Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (21 page)

PREPARING FISH FOR COOKING

Small fish (6 to 8 inches) for stews and chowders are cleaned and scaled, and left whole. Larger fish, after cleaning and scaling, are cut into slices ¾ to 1 inch thick. Very large fish are cut into thick fillets or steaks, and then into serving pieces about 3 by 4 inches in diameter. Bones and skin are usually not removed, but you may do so if you wish. As soon as you have prepared the fish, wrap and refrigerate it until you are ready to cook. Make fish stock out of scraps, heads, skin, and so forth (Volume I, page 114).

MATELOTES, MEURETTES, PAUCHOUSES

[Burgundy Fish Stew with Wine, Onions,
Lardons
, and Mushrooms]

You might call this dish the fisherman’s
coq au vin
, fish simmered in wine with onions, pork bits, and mushrooms, and the wine becomes the sauce. Even those who are not enthusiastic fish eaters usually love this recipe, and although it is supposed to be made with fresh-water fish or eels alone, we have
used ocean fish like halibut, haddock, or scallops with complete success. As usual with French regional recipes, you can have endless arguments as to whether a
matelote
is cooked with red wine or white, or if it is only the
pauchouse
(spelled
pôchouse
by some) that simmers in white wine, and only the
meurette
that has
lardons
of pork, or vice versa, including a garnish of poached eggs and truffles for some versions. We shall not enter into the argument at all except to say that either a fish-stock or clam-juice base to the sauce is essential, or your
matelote/meurette/pauchouse
will lack the savor and character it must have.

If this is a main course, you may wish to add a side dish of boiled potatoes to eat with the stew, as well as plenty of French bread. Serve either a strong dry white wine or a red, preferably Burgundy, to match whichever wine cooked with the fish. A green salad or cold vegetables vinaigrette could follow the stew, and then cheese and fruit or a dessert.

For 4 to 6 people

1)
The sauce base

¼ lb. (½ cup) fresh fat-and-lean pork belly or butt, or a chunk of salt pork, or bacon

A 4- to 5-quart flameproof casserole or saucepan

1 Tb pork fat or cooking oil

Either
2 cups sliced onions;

Or
½ cup sliced onions and 24 to 30 braised onions to be added at end of cooking

2 Tb flour

Cut pork into
lardons
1 inch long and ¼ inch thick. If you are using salt pork or bacon, drop into 2 quarts of water, simmer 10 minutes, drain, rinse, and dry in paper towels. Cook with the pork fat or oil over moderately low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until pork is very lightly browned. Then stir in the sliced onions, cover pan, and cook slowly for about 5 minutes until onions are tender. Raise heat and brown very lightly. Sprinkle on the flour and stir over moderately high heat to cook and brown the flour for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

2 cups
either
red wine such as Côtes-du-Rhône or Mountain Red;
or
dry white wine such as Côtes-du-Rhöne or Pinot Blanc;
or
1½ cups dry white French vermouth

2 cups fish stock or clam juice

Big pinch pepper

1 imported bay leaf

2 allspice berries

½ tsp thyme

1 clove garlic, mashed

Salt (none if using clam juice)

Gradually stir in the liquids to blend smoothly with the flour. Add the herbs and garlic and bring to the simmer. Salt lightly to taste. Simmer half an hour. Liquid should be lightly thickened; thin out with a little more wine or stock if necessary. Carefully correct seasoning.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: May be cooked in advance; when cool, cover and refrigerate.

2)
Optional additions—to be prepared in advance of final cooking

1 lb. fresh mushrooms, quartered and sautéed in butter

8 to 12 canapés (triangles of crustless homemade-type white bread sautéed in clarified butter)

The mushrooms may be sautéed and set aside in a covered dish; they will simmer in the sauce just before serving. Reheat the canapés in the oven for several minutes before serving.

3)
Finishing the stew and serving

Either
2 to 2½ lbs. fish from the
list
, one or several varieties prepared as described;

Or
scallops only

More stock or clam juice if needed

Twenty minutes before you wish to serve, bring the sauce base to the boil and add the fish. Pour on more liquid if necessary, so fish is just covered. Rapidly bring back to the boil and boil slowly 8 to 10 minutes (3 to 4 minutes only for scallops) until fish is done; flesh comes easily from bone, or will just flake—do not overcook.

A hot serving dish

The optional braised onions and sautéed mushrooms

Parsley sprigs or minced fresh parsley

The optional canapés

Arrange fish on hot dish, cover, and keep warm. Skim off any surface fat and rapidly boil down sauce, if necessary, to concentrate its flavor or to thicken it. Add optional braised onions and/or mushrooms and simmer for a moment to blend flavors. Carefully correct seasoning. Spoon sauce and vegetables over fish, decorate with parsley and optional canapés, and serve immediately.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: If you find you cannot serve immediately, return fish to pan after sauce has been finished and optional vegetables added. Remove from heat, and just before serving reheat to the simmer, basting fish with sauce until hot through.

MARMITE AUX FRUITS DE MER—MARMITE DIEPPOISE—CHAUDRÉE NORMANDE

[Normandy-style Fish Stew with Sole, Shellfish, and White-wine Sauce]

When you order
marmite dieppoise
in Dieppe on the Normandy coast or at Prunier’s in Paris, you are served an elegant combination of channel sole, turbot, red mullet, mussels, shrimps, scallops, and
langoustines
, those small, European, lobsterlike prawns, all steaming together in an abundant, deliciously winey-smelling, ivory-colored sauce. It will cost you quite a number of francs, since
marmite dieppoise
is definitely in the luxury category. This is another dish we cannot fully duplicate in America because channel soles, turbots, mullets, and
langoustines
do not live here, but other soles, halibuts, and lobsters do, as do shrimp, scallops, and mussels. The following recipe, therefore, is an overseas version of the original. You may serve the
marmite
as a first course, although we suggest it as the main attraction of the meal. You could start with a
pâté
or
a saucisson en brioche
, follow with asparagus or artichokes vinaigrette, and it would be fully in the Normandy tradition to end with an apple dessert such as the
individual soufflés
, or the
tarte aux pommes
. With the
marmite
itself, serve a fine white Burgundy, Graves, or Gewürtztraminer.