Pike (a la Genevoise)
From Cassell's dictionary of cookery, 1892
Serves 4
Court bouillon can be reused if boiled with additional water.
Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation below, not the original instructions.
A modern interpretation · AI-generated from the original record
Ingredients
Method
As published
This recipe was extracted from Cassell's dictionary of cookery (1892) by Cassell & Company, page 1208. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.
Pike (a la Genevoise) . — Pike which has lost its first freshness is sometimes stewed in rich stock and wine, so as to disguise its condition. For fresh fish this mode of cookery is quite unnecessary. Clean the pike weU, without scaling it. Put it into a fish-kettle just large «nough to contain it, and strain over it as much hot court bouillon — mixed with whatever pro- portion of wine may be wished — as will cover it. Set it on the fire, and let it stew gently until done enough. Drain the pike, and scale it thoroughly. Put it into a clean pan with as much of the liquid as will moisten it, and add half a pint of white stock, a little salt and cayenne, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovies, and a table-spoonful of lemon-juice. Thicken the sauce with a tea-spoonful of roux, or with a small lump of butter rolled in flour. Let it boil until smooth. Lay the fish on a hot dish, strain part of the sauce over it, and send the rest to table in a tureen. Court bouillon is a sort of broth which is made to boil fresh- water fish in ; it may be used several times if it is "boiled up every foiir days with an additional pint of water. Each successive boiling wiU make it richer. It is prepared as foUows : — Boil a sliced carrot, an onion, a bunch of parsley, a sprig of thj-me, a bay-leaf, haK a dozen peppercorns, half a dozen cloves, and a shallot, with an ounce of fresh butter, for ten minutes. Add two quarts of water and half a pint of ■vinegar, and simmer the liquid gently ior an hour. Strain it, and, if hked, before using it, mix a httle light wine with it. This bouillon will be found an excellent foundation for fish sauces. Some cooks pour boiling vinegar over the pike, and let it lie in it for two or three •days before dressing as above. Time to boil, according to size. A medium-sized pike ^viU take half an hour. When the flesh wiU leave the bones easily the fish is done enough. Pike, Baked. — Take a fresh pike weigh- ing not less than four, nor more than eight, pounds. Wash it thoroughly, and scale it. The best way to do this is to pour boiling water over it until the scales look dull, then plunge it at once in cold water, and immediately remove the scales with the back of a knife. Wipe the fish dry in every part, fill it with a good veal stufiing, or oyster stufiing, or with forcemeat {see Pike, Stufiing for). Truss it in a circle by tying the head and tail together, passing the taU between the jaws. Put it into a shallow circular dish, lay haK a pound of butter broken into small pieces here and there upon it, and put with it a pint of broth or water, or flour and water, a minced shallot, and a little chopped parsley. Put it into a moderate oven, and bake untQ done enough. Baste frequently with the gra\y, and be care- ful that the pike is gently cooked, or it wiU be dry and unpalatable. When it is done, lift the fish out very carefully, and put it on a hot dish ; then strain the gravy, thicken it with two ounces of butter mixed with two ounces of flour, add a table-spoonful of mushroom ket- chup, or a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy, a little salt and cayenne, a glass of sherry, and two or three chopped gherkins. Boil the sauce for ten minutes, pour part of it over the pike, and send the rest to table in a tui-een. If pre- ferred, the pike may be baked without being stuffed. Less time wiU then be required to cook it. Time to bake a moderate-sized fish, thirty to forty minutes ; for a large fish allow one hour to one horn- and a quarter. Suflicient for eight or nine persons. Probable cost, un- certain. It is, of course, impossible to give the exact time required for baking and roasting pike, as it varies with the heat of the oven and the size of the fish. When the flesh leaves the bone easUy in the thickest part it is done enough. As pike is naturally a very dry fish, it is important that it should be taken out of the oven as soon as, though not before, it is done. Pike, Baked (another way). — Wash, scale, and empty the fish, and dry it perfectly in every part. Fill it or not with forcemeat, and skewer it with its tail in its mouth. If the fish is not stufl'ed, sprinkle a little salt and cayenne in the inside, and place an ounce of butter there. Egg and bread-crumb it twice. Season the bread- crmnbs with salt and cayenne, and mix with them a third of their quantity in shred parsley. Pour a little clarified butter over the fish, and bake in a moderate oven. Lay a buttered paper over the dish. Any good fish sauce may bo sent to table with pike dressed in this way. Time to bake, tliirty to forty minutes for a moderate-sized fish. Probable cost, uncertain. Sufficient for five or six persons. Pike, Baked (another way). — Prepare the flesh of a pike
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Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.