818—Sole Alice

This sole is prepared, or rather its preparation is completed, at the table.

Have an excellent fish fumet (No. 11, White Fish Stock), short and very white. Trim the sole; put it into a special, deep earthenware dish, the bottom of which should be buttered; pour the fumet over it and poach gently.

Now send it to the table with a plate containing separate heaps of one finely-chopped onion, a little powdered thyme, and three finely-crushed biscottes.

In the dining-room the waiter places the dish on a chafer, and, taking off the sole, he raises the fillets therefrom, and places them between two hot plates. He then adds to the cooking-liquor of the sole the chopped onion, which he leaves to cook for a few moments, the powdered thyme and a sufficient quantity of the biscotte raspings to allow of thickening the whole.

At the last minute he adds six raw oysters and one oz. of butter divided into small pieces.

As soon as the oysters are stiff, he returns the fillets of sole to the dish, besprinkles them copiously with the sauce, and then serves them very hot.

N.B.—In order to promote the poaching of the soles, more particularly when they are large, the fillets on the upper side of the fish should be slightly separated from the bones. By this means the heat is able to reach the inside of the fish very quickly, and the operation is accelerated.

The sole is always laid on the dish with its opened side undermost—that is to say, on its back.