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Mackerel, Broiled, and Tarragon Butter
Remove the inside of the fish, without opening it, through the gills and vent. Wash, clean, dry, and make a deep incision down the back; lay the fish in a little salad-oil; keep it well basted for about three-quarters of an hour, but cut off the nose or part of the head and tail before it is steeped in the oil. Broil over a clear fire, and when done, have ready the following mixture, with which fill up the incision. Work together a little butter, pepper, salt, and tarragon-leaves chopped and steeped in vinegar. When ready, serve the mackerel with some of the butter spread over it on a hot dish. Time, from ten to fifteen minutes to broil. Probable cost, 4d. to 6d. each.
A straightforward grilled mackerel with a compound herb butter; the only real translation needed is the vocabulary and the heat source.
- "Broil" means grill over coalsIn British usage of this period, broiling is cooking on a gridiron over glowing fire, not under an overhead element. A charcoal grill is closest; a ridged cast-iron pan or an overhead broiler set high both work, with the fish about 4 inches from the element.
- Gutting through the gillsThe point of drawing the fish through the gill opening and vent is to leave the belly closed so it holds its shape on the grill. A fishmonger will do this if asked; otherwise gut conventionally and the dish is unharmed.
- The incision down the backA deep cut down the back lets heat into the thickest part so the fish cooks through in the ten to fifteen minutes given, and gives you a pocket for the butter. On a larger fish, skipping it risks flesh still underdone at the spine.
- Salad-oilNineteenth-century salad-oil generally means olive oil. Any neutral or light olive oil is fine. Forty-five minutes of oiling and basting is a marinade, not a cure; twenty minutes is enough if you are pressed.
- Quantities for the butterNone are given. For two fish, work 3 oz (85 g) softened butter with a tablespoon of chopped tarragon that has sat in a teaspoon or two of white wine vinegar, plus salt and pepper. Chill it briefly so it does not run off the plate.
- DonenessTen to fifteen minutes suits mackerel of about 3/4 lb (350 g), turned once. The flesh should be opaque to the bone and pull cleanly from it; mackerel is oily and forgiving but dries out quickly past that point.
- Cost and yieldFourpence to sixpence each puts this at the cheap end of the fish dishes. One mackerel per person, with the nose or part of the head, and the tail, trimmed as directed before the fish goes into the oil.
Mackerel was the classic cheap fish of British ports, so perishable before refrigeration that it was one of the few goods licensed for street sale in London on a Sunday, and street cries for fresh mackerel are recorded across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its oiliness makes it well suited to the gridiron and to sharp accompaniments, which is why the standard pairings are all acidic: gooseberry sauce, sorrel, mustard, or, as here, tarragon steeped in vinegar. The tarragon butter itself belongs to the family of beurres composés that Cassell's borrows freely from French practice, the same idea as the better-known maître d'hôtel butter with parsley and lemon. The recipe directs that it be tucked into a slit cut along the backbone, so that the butter seasons the interior as it melts rather than merely sitting on top.