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Roulettes, Fish
Take perch, pike, or cod; boil and pick away all bone and skin. To every half-pound of picked fish, take one ounce of flour; brown the flour in two ounces of butter, and thin it with milk till it becomes a thickish paste; add the fish to this paste along with a little pounded mace and salt; give it a boil up, set aside till cold; then cut up, and proceed as directed in the previous recipe.
A fish croquette in all but name: a very stiff white sauce bound with cooked flaked fish, chilled until sliceable, then shaped, coated and fried. The paste must be thick enough to set hard, or nothing after it will work.
- The missing instruction"Proceed as directed in the previous recipe" points to a preceding entry not reproduced here. For roulettes of this type the usual finish was to shape the cold mixture into small rolls or corks, dip in beaten egg, roll in fine breadcrumbs and fry in deep fat until brown, then drain on paper and serve hot. No temperature or timing is given in the text; modern deep-frying practice would be roughly 350-360F for a few minutes.
- Proportions in modern termsPer 8 oz picked cooked fish: 1 oz flour (about 3 1/2 tablespoons) cooked in 2 oz butter (4 tablespoons), let down with roughly 1/2 cup milk. Add the milk slowly and stop while the roux is still a heavy paste that holds the trace of a spoon.
- Do not thin it like a sauceThis is the hinge of the recipe. A pouring consistency will never chill firm enough to cut, and the roulettes will burst in the fat. If in doubt, make it too stiff.
- Chilling"Set aside till cold" means thoroughly cold. Spread the mixture about 3/4 inch deep in an oiled tray and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight; it should be firm and dry to the touch before you cut it.
- Browning the flourThe flour is browned deliberately, giving a nutty blond roux rather than a white sauce. Keep it moving over medium heat for 3-4 minutes; scorched flour will taste bitter against delicate fish.
- The fishPerch and pike are hard to buy now, and pike is stiff with fine Y-bones; the recipe's instruction to pick away all bone and skin applies to whichever fish is used. Cod, haddock, pollock or any firm white fish works; poach it, drain well, and flake with your fingers so no bone escapes. Wet fish will loosen the paste, so press out moisture.
- MacePounded mace is the outer covering of nutmeg, milder and more floral. Ground mace from a jar is fine; use about 1/8 teaspoon for this quantity, since it turns soapy in excess.
- YieldAbout 8 to 10 small roulettes, enough for two as a main course with a green sauce or lemon, or four as a first course.
Cassell's places this among the fish made-dishes. The technique is the panada, a flour-and-butter paste stiff enough to bind chopped meat or fish, which underpins the whole nineteenth-century family of croquettes, cromesquis and quenelles; "roulette" here is often taken to refer to the small rolled shape. The choice of perch and pike is a reminder that Victorian British kitchens still cooked a good deal of freshwater fish, both bony enough that picking the flesh clean was routine work rather than a special instruction. Frying in deep fat is called for without any explanation of the apparatus.