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Sole, Fried
Choose a sole weighing from three-quarters of a pound to a pound. Scrape thoroughly, cut off the fins and gills, wash the fish well, and wipe it dry; take off the dark skin, by cutting it at the tail and drawing it over the head. The roes may either be taken out, or left in and fried with the fish. Dry the sole thoroughly, flour it, and brush it over on both sides with well-beaten yolk of egg; shake very finely-grated crumbs of bread all over, and leave it in a cool place for an hour, if time will permit. Put into a frying-pan as much good dripping as will, when melted, cover the fish. When it is quite hot-that is, when it ceases hissing and is still-immediately put the fish into it. When it is brown on one side, turn it upon the other by means of a strong fork stuck firmly into the head of the fish. When done enough, which point is generally reached when a thick smoke rises from it, place it on a hot cloth, and put it in the front of the fire to drain the fat from it. The cook should on no account omit to do this, as greasy fish is exceedingly unpleasant. Place a warm napkin over a fish strainer on a dish, lay the sole upon it, and garnish with fried parsley. Send melted butter or shrimp sauce to table in a tureen. The inexperienced cook will find it to her advantage to use very fine bread-raspings, or crusts of bread dried in the oven and finely pounded, instead of bread-crumbs. By using these she will ensure the good appearance of the fish. It should be remembered that fat which has been used for frying fish can be used (for that purpose only) again and again if immediately after being used it is cooled a little, then poured through a metal strainer to free it from crumbs, and make it pure and clean, and put aside in a cool place for future use. Great care must be taken to prevent it burning, and fresh fat may be added when necessary. Sometimes, when a sole is held up to the light, though it is fresh, a dark streak may be seen by the side of the roe. This arises from the fish having been so closely packed with the others after it was caught, that it was literally smothered to death. In cases like this the roe should be removed before the fish is fried. When eggs are scarce or expensive, a thin batter of flour and water may be used instead of egg and bread-crumbs. Time to fry a moderate-sized sole with plenty of fat, ten minutes. Probable cost, soles, 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per pair. Sufficient, one pair of soles for three or four persons.
A whole flatfish shallow-fried in enough fat to cover it — closer to what we would now call deep-frying in a skillet. Two instructions in the original need rethinking: the smoke test for doneness and the drying of the fish before crumbing.
- Ignore the smoke signal"A thick smoke rises from it" means the dripping has passed its smoke point and is breaking down, not that the fish is ready. The recipe's own timing is ten minutes for a moderate-sized sole; judge by the crumb being deep gold and the flesh lifting cleanly from the backbone (145F at the thickest point) rather than by smoke.
- Fat temperature"When it ceases hissing and is still" is a genuine test: the noise is water boiling off, and silence means the fat is dry and hot. In numbers, 350-375F. Below that the crumb absorbs fat, which is the greasiness the book warns about.
- Good drippingBeef dripping is still sold and gives the best flavour and browning here. Lard works; a neutral high-smoke-point oil such as groundnut or sunflower is the everyday substitute. Butter will burn long before the fish is done.
- Bread-raspingsThese are dried crusts pounded fine — drier and finer than fresh crumbs, so they brown evenly rather than patchily. Dried unseasoned breadcrumbs do the job; panko gives a coarser, shaggier crust than the smooth Victorian finish intended.
- Dry the fish, then rest itThe original makes the hour in a cool place conditional ("if time will permit"), but it earns its place: it lets the flour, egg and crumb set into a single skin that is more likely to survive being turned. A thoroughly dry fish is the other half of the same point.
- DrainingA cloth in front of the fire is a wire rack over a tray in a 250F oven. Do not drain on paper laid flat under the fish, which traps steam and softens the underside.
- Melted butterIn this book "melted butter" means the English flour-thickened butter sauce (drawn butter), not simply butter melted in a pan. Shrimp sauce is the same base with peeled brown shrimps stirred through.
- Reusing the fatStraining and reserving frying fat is sound as far as it goes, but discard it once it darkens, thickens, smells fishy when cold or smokes early — repeatedly heated fat degrades regardless of straining. Keep it refrigerated, not merely in a cool place.
- The fish itselfDover sole at 3/4 to 1 lb is now expensive and often sold larger; lemon sole, witch or plaice of the same weight can be cooked the same way, though plaice is softer-fleshed and more fragile in the pan. Yield, as stated: a pair serves three or four.
Cassell's belongs to the decades when railway ice-packed fish vans put sea fish on inland British tables daily, and sole was the aristocrat of the catch — recommended for invalids and delicate appetites because its lean, firm flesh was thought easy of digestion, and, one may infer, prized by cooks because a flatfish holds together in hot fat where a round fish flakes apart. The instruction to skin only the dark side is the traditional handling of the fish: the white underside skin is left on to protect the flesh and crisp under the crumb. The aside about a dark streak beside the roe in a fish "smothered" in the catch is a reminder of how much a Victorian household cook was expected to judge by eye at the fishmonger's slab, where there was no label, no date and no refrigeration beyond ice; the streak is bruising and blood from pressure in the net or box, and removing the roe was the practical remedy. The final note on eggs being scarce or expensive, with flour-and-water batter as the fallback, reflects a kitchen in which egg prices swung sharply with the season.