778—The Cooking of Fish à la Meunière

This excellent mode of procedure is only suited to small fish or the slices of larger ones. Nevertheless, it may be resorted to for chicken-turbots, provided their weight do not exceed four lbs.

The operation consists in cooking the fish (or slices or fillets of fish) in the frying-pan with very hot butter, after having seasoned them and sprinkled them with flour. If the fish are very small, ordinary butter is used; if, on the other hand, they are large, the procedure demands clarified butter. When the fish is sufficiently coloured on one side, it is turned over for the completion of the operation. This done, it is transferred, by means of a spatula, to a hot dish, whereon, after having been salted, it is sent to the table.

It may be served as it is with a garnish of trimmed half-lemons.

Fish prepared in this way are termed “dorés” (gilded), “Soles dorés,” “Turbotins dorés,” &c., in order to distinguish them from those prepared à la Meunière.

If the fish is announced “à la Meunière,” a few drops of lemon should be sprinkled upon it; it should be seasoned with salt and pepper, and garnished with concassed, scalded parsley. At the last moment a piece of butter, in proportion to the size of the fish, is put in the frying-pan, and is heated until it begins to brown slightly. This is poured over the fish immediately, and the latter is sent to the table at once while still covered by the froth resulting from the contact of the butter with the parsley.