Fried Flounders (English)

A plain egg-and-crumb fry, written when flounder often came from muddy tidal water. The salting step is the part worth keeping, though for a different reason than the original gives.

• The salt soakThe recipe gives no proportions; a brine of roughly 2 tablespoons salt per quart of water is a reasonable modern reading. An hour in it seasons the flesh, and the recipe credits rubbing the fish with dry salt with firming it. Modern market flounder rarely tastes muddy. Dry them thoroughly afterwards or the crumbs will slide off.
• Whole fish or filletsThe wording ("rub them well on the sides") suggests small whole flounder rather than fillets, though the recipe says nothing about trimming or skin. Fillets work the same way but cook far faster — two to three minutes a side rather than the stated five to ten.
• Fat temperature"Boiling fat" is the period term for fat hot enough to bubble briskly when the fish goes in; in modern terms somewhere in the region of 350-375F, though the recipe gives no figure. Too cool and the crumbs absorb grease; too hot and they darken before the fish is through.
• CrumbsThe recipe specifies only "bread crumbs"; dry crumbs, pressed on firmly, hold best. Panko gives a coarser but perfectly good result.
• The hot napkinA folded linen cloth laid on the serving dish, which blots fat and keeps the fish from steaming in its own condensation. A wire rack over a warm tray does the same job.
• Crisped parsleyWhole sprigs, dried completely, dropped into the same hot fat for about fifteen seconds until the frizzing stops. Wet parsley will spit violently, so pat it dry first.
• YieldThe recipe gives no yield; two small whole flounder, or roughly 1 to 1 1/2 lb of fillets, will serve two as a main course. Serve at once with lemon; breaded fried fish does not hold.