Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [151]
One hears so often that it was the Troisgros brothers who brought salmon escalopes and sorrel together at Roanne: Monsieur Augerau was making such a dish a generation before them. The style is a little different – the Troisgros escalopes are beaten flat, cooked briefly in a non-stick pan and then served on a cream and butter sauce flavoured with sorrel and made on a reduction of shallot, white wine, vermouth and fish fumet*.
Serves 6
1 kg (2 lb) middle cut of salmon
butter
shallots or mild onion
250 kg (8 oz) mushrooms, chopped
½ bottle dry white wine
3 large tablespoons double cream
2 large egg yolks
125 g (4 oz) unsalted butter
1 large handful of sorrel
salt, freshly ground black pepper
Ask the fishmonger to skin and fillet the salmon. Cut it into slices about ½ cm (¼ inch) thick. Butter a large shallow pan and cover the base with a layer of chopped shallots. Put in the slices of salmon, slightly overlapping each other, and scatter the mushrooms on top. Pour on enough white wine to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer until the salmon is barely cooked. Transfer the slices to a serving dish, cover with foil and keep warm. Add the cream to the mixture in which the salmon was cooked. Boil hard, until the liquid is reduced by approximately one-third. Strain into a small pan, and whisk the egg yolks into the tepid liquid, which should be kept over a low heat – not enough to cause it to boil. When the sauce is thick, lift the pan from the heat and stir in the butter in little knobs.
Meanwhile, in another pan cook the sorrel in 2 tablespoons of butter. It will rapidly turn to a thick purée. Season well with salt and pepper. Add the purée to the sauce, pour it over the warm salmon slices and chill as quickly as possible in the refrigerator.
NOTE Cold fish tastes better when it is eaten the day it is cooked. This is a recipe that could be used for firm white fish of good flavour. And it could be served hot – but cold is better.
GRAVADLAX, MAKRILL, FORELL, SILL
In other words, marinaded salmon, mackerel, trout or herring, and one of the great gifts of Scandinavia to the rest of Europe. When I first came across it in 1966 in Denmark, it seemed to me the most delicious thing I had ever eaten. And when the friend at whose table we had eaten it said she would give me the very simple recipe, I could hardly believe that it was going to be possible to make it at home, and with other fish than salmon.
The name means ‘buried salmon’. Indeed, the fish is buried in salt, sugar and dill weed, but perhaps the name may refer to far older ways of preserving food than we know about today – to the time when food was buried to keep it fresh, or to make a cure work in a special way, though I cannot imagine how one would prevent it being devoured by wildlife: salmon is a spring and summer catch after all, so the ground would not be frozen.
The sensible minimum – especially since it can be frozen most successfully – is a i-kg (2-lb) piece of salmon, scaled and filleted, but with the skin left in place. The cure for this quantity consists of:
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1–2 tablespoons sugar
1 handful of fresh dill sprigs or 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
The quantity of sugar can be varied to taste. Extra items can be added from plenty of coarsely ground pepper to a tablespoonful of brandy. Mix the salt and sugar together, plus 1 tablespoon of leaves from fresh dill or dried dill weed.
Choose a shallow-sided dish that the salmon will fit into comfortably. Scatter a quarter