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SOLE (a la Ravigote)
Scale and wash a pair of soles, but do not empty them; run a knife between the bone and the flesh, and remove the fillets. Skin them, cut them in two, put them into a sautepan or stewpan, cover them with melted butter, and dust them over with pepper and salt; fry them over a brisk fire, turning them so that they may be cooked equally on both sides. When done, drain them on a sheet of white paper, and pour over them a sauce Ravigote (see RAVIGOTE SAUCE).
A plain shallow-fried fillet whose whole character depends on the sauce poured over it at the end. The instructions are terse because Cassell's assumed you could already lift a fillet from a flatfish.
- The hinge: do not overcookSole fillets from a pair of ordinary soles are thin, and "a brisk fire" means they need roughly two minutes a side over medium-high heat, not longer. The flesh should just turn opaque and part into flakes; past that it tightens and dries.
- "Do not empty them"There is no need to gut the fish because you are removing the fillets from the outside and discarding the frame with the gut intact. If you buy fillets ready-cut, skip straight to the skinning and cutting; a pair of soles yields eight fillets, which the recipe then cuts in two.
- Which soleThe book most likely means Dover sole, a firm, expensive fish. Lemon sole, witch, or flounder fillets can be substituted, though they are softer, may need slightly different timing, and want careful turning with a fish slice.
- "Cover them with melted butter"This is a shallow fry in a generous depth of butter, not a poach. Clarified butter is far better here, since whole butter's milk solids will scorch at the heat the recipe asks for.
- Drain on white paperKitchen paper on a warm plate. The point is to shed the frying butter so the ravigote is not slicked with fat.
- Ravigote sauceRavigote exists in two forms: a hot version, a velout ed or butter sauce sharpened with vinegar, shallot and herbs, and a cold vinaigrette style with capers, herbs and mustard. Which of these Cassell's gives under its own headword is not clear from this page; either suits the fish. Make it before you fry, as the fillets will not wait.
- YieldA pair of soles serves two as a main course, or four as a first course.
Ravigote comes from the French ravigoter, to revive or perk up, and the name is a fair description of what the sauce does: vinegar, shallot, capers and a handful of green herbs cut the richness of a butter-fried fish. Nineteenth-century French kitchens kept two versions, a hot one built on velout ed or butter and a cold vinaigrette. Sole was the prestige flatfish of Victorian London, landed at Billingsgate in quantity, and Cassell's lists dish after dish under the same headword; in this particular dish the fish is cooked plainly, with the interest carried by the sauce that names it.