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Cutlets of Fish
117. Cut fish either cooked or uncooked into well-shaped cutlets; put plenty of chopped sweet herbs and a little butter into a stewpan, just to melt the butter; flavour this with essence of anchovies or Reading sauce; when cold, lay it with a knife upon both sides of the fish, and strew over it plentifully fine bread crumbs; fry dry in hot lard, or cook in a Dutch oven; have ready a sauce made of any vegetables, and flavoured with a little onion or shallot, all of which must be stewed in a little broth, and chopped or rubbed through a cullender. Heap this in the centre of a dish and lay the cutlets round, garnishing with pickle or lemon sliced If the fish is cooked, and is not large enough for cutlets, pull it fine and mix it with egg and crumbs, and the other ingredients; then form into cutlets, and dip into yolk of egg and strew crumbs before frying.
A Victorian way of turning either fresh fish or yesterday's cooked fish into something that eats like a chop. The herb-and-butter paste is the whole point: it has to be cold and stiff enough to spread, or the crumbs will slide off in the pan.
- Chill the herb butterMelt the butter only just enough to loosen it, then let the mixture set firm before spreading. Warm or runny paste will not hold a crumb coat, and the coating will fall away in the fat.
- Reading sauceA spiced commercial bottled condiment from Reading, generally described as including anchovy among its flavourings; it is no longer made. Worcestershire sauce is a reasonable standing substitute; use about a teaspoon, and if you use anchovy essence instead, a mashed anchovy fillet or a teaspoon of anchovy paste does much the same work.
- Dutch ovenHere this means the tin reflector screen stood before an open fire, not a lidded cast-iron pot. For a comparable effect, bake the crumbed cutlets on an oiled tray in a hot oven, or grill them, turning once.
- Fry dry in hot lardShallow-fry in about half an inch of fat at roughly 350-360F. Lard fries clean and takes the heat, but any neutral high-smoke-point oil behaves the same. Drain on paper so the crumb stays crisp.
- Cooking timeUncooked fish cut an inch thick needs about 3 minutes a side; cutlets made from already-cooked fish need only long enough to brown and heat through, 2 minutes a side. Overcooking dries the flesh and the coating goes leathery.
- CullenderAn old spelling of colander. For the vegetable sauce, a sieve or a short blitz in a blender gives the smooth purée intended; stew the vegetables in just enough broth to keep them moving, then reduce so the purée will hold a heap on the dish.
- Which fishFirm white fish holds up best - cod, haddock, hake, monkfish. For the made-up version from cooked fish, bind the flaked flesh with egg and crumbs until it is stiff enough to shape, then chill the formed cutlets for half an hour before coating.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantities; as a rough guide, about 1 1/2 lb of fish will make six cutlets, enough for three or four with the vegetable puree.