Home › The Principles of Cookery › Turbot Croquettes
Turbot Croquettes
Take the remains of cold turbot; free the flesh from skin and bone, mince finely, season with salt, cayenne, and grated nutmeg, and add an equal weight of bread-crumbs moistened with very thick white sauce--or, failing this, hot milk--a little chopped parsley, and enough butter to form a smooth paste. Form the mixture into small balls or cones. Dip these first into beaten egg, and afterwards into bread-crumbs, and fry them in hot fat till they are lightly and equally browned all over. Drain them from the fat, and serve neatly arranged on a napkin. Garnish the dish with parsley, and send good fish sauce to table in a tureen. Time to fry the croquettes, five or six minutes.
A leftovers dish from the era when a large flatfish was bought whole and had to be used up over two days. The method is sound; the proportions and a couple of the details need translating.
- Chill before shapingThe single thing that decides whether these hold together. Make the mixture, spread it on a plate and refrigerate at least an hour until firm before forming cones. Warm, soft paste will burst in the fat no matter how carefully it is crumbed.
- "An equal weight of bread-crumbs"That is a great deal of filler by modern taste and gives a dense, bready croquette. Two parts fish to one part crumb eats better; if you reduce the crumb, reduce the sauce with it or the mixture will not firm up.
- Thick white sauceA panade-strength béchamel, thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon: roughly 1 oz butter and 1 oz flour to 1/2 cup milk. The hot-milk alternative the book offers is a poor second and produces a mixture that needs much longer chilling.
- Turbot substitutesWild turbot is expensive and often unavailable; farmed turbot, halibut, brill or any firm cooked white fish works. Avoid flaky, watery fish such as cod loin unless it is well drained.
- Frying temperature and time350-375F. The book gives five or six minutes; small balls of already-cooked fish generally need less, long enough to colour the crumb and heat the centre through. Longer and the coating darkens while the inside dries.
- "Good fish sauce"Not the Southeast Asian condiment. In a British book of this date it means a sauce for fish — anchovy, shrimp, or a Dutch (egg-thickened) sauce. A caper or lemon-butter sauce suits these well.
- The napkinVictorian service stood fried food on a folded linen napkin to absorb fat. A rack over kitchen paper does the job better; the napkin is presentation only.
- YieldThe remains of a turbot is not a measurement. Reckon on 12 oz cooked fish making about 12 croquettes, enough for four as a first course.
Croquettes entered English cookery under French influence and were seized on by household writers as the respectable answer to leftovers: bound with a stiff béchamel, crumbed and fried, yesterday's fish could return to the table looking deliberate rather than thrifty. Turbot was among the most prized and expensive fish in Victorian Britain, often bought whole and cooked in a purpose-made diamond-shaped turbot kettle, so a household that served it at dinner could well have substantial cold remains the next day. The nutmeg and cayenne are characteristic of the period's fish seasoning.