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By Root 853 0

and opera stars, les grandes horizontales and the smart resorts they adorned, the characters and places of history which give such a picture of that age and its more frivolous preoccupations, when the words ‘earthenware dish’ caught my eye. The Empress Eugénie or the American soprano Mary Garden may be honoured in porcelain and crystal dishes, what has earthenware to do with Escoffier? It appeared in a trim little recipe, very direct, after a dish dedicated to the Great Condé in which sole fillets covered with a white wine sauce were picked out with lines of buttered tomato purée and decorated like shields with crosses piped in the same purée (perhaps this was the device of that famous soldier?). The earthenware dish recipe was also for sole, but I find it most useful for the many more times I have haddock to cook, and other less glorious fish of the cod family. It must entirely have reminded Escoffier of the implicities of his childhood in Provence.

Choose an earthenware dish that will just accommodate in a single layer the number of haddock fillets you are intending to cook. Butter it, put in the fish, skin side down, and season. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to gas 5–6, 190–200 °C (375–400 °F).

Peel and slice enough young courgettes to make a single layer on top of the fish. Butter a sauté pan and put in the slices with 2–3 fine ripe tomatoes that have been skinned, seeded and roughly chopped. You need enough to make a light moistness. Add a few drops of lemon and some seasoning. Cook gently until almost done. When you turn the slices, add 2–3 sprigs of basil.

Spread the courgettes over the fish evenly. Sprinkle with a layer of crumbs from day-old bread. Bake for upwards of 15 minutes – time will depend on the thickness of the fish – ‘so as to cook the fillets and brown the crumbs at the same time. Serve in the dish just as it is.’

GREEN FISH SOUP

A most attractive and unusual soup that demands no particular local genius of a fishmonger or greengrocer. Anyone could make it, I would say, anywhere above – or below – the tropics. Something of a relief to the writer of a fish cookery book. One spends so much time trying to come by a few squid or an ambulant crab or prawns that are not weighed down with icy jackets. For this original soup made from such unoriginal ingredients, we have to thank Marion Jones of the Croque-en-bouche restaurant in Malvern. She is a cook of verve and ingenuity.

Serves 8

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 small leek, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons plain flour

1 litre (1¾ pt) fish stock, flavoured with fennel

salt, pepper, nutmeg

500 g (1 lb) skinned fillet of haddock, whiting, hake or ling, cut up

375 g (12 oz) sprouting broccoli or Calabrese, prepared weight

about 6 tablespoons single cream (optional)

Sweat onion and leek in the butter until soft, without colouring them. Stir in the flour, cook gently for a few minutes, then stir in half the stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season the liquid and add the fish. Cook for 1 minute and leave to cool down. Blend at top speed, or process and sieve until very smooth.

Meanwhile, chop all the broccoli or Calabrese except for a few flowering heads to use as garnish. Cook in enough salted water to cover, resting the heads on top so that they steam; do not put the lid on the pan. Remove the heads carefully and set aside. Sieve the rest of the contents of the pan into the soup, liquor included. Or use the blender. Dilute further to taste with the remaining fish stock and, if necessary, a little extra water.

Reheat carefully, check the seasoning and stir in the cream, if used. Float the broccoli or Calabrese heads on top.

GRILLED HADDOCK WITH LIME AND GINGER BUTTER

When you experiment with fish and unaccustomed spices and flavourings, you can minimize possible disaster by grilling it plainly and then blending the new items into a flavoured butter. Not that I anticipate anyone would dislike haddock with lime and ginger butter, which is a delicate combination, lovely to look