Fried Sole. — The Sole must be well dried after it is
cleaned, and a dredging of flour will complete the drying.
Crumble some stale bread as small as you can in a napkin, set
it in the oven to crisp but not to brown, pound the crumbs in a
mortar, and pass them through a stiff wire-sieve. Put them
on a plate in the oven to dry thoroughly. Beat up an egg with
a teaspoonful of water and a teaspoonful of salad oil. Coat
the Sole with this mixture of egg, laying it on with a brush
like varnish, and then roll the Sole over and over in a napkin
containing the dry crumbs. Let it rest and dry. When the
Sole has become dry, crumb it a second time, using now pale
yellowish-brown raspings of crust , sifted and pounded. Fry in
plenty of really boiling oil or fat, or the Sole will be limp. It
will take from ten to twelve minutes to fry. Drain it well.
By following this method the Fried Sole will be found as
different as possible from the flabby greasy object, covered with
lumps of various sizes, which generally represents the “ Nice
Fried Sole, Sir,” proffered as a matter of course by the hotel
waiter. All fish to be egged and breadcrumbed should be
prepared in this way.
The best sauce for a Fried Sole is the real Dutch sauce, or
beurre fondu, not to be confounded with melted butter or
Hollandaise. For this, put two ounces of fresh butter into a
small saucepan with half a saltspoonful of salt. Stir with a
wooden spoon over the fire till the butter is half melted.
Then take it off the fire, and let the butter sro on meltiner of
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74
SEA FISH
itself in the hot pan. Empty it into a very hot sauceboat,
metal if possible, and add either a dessertspoonful of lemon
juice or the same quantity of anchovy vinegar.
Sole a la Colbert, — Skin the Sole, make an incision along
the backbone on the under or dark side, from an inch of the
head to within an inch of the tail. Slip a knife under the
flesh on each side of the cut, and loosen it from the bones ;
snip the backbone with a pair of nippers in three or four
places, so that it can be easily removed afterwards. Egg and
breadcrumb twice as above, and fry with the cut side upper-
most. The edges of the incision will curl outwards in the
process of frying, and the opening thus made should be filled
at the time of serving with an ounce of maitre d’hotel butter
(p. 75), the Sole being sprinkled with fine salt. To do this
while the Sole is being drained, after the frying, the backbone
should be carefully removed, and the butter, ready melted,
poured into the cavity. [ Wyvern. ] Or fill the cavity with an
ounce of green butter, and call the dish Soleau beurr evert. For
green butter Wyvern s recipe is : W eigh a quarter of a ✪ Boiled Sole
Page 43 · 3 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Fried Sole. — The Sole must be well dried after it is cleaned, and a dredging of flour will complete the drying. Crumble some stale bread as small as you can in a napkin, set it in the oven to crisp but not to brown, pound the crumbs in a mortar, and pass them through a stiff wire-sieve. Put them on a plate in the oven to dry thoroughly. Beat up an egg with a teaspoonful of water and a teaspoonful of salad oil. Coat the Sole with this mixture of egg, laying it on with a brush like varnish, and then roll the Sole over and over in a napkin containing the dry crumbs. Let it rest and dry. When the Sole has become dry, crumb it a second time, using now pale yellowish-brown raspings of crust , sifted and pounded. Fry in plenty of really boiling oil or fat, or the Sole will be limp. It will take from ten to twelve minutes to fry. Drain it well.
By following this method the Fried Sole will be found as different as possible from the flabby greasy object, covered with lumps of various sizes, which generally represents the “ Nice Fried Sole, Sir,” proffered as a matter of course by the hotel waiter. All fish to be egged and breadcrumbed should be prepared in this way.
The best sauce for a Fried Sole is the real Dutch sauce, or beurre fondu, not to be confounded with melted butter or Hollandaise. For this, put two ounces of fresh butter into a small saucepan with half a saltspoonful of salt. Stir with a wooden spoon over the fire till the butter is half melted. Then take it off the fire, and let the butter go on melting of
o O
itself in the hot pan. Empty it into a very hot sauceboat, metal if possible, and add either a dessertspoonful of lemon juice or the same quantity of anchovy vinegar.
Sole à la Colbert, — Skin the Sole, make an incision along the backbone on the under or dark side, from an inch of the head to within an inch of the tail. Slip a knife under the flesh on each side of the cut, and loosen it from the bones ; snip the backbone with a pair of nippers in three or four places, so that it can be easily removed afterwards. Egg and breadcrumb twice as above, and fry with the cut side uppermost. The edges of the incision will curl outwards in the process of frying, and the opening thus made should be filled at the time of serving with an ounce of maitre d’hotel butter (p. 75), the Sole being sprinkled with fine salt. To do this while the Sole is being drained, after the frying, the backbone should be carefully removed, and the butter, ready melted, poured into the cavity. [Wyvern.] Or fill the cavity with an ounce of green butter, and call the dish Sole au beurre vert. For green butter Wyvern's recipe is: Weigh a quarter of a
Records on this page
Boiled SoleFried SoleSole a la Colbert