Planked Halibut
Set Trim the ends of a solid piece of halibut, weighing about four pounds and cut the entire width of the fish. Peel and slice three onions into a baking pan, and on these lay the halibut. Squeeze the juice of a small lemon over it; put some pieces of butter on the top; pour in a cup of white stock, to which has been added a tablespoon of vinegar. Bake for three-quarters of an hour; baste several times with the liquid in the pan. Add a little salt. •
A whole cross-section cut of halibut, baked in stock and lemon rather than on the plank the title promises. The one thing to watch is the timing.
- Timing is the hingeThree-quarters of an hour will dry out halibut, which is lean and firm and turns cottony past about 135F at the centre. A four-pound centre cut runs roughly 25-35 minutes; pull it when a thin knife slides through the thickest part with no resistance and the flesh just separates at the bone.
- Oven heatNone is given. A hot oven, 400-425F, suits this: the pan liquid stays at a lively simmer and the top colours while the interior finishes quickly.
- White stockPeriod white stock is an unsalted, unbrowned veal or chicken stock. Low-sodium chicken stock is the practical substitute; fish stock also works and is closer to the dish, though not what the book means.
- The missing plankDespite the name, no plank appears in the method. Planked fish was cooked on a seasoned oak or hickory board, and this version has been adapted to a baking pan. If you want the plank, use an untreated hardwood board soaked well beforehand, and reduce the pan liquid to a splash.
- The stray word"Set" at the head of the recipe appears to be a stray word rather than an instruction; nothing in the method follows from it.
- Basting and the onion bedThe sliced onions raise the fish off the pan floor and keep it from stewing. A cup of stock in a large pan reduces fast, so baste early and often, or the sugars in the onion will scorch before the fish is done.
- SaltSalt is added only at the end, which is unusual. Season the fish lightly before it goes in as well; it seasons unevenly otherwise.
- YieldFour pounds on the bone serves six to eight. Skim and reduce the pan liquid briefly and spoon it over with the onions.
Planking is a North American method with Indigenous roots along both coasts, where fish was fixed to a wooden board and set before an open fire; nineteenth-century restaurants adopted it for shad and whitefish, and by the time this book was compiled "planked" is often said to have become a menu word for anything served on a hot oak board, plank or no plank. Halibut was the great Pacific and North Atlantic market fish of the period, sold in thick steaks cut the whole width of a very large flatfish, which is exactly the cut specified here. The white stock, lemon and spoonful of vinegar are cooking-school touches, generally associated with the domestic science movement Mrs. Fryer is usually placed within: acid to firm the flesh and brighten a fish that is mild almost to the point of blandness.