French Provincial Cooking - Elizabeth David [164]
ÉPERLANS FRITS
FRIED SMELTS
Smelts are one of the nicest small fish for frying, although to fry them on a skewer, as one is always instructed to do, is a trickier business than it sounds. As served by the patronne at the Hôtel du Louvre at Pont-Audemer, a dish of these skewer-fried smelts is nicely described by George Musgrave in A Ramble Through Normandy, 1855.
‘She had an extraordinarily expeditious way of frying smelts. I had bespoken a score and a half (after having seen some in the market) and they were dished as they were fried, with two skewers; fifteen on each skewer—the slender pin passing through the heads, and the ring at its extremity serving to turn them in the pan, all at once, for the more even frying.’
It is not often that one comes across smelts at the fishmonger’s, but the easiest way to cook them when they are available is to dredge flour over them and fry them in deep oil in the usual way, draining them on kitchen paper and serving them with halves of lemon. Alternatively, they can be shallow-fried in butter.
GRILLADE AU FENOUIL
SEA-BASS OR RED MULLET GRILLED WITH FENNEL
There are two or three slightly varying versions in the presentation of this dish, but the main elements are red mullet or sea-bass (the Mediterranean loup de mer, sometimes translated as sea-perch, the ordinary French name for sea-bass being bar) and dried fennel stalks.
Get the fishmonger to clean the fish, but in the case of red. mullet leave in the liver, which is considered a delicacy. Make two deep crosswise incisions on each side of the fish. Stick two or three short pieces of fennel in the incision through which the intestines of the fish were removed. Paint the fish all over with oil, and grill on each side for about 7 minutes, turning them over once only. On a long fireproof serving-dish arrange a bed of dried fennel stalks, remove the grid with the fish on it from under the grill and place it over the fennel. In a soup ladle or small saucepan warm a small glass of Armagnac or brandy; set light to it; pour it flaming into the dish. The fennel catches alight and burns, giving out a strong scent which flavours the dish.
The fennel-burning performance can either be carried out in the kitchen or at the table under the noses of the guests. In either case it is advisable to have a second hot dish in readiness to receive the fish and its strained juices, for when it comes to serving the fish nobody wants little pieces of burnt fennel on his plate.
GRONDIN AU FROMAGE
RED GURNET WITH CHEESE SAUCE
The red gurnet or gurnard (also sometimes called rouget-grondin in French, but not to be confused with the rouget proper, which is red mullet), is a rather ugly fish with a large head, which is likely to be a bargain when it appears on the fishmonger’s slab.
Poach a whole gurnard in cold water to cover, with a sliced onion, a bouquet, 2 tablespoons of vinegar and salt. When it is cooked, remove the skin and all bones. Put the fillets in a buttered fireproof dish.
Prepare a sauce exactly as for raie gratinée au fromage, page 291, and then bake the fillets of gurnard in the same way. The flesh of gurnard has some resemblance to that of the turbot.
HARENGS GRILLÉS, SAUCE À LA MOUTARDE
GRILLED HERRINGS WITH MUSTARD SAUCE
‘Put your cleaned herrings into a china dish and pour a little oil over them. Sprinkle them with a little salt, add some sprigs of parsley, and turn them round in this seasoning. A quarter of an hour before they are to be served, grill the herrings; when they are done arrange them in the serving dish and pour over them a white butter sauce, into which you have stirred a tablespoon of mustard, and take care not to let the sauce boil.’
This recipe comes from the Dictionnaire Général de la Cuisine Française, 1866.