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Haddock, Broiled
Draw and clean the fish, and wipe it perfectly dry. Dip it in oil or clarified butter, dredge some flour over it, and broil it over a clear fire on a gridiron. Turn it two or three times, and when it is browned on both sides, serve it on a napkin, and send shrimp, or anchovy sauce to table with it. Time, ten or fifteen minutes. Probable cost, 9d. and upwards. Sufficient for two or three persons.
A plain grilled fish, and the method survives intact — the only real work is translating the fire and the fish size.
- Fish sizeThe recipe serves two or three, which points to a small whole haddock rather than a large one. A large fillet-sized haddock will not cook evenly this way; ask for a small whole fish or use whole fillets and shorten the time.
- "A clear fire"This means coals burned down past the flame stage, glowing and ash-grey — no smoke, no leaping fire. Under a modern broiler, preheat fully and set the fish about 4 inches from the element; on charcoal, wait for even grey coals.
- GridironA hinged fish grill or a well-oiled ridged grill pan does the same job. The point of dipping in oil and dredging with flour is to keep skin from welding to the bars; do not skip either, and oil the grid as well.
- Clarified butterUsed here because whole butter burns over coals. Clarified butter or ghee still behaves best; ordinary olive oil is fine and closer to what most cooks have to hand.
- TimingTen to fifteen minutes suits a whole small fish turned two or three times. Fillets need 3–5 minutes a side. Fish is done when the flesh at the thickest point turns opaque and parts from the bone; haddock is delicate and dries out quickly past that.
- ScoringNot in the original, but two or three shallow diagonal slashes through the thickest part of a whole fish let heat in and stop the skin curling on the grid.
- Serving on a napkinA folded linen napkin on the platter absorbed drips and steam so the crust stayed crisp. A warmed plate lined with a folded cloth does the same, or simply serve straight from the grill.
- The saucesShrimp sauce is a butter sauce with peeled small shrimp folded in; anchovy sauce is the same base sharpened with anchovy paste or essence. Either can be made while the fish cooks — a simple butter-and-lemon sauce is the modern equivalent.
Haddock was one of the cheapest fish on the British market at the time Cassell's was compiled, landed in quantity from the North Sea and priced here at ninepence and upwards — a sum that put it within reach of households well below the ones buying turbot or salmon. Broiling over a gridiron was the standard treatment for small whole fish in coal-fired kitchens: it needed no oven, no fat bath and very little fuel, only a fire allowed to burn clear. The pairing with shrimp or anchovy sauce reflects the Victorian habit of answering a mild white fish with something salty and marine rather than acidic.