the fire by degrees the pat made of coral butter, stir till it is quite smooth, and then add pepper, salt, and a dust of cayenne; put in the chopped lobster, mix it in the sauce, and add a little lemon-juice.
Marinade for Fish
Boil together a quarter-pint of vinegar to three-quarters pint of water, a few bruised fennel leaves, a sprig of thyme, an onion in rings, and some cayenne and salt. Simmer these for ten minutes, put in the fish, and simmer till done.
Matelote Sauce (Sauce Matelote)
Brown some young onions in butter. When done, remove them, moisten the butter with equal quantities of white or red wine and stock, season with salt, pepper, and a bouquet garni. Boil the sauce, reduce it, add the onions and some blanched mushrooms, and serve.
Mirepoix Sauce
Take some chopped veal, ham, bacon, carrots, and onions, season with salt, pepper, a bay-leaf, and two chopped shalots; simmer over a slow fire for two hours. Moisten with white wine and stock, pass through a hair sieve, and it is ready.
Naples Sauce for Fish (Sauce Napolitaine)
Take one-eighth of a pint of freshly-boiled shrimps, remove the shells, and put them into a stewpan with a large boned and skinned anchovy, two finely-minced shalots, a dessertspoonful of bruised capers, and a pea of garlic. Stir over the fire for seven minutes, pour in a quarter of a pint of good stock, and add a small dust of cayenne. Simmer gently for fifteen minutes, thicken the sauce with a piece of butter the size of an egg rolled in flour, and boil ten minutes longer. Strain the sauce, adding another dessertspoonful of lemon-juice. Make it as hot as possible without letting it boil, draw it from the fire, and stir in a quarter of a pint of thick cream. Serve at once.
Oyster Sauce (Sauce aux Huitres)
Take a dozen oysters and the liquor that is with them, and put them in a small saucepan. Just bring them to a boil to blanch them, and take the saucepan off the fire as soon as it boils. Take a basin and pour the oyster liquor into it through a strainer. Put the oysters on a plate, take off the beards and hard parts.
Take a tablespoonful of cold milk and a quarter of an ounce of flour, and mix well together; then add half an ounce of butter, and stir in with wooden spoon; add the strained oyster liquor, and stir this mixture over the fire till it boils and thickens. Now add one tablespoonful of cream, and stir again till it boils; take it off fire and add four drops of essence of anchovy, six drops of lemon-juice, and a dust of cayenne pepper. Take the oysters and cut them in halves, add them to the sauce, and stir well.
Piquante Sauce (Sauce Piquante)
Stir a little stock into some brown thickening, add three tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one tablespoonful of chopped shalots, a bay-leaf, and a sprig of parsley; reduce, add a little salt, and pass through a tammy, and serve.
Prince's Sauce (to be eaten with boiled fish)
Take a small handful of tarragon leaves, chervil, and chives; mince them, throw them into boiling water, and let them boil gently for a few minutes; pour off the water and squeeze them in a cloth. Put them then in a mortar with three anchovies freed from grease, bone and skin, the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, a dessertspoonful of dry mustard, and a dessertspoonful of capers. Put these ingredients into a mortar, pound them well, and add very gradually two raw eggs, a quarter of a pint of salad oil, and the same of tarragon vinegar. Rub through hair sieve, and serve.
Royal Sauce (Sauce Royale)
Beat two raw yolks of eggs with two ounces of fresh butter, add gradually a teaspoonful of elder vinegar, a teaspoonful of tarragon vinegar, a teaspoonful of soy, a dust of cayenne, and a grate of nutmeg. Pour this mixture into an earthen jar, set this in a small saucepan of boiling water, and keep it boiling, stirring all the time till it begins to thicken, but be sure it does not curdle.
Sauce Ravigote
Take equal quantities of white wine and stock, reduce to a brown thickening; season with chopped and blanched pimpernel, chervil, chive leaves, lemon-juice, salt, and pepper. Stir the sauce till quite thick over a quick fire, but do not let it boil.
Rémoulade Sauce
Boil three eggs hard, throw them into cold water, strip off the shell, remove the whites and pound the yolks in a mortar with a dessertspoonful of mustard and a little salt and cayenne. When these are all well blended, and the paste is quite smooth, add by drops three tablespoonfuls of olive oil, and whisk the sauce well the whole time. When it is quite thick add the yolk of a raw egg, and then very gradually a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar, a teaspoonful of Harvey's sauce, three pounded shalots, a very small piece of garlic.
