Jane Grigson's Fish Book - Jane Grigson [72]
Switch on the oven to gas 7, 220°C (425°F).
In a sauté pan, heat the butter and oil and stew the tomato briefly. Setting aside a little of their green part for a final garnish, put the rest of the spring onions into the pan with the artichokes and the wine. Stir everything well, cover and stew gently until the artichokes are tender. If the mixture begins to look watery, remove the lid and raise the heat: you need to have the whole thing as dry as possible without allowing it to catch. Sieve or put through the coarse plate of a vegetable mill. Check for seasoning and spread into a baking dish. Put the mullet on top and bake for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the olives briefly in boiling water. Dot them around the fish, check on its state and give it another 5 minutes in the oven or longer, until cooked. Scatter with the onion green that you set aside, and serve with bread.
GREY MULLET WITH OLIVES (Mulet aux olives)
In Provence in the past, and in some families still, Christmas begins on 24 December, the eve of the festival, with the Gros Souper or Big Supper. It is full of symbolism and mystery. First there is the business of the yule log, which has to be cut from a fruit-bearing tree. It must also be large enough to burn for three nights and days. The oldest and youngest members of the party carry it at either end, and with the family make a procession three times round the room before laying it on the hearth. The grandfather sprinkles the log with vin cuit, blessing it in the name of the Trinity. Then he lights it, and with the youngest grandchild says ‘Cacho-fio, bouto-fio, Dieu nous allègre’, a blend of Provençal and French meaning ‘Let the log burn, God brings us happiness’. And everyone sits down to supper.
No meat, game or poultry is served as everyone will be going off to Midnight Mass and it is still Advent. The table is covered with three cloths and three candles burn, for the Trinity. At one end of the table is a bowl of green sprouting wheat, at the other sprouting lentils: the seeds were sown on 4 December, St Barbara’s Day. Twelve rolls for the twelve Apostles and a large loaf for Christ are marked with the cross before anyone eats them. And seven dishes are served for the seven wounds of Christ on the cross. They are made from vegetables, eggs and fish – one of them will be mullet with olives, another with salt cod with raita. There will be anchoiade (p. 54) with celery and cardoons with an anchovy sauce (p. 49). As far as the mullet is concerned, there are a number of variations you can make to the basic recipe, and I recommend that you eat it cold.
Once the seven dishes have been dispatched, and a salad of curly endive to remind us of the curly head of the Infant Jesus, the thirteen desserts are put on the table so that people can chat and nibble away until it is time to leave for the church. But that is another story.
Serves 4
1 kg (2 lb) grey mullet
salt, pepper
1 small handful of parsley leaves
2 large cloves garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
seasoned flour
juice of 1 large lemon or 4 tablespoons dry white wine
2 bay leaves
125 g (4 oz) mixed black and green olives, blanched for 3–4 minutes in boiling water
slices of lemon or orange to decorate
Preheat the oven to gas 7, 220°C (425°F).
Season the cavity of the mullet. Chop parsley and garlic together. Heat the oil in a shallow, flameproof baking dish that will hold the mullet comfortably, and cook the parsley mixture for about 3 minutes over a low heat.
Turn the fish in the flour, shaking off any excess, and put it into the oil. After a few seconds, turn it over. Add the lemon juice or white wine, bay leaves, olives and 200 ml (7 fl oz) of water. Season and simmer 5 minutes, then put into the oven.
Allow 10 minutes for 2 mullet, 15 minutes for 1 large one. Baste once.
When the fish is just cooked – it is particularly important to avoid overcooking if the mullet is to be eaten cold, since it will cook