Brill
Of all good fish, brill is the most odious, because it is used, either ignorantly or maliciously, to do duty for turbot. No doubt this is proof of its goodness; it would Brillat-Savarin be impossible to pass off a bad fish for turbot. But a brill in reality is to turbot as lead is to silver, and as cider to champagne. It may seem incredible, but it is a fact that there are heathens who do not know what a turbot is, who despise its fin and its skin, who think the thick fleshy part of it the best, and who naturally, therefore, can see no great difference between brill and turbot. A brill is to them as good as a turbot, for it only wants what in their view is well wanting-the gelatinous fins and the skin. The fishmonger finds it easy to impose upon these innocents; and they in turn do not see the enormity of imposing brill upon guests who are entitled to turbot. The fish too readily lends itself to this frightful system of imposture, and has caused such cruel disappointments to those who hold the turbot in regard that it is naturally in bad odour.
There is not a word, however, to be said against brill in its own place a very fair middle-class fish. Like a large sole, it may be fried whole or in fillets. It may be served au gratin, in a matelote of the ordinary kind, or a Normandy matelote. Also it may be boiled in slices, in fillets or whole, and served with Holland sauce, caper sauce, nut-brown butter, or indeed with any of the butter sauces.