Sole au Chambertin

Sole au Chambertin (sole poached in Chambertin) teaches that a red wine sauce can meet delicate fish without bullying it, provided the fish and the reduction stop cooking on different clocks. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is this: once the sole is just cooked, it leaves the wine. The liquor must reduce alone, or the sauce stays thin while the fish turns dry.

The book's kitchen assumed a saucier to watch that reduction, a hot cupboard to hold the sole, a salamander ready for the glaze, and another pair of hands frying the julienne at the last moment. At home, a small saucepan, a warmed ovenproof platter, and a household broiler do those jobs in sequence. The hot cupboard and extra hands are brigade scaffolding, so they go; the Chambertin poach, the half reduction, the beurre manié (kneaded butter) supplied as Manied Butter (No. 151), the cold butter finish, the quick glaze, and the crisp sole julienne are the dish, so every one stays. Two large soles serve four. One cook, one stove, one evening.

The sauce should arrive wine-dark but not harsh, glossy with butter, with the fried matchsticks cracking lightly under the fork. Measure the liquor before and after reduction rather than trusting the clock. Reducing it to half, no less and no more, is the step that decides Sole au Chambertin.