Fanny Stanhope

A tomato-and-rice baked dish from the era when the canned fish aisle was a respectable shortcut. The ingredient list is straightforward; the transcription is not, and the seasoning needs a firm hand.

• The title is garbledThe words "Escalloped Potatoes" and "Casserole" are stray headings from the surrounding page, not part of this dish — there are no potatoes in the ingredient list and none in the method. Treat it as a fish, rice and tomato casserole.
• Fish-flakesCanned "fish flakes" were shredded cooked white fish, typically cod or haddock. Two cups of any flaked cooked white fish is the intended substitute: cod, haddock, pollock or hake. Drained canned tuna works but pushes the flavour somewhere else entirely.
• A moderate ovenConventionally taken as somewhere around 350F; the book gives no temperature. Fifty minutes covered is right for setting the rice and tomato into a sliceable mass. The fish and rice are already cooked, so much of the time is about texture and reduction, but the raw onion and pepper need it as well.
• Sifted tomato-pulpA pint (2 cups) of tomatoes pressed through a sieve to remove skin and seed. Passata or a can of crushed tomatoes put through a strainer both do the job. Canned tomato sauce is thinner and sweeter and will loosen the result.
• Onions and peppers go in rawAs written they are simply combined with everything else. Chopped fine they will cook through in fifty minutes, but sweating them in the butter first removes the raw green-pepper edge and is worth the extra pan.
• Season past the originalA quarter teaspoon of salt for this volume of mixture is very low, and canned fish-flakes were often salty in a way that fresh-cooked fish is not. Taste the mixture before it goes in the dish and correct.
• YieldSix to seven cups of mixture — four to six servings from a 2-quart dish. A squeeze of lemon and chopped parsley at the table do a great deal for it.