Shrimp Sauce (Sauce aux Crevettes)
Boil a quart of shelled shrimps for five minutes in half a pint of white sauce, add a tablespoonful of Fourner and Cunningham's pâte d'anchois. Flavour with the juice of a lemon, and serve.
Sardine Sauce
Take eight sardines and remove the bones. Make a butter sauce ready, with broth of the ordinary thickness. In this boil the bones of the fish, a bay-leaf, and a finely-minced shalot, pepper, salt, and a little lemon-juice. When the sauce is properly flavoured, strain it and add the fish minced very fine.
Tartare Sauce
Take two eggs, and put the yolks in one basin and the whites into another; take a wooden spoon and stir the yolks enough to break them; add a saltspoonful of salt, half a saltspoonful of pepper, and a tablespoonful of French vinegar. Take a bottle of salad oil, and pour in drop by drop a gill of it. Then add a teaspoonful more vinegar, and a few drops of tarragon vinegar. Then take a small bunch of parsley and put it in a small saucepan of boiling water, with a little salt and soda, for two or three seconds; then dry it thoroughly by squeezing it in a cloth; chop it up finely to make a teaspoonful. Take a few gherkins or capers, and chop them up finely enough to make a tablespoonful. Put all these into the sauce and mix in with a spoon.
Sauce à la Trois Frères
Mince half a dozen mushrooms, half a dozen onions, and a clove of garlic. Put the mushrooms into a saucepan, pour over them as much stock as will cover them, and simmer gently till the sauce is pleasantly flavoured. Strain the liquor through a tammy, add a glass of claret, boil up once more, and serve. A few drops of anchovy essence is an improvement.
Fish Forcemeat
Chop the remains of any shell-fish, lobster, crab, etc., with the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs; add a little minced parsley, and the same quantity of breadcrumbs as of fish. Pound all in a mortar with two ounces of butter, a teaspoonful of salt, half the quantity of pepper, and a flavouring of nutmeg. Stuff any white fish with this forcemeat, mixing it well with the beaten yolk of an egg.
Fish Glaze (Superior)
Simmer the heads and trimmings of turbot, whiting, or any fish, in water with a fifth part of white wine for several hours; season with carrots, leeks, onions, a bouquet garni, and a bead of garlic; pass through a tammy, and reduce to a glaze and keep till required.
Quenelles for Fish Soups
Take the meat, pith, coral and spawn of a small hen lobster and pound it to a paste; mix with two tablespoonfuls of finely-grated breadcrumbs, and two and a half ounces of butter; season this with a teaspoonful of essence of anchovy, a pinch of salt, a dust of cayenne, and moisten with the yolks of two eggs and the white of one. Mould the forcemeat into small quenelles, and poach them in boiling water.
Quenelles for Turtle Soup
Take a quarter of a pound of lean veal, cut it into long slices, and scrape it with a knife till nothing but the fibre remains. Pound this to a smooth paste and rub it through a wire sieve; then make it into a ball, and take its bulk, not its weight, in panada and calf's-udder. Pound these ingredients and press them through a sieve, first separately and afterwards together; season the forcemeat with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg (just one grate), and add gradually the yolks of two and the white of one egg. After pounding the ingredients together, pass again through the sieve, and before poaching the quenelles, test a little bit of the forcemeat by throwing it into boiling water. If when taken out it is not sufficiently firm, add the yolk of another egg. Mould it in balls of any size that may be preferred, poach these in boiling water until sufficiently hard, drain them, and then put them into the tureen and pour the soup gently over them. They are usually made of the size of marbles.
Quenelles for White and Clear Soups
Melt an ounce of butter in a stewpan over a gentle fire, beat it up with a dessertspoonful of flour and a tablespoonful of cream, so as to make a thick paste. Add two ounces of boiled macaroni, two ounces of Parmesan grated, a little salt, pepper, and a grate of nutmeg. Beat the mixture over the fire until it is smooth and firm, and leaves the sides of the saucepan with the spoon. Mould it into quenelles with a teaspoon dipped into hot water, and then poach them in boiling gravy till they are done through; lift them out with a skimmer, and put them into the tureen with the soup.
