James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [106]
Reduce the sauce, strain it through a fine sieve, and check for seasoning. Thicken it with a little beurre manié. Serve the sauce separately.
Garnish the fish generously with cooked mushroom caps; quenelles, if you feel like taking the trouble to make them; truffles, if available; or crawfish. This is a classic dish and will win you a round of applause when it reaches the table.
MARINATED CARP
3-to-4-pound carp
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 piece of chopped fresh ginger or 11/2 teaspoons powdered
3 tablespoons oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup white wine
Beurre manié (page 475)
2 egg yolks
4 tablespoons cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Clean the carp and place it in a steamer or fish boiler. Add the onion, parsley, ginger, and oil to the fish. Cover and let it stand for 3 hours. Turn the fish from time to time.
Add salt and pepper to taste and the wine, and poach the fish according to the Canadian cooking theory (page 12). When it is done, remove it to a serving dish. Thicken the sauce with beurre manié. Stir in the egg yolks mixed with the cream and blend well, but do not let it boil. At the last minute, stir in the lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve with Lyonnaise potatoes heavily laced with parsley.
COLD CARP WITH VARIOUS SAUCES
Serve poached carp cold with:
1. Mayonnaise (page 34)
2. Sauce rémoulade (page 35)
3. Sauce verte (page 34)
Garnish cold carp with cucumbers, tomatoes, salade Russe, olives, truffles, greens. Or, if you like, you may put the cold carp in an aspic (see salmon in aspic, pages 198–201).
SWEET AND SOUR CARP, JEWISH FASHION
This is one of the oldest recipes for carp. Sometimes it is made without the addition of the vinegar and raisins, but it is almost invariably served cold.
4-to-5-pound carp
2/3 cup olive oil
3 or 4 shallots, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
4 tablespoon flour
1 pint white wine
1 pint water
1 teaspoon salt
Few grains cayenne pepper
Bit of nutmeg
1 bay leaf
Pinch of thyme
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/2 cup currants or sultana raisins
1/3 cup wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Cut the carp into 2-inch slices. Heat the 2/3 cup of olive oil in a large skillet or deep Dutch oven. Add the shallots and onions to the oil. When they are soft add the flour and blend thoroughly. Gradually stir in the wine and water; continue stirring until thickened. Add the salt, cayenne, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil; then add the pieces of fish, the bay leaf, thyme, and garlic. Simmer according to the Canadian cooking theory for braising (page 11). Remove the carp and arrange it on a long deep serving dish.
Now reduce the sauce over a medium flame to a third of its volume. With a whisk or electric mixer at medium speed or in a blender beat in the 3/4 cup of olive oil as you would if making mayonnaise. When thoroughly blended, add the parsley, raisins, currants, vinegar, and sugar. Pour over the carp and chill thoroughly.
POACHED CARP WITH VARIOUS SAUCES
Poach whole carp in court bouillon (page 18). Serve with:
1. White wine sauce (page 23)
2. Hollandaise sauce (pages 25–26)
3. Sauce duxelles (page 27)
4. Shrimp sauce (page 21)
5. Lobster sauce (page 21)
6. Sauce Béarnaise (page 26)
POTTED CARP
This is an old Central European dish that has a flavor entirely different from that of most fish dishes.
4 carrots, thinly sliced
8 gingersnaps
1/2 cup sherry
4 carp fillets
Flour
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Butter
Blanch the carrots until they are just tender. Soak the ginger-snaps in the wine. Butter a large skillet that can be covered. Dip the fillets in flour and arrange them in the pan. Salt and pepper lightly, top with the carrots and their cooking water, and the sherry-gingersnap mixture. Cover, bring