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Dory, Boiled
Cut off the fins, and lay the fish in a kettle of cold water, salted in the proportion of three ounces of salt to one gallon of water. Let the water cover the fish, bring it to a boil gradually, and simmer till done. Be careful not to break the skin. This unsightly, but very excellent fish, is a near approach to the turbot in the delicacy and firmness of the flesh. It is boiled and served in the same manner as turbot, with lobster, anchovy, or shrimp sauce, and plain melted butter. Serve on a napkin neatly rolled round the edge. Time, twenty to twenty-five minutes, according to size, after the water boils. (See also JOHN DORY.)
A short, plain method for a whole flat-bodied fish, written when boiling was the default treatment for anything destined for a white sauce. The salting ratio and the timing are the two things worth translating.
- The fishJohn Dory (Zeus faber) is sold whole, head on, and yields far less than its bulk suggests — the head and the spiny frame account for over half the weight. A 2 lb fish feeds two. Fillets are common now and are better poached briefly rather than by this method.
- TrimmingThe dorsal spines are long, stiff and genuinely sharp; take them off with scissors rather than a knife, and handle the fish from the tail end.
- The brineThree ounces of salt is roughly 85 g. To an imperial gallon (4.5 litres) that is a little under 2 per cent; to a US gallon (3.8 litres), a little over. Either way it is a seasoning brine, not a cure. It keeps the flesh firm and stops it leaching flavour into the water.
- Cold-water startThis matters for a whole fish. Going in cold and rising gradually lets the interior and exterior come up together, so the skin does not split before the centre sets.
- TimingTwenty to twenty-five minutes after boiling point is too long by modern standards and will give you cotton-wool flesh. Reckon on 8–10 minutes per inch of thickness at the shoulder, at a bare simmer, and check that the flesh parts cleanly from the backbone.
- "Simmer till done"Never let it return to a rolling boil once it has come up — the movement of the water is what tears the skin, and a broken John Dory looks worse than most fish because the skin is so thin.
- The napkinA folded linen napkin on the platter absorbed the poaching water that drains off a boiled fish. A wire rack set over a warm dish, or a few seconds' rest on a clean towel before plating, does the same job.
- The saucesLobster, anchovy and shrimp sauces are close relatives: a butter sauce, usually thickened with flour, flavoured or enriched with the named ingredient. Any of them, or simply melted butter with lemon, still suits the fish.
John Dory has been eaten around the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast of Europe for centuries, and Victorian cookery writers could be apologetic about its looks while praising its flesh — Cassell's "unsightly, but very excellent" is one such formula. The dark thumbprint-shaped spot on each flank gave rise to the tradition that it is the mark of St Peter's finger, which is why the fish is called saint-pierre in French and pesce San Pietro in Italian; the English name is often said to come from the French doré, gilded, though the derivation is disputed and "John" has never been satisfactorily explained. The comparison to turbot here is the highest praise a nineteenth-century English cook could offer, and it also tells you why the recipe exists in this form: turbot was expensive, dory was cheap, and the same battery of shellfish sauces would cover both.