Editor's Notes
[1] A salamander is a culinary grill used primarily in professional kitchens for overhead grilling (broiling), toasting, browning of gratin dishes, melting cheeses onto sandwiches and caramelizing desserts such as crème brûlée.
[2] Lobster coral is the roe or egg sac found only in the female which is deep red when raw and coral pink in colour when cooked. They are considered a delicacy and are often added to sauces.
[3] A tamis (pronounced "tammy", also known as a drum sieve, or chalni in Indian cooking) is a kitchen utensil, shaped like a snare drum, that acts as a strainer, grater or food mill. A tamis has a cylindrical edge, made of metal or wood, that supports a disc of fine metal, nylon, or horsehair mesh. To use one, the cook places the tamis above a bowl and adds the ingredient to be strained in the center of the mesh. The food is then pushed through using a scraper or pestle. Tamises have been in use since the Middle Ages. Tamises range in size from 6 to 16 inches (15 to 41 cm) and the mesh is available in different gauges.
[4] A quenelle is a small or moderate quantity of a mixture of creamed fish or meat, sometimes combined with breadcrumbs, with a light egg binding, usually formed into an egg-like shape, and then cooked (usually by poaching). Formerly, quenelles were often used as a garnish in haute cuisine. Today, they are more commonly served as a dish in their own right.
[5] Mace is the web-like membrane that surrounds nutmeg which breaks apart into slivers called "blades" and which, when dried, can be ground and used as a spice. The flavour is more subtle than nutmeg and can be used when nutmeg is called for.
[6] En couronne - round, in the shape of a crown.
[7] A tureen is a deep covered dish from which soup is served.
[8] Vin de Grave, also known as Vin de Graves, refers to white wine, usually a white Bordeaux or claret.
[9] A bouquet garni is a bunch of aromatic herbs such as parsley, chervil, bay leaves and thyme tied into a bundle and placed into the poaching liquid to flavour it. Three bouquets garnis specifically for fish dishes:
Version 1 Ingredients
- 1 sprig of parsley
- 1 sprig of French tarragon
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1 strip of lemon or lime peel
- 1 sprig of dill
- 1 sprig of parsley
- 1 sprig of lemon balm
- 1 spring onion (bruised)
- 1 sprig of fennel
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig of lemon thyme
[10] A fish glaze (glace de poisson or fumet) is a fish stock which has been reduced to a concentrated form.
[11] Harvey's Sauce is said to have been invented in 1760 by Peter Harvey, owner of the Black Dog Inn in Bedfont, Middlesex, in imitation of a sauce devised by the mother of Captain Charles Combers, one of his customers: dissolve six anchovies in a pint of strong vinegar, and then add to them three table-spoonfuls of India soy, and three table-spoonfuls of mushroom catchup, two heads of garlic bruised small, and a quarter of an ounce of cayenne. Add sufficient cochineal powder to colour the mixture red. Let all these ingredients infuse in the vinegar for a fortnight, shaking it every day, and then strain and bottle it for use. Let the bottles be small, and cover the corks with leather - from "Miss Leslie's Directions for Cookery" (Philadelphia 1851). Harvey's Sauce is mentioned in Dickens' "Edwin Drood", Anthony Trollope's "Thackeray" and in books by Rudyard Kipling, Wilkie Collins, Washington Irving, William Makepeace Thackeray and in Mrs Beeton's recipe 305 (curried salmon).
[12] "The panada is made thus. Take half a pound of lobster, six ounces of panada, two ounces of butter, a tiny dust of cayenne, a spoonful of white sauce. Pound the lobster and panada separately, and then work them to a smooth paste together in the mortar; add seasoning to taste, and two eggs by degrees. When mixed pass through sieve. Panada is made by soaking breadcrumbs in stock with pepper, salt, and a little butter, and boiling it in a saucepan till it is well cooked and leaves the side of the pan."
[13] George Watkins Mushroom Ketchup, the secret of many a Victorian cook, tastes halfway between Worcestershire Sauce and soy sauce with subtle undertones of mushroom. Originally, mushrooms were packed - caps, stalks and all - into earthenware jars, salted and placed on the back of the stove until they flowed with dark liquid. Next, the jars were set in the oven and boiled, the sauce strained through muslin, and finally spiced with the likes of black pepper, nutmeg and mace. George Watkins, established in 1830, is the most common brand.