Boiled Red Snapper

The Butterick book assumes you have already read its general directions for boiling fish, so this entry is only the timing and the sauce. Everything else has to be supplied, and the timing itself is the part most in need of revision.

• The timing is the problemTen to fifteen minutes per pound will leave a whole snapper dry and cottony, and a fillet inedible. Fish is done when the thickest part reaches 130-135F and the flesh separates from the bone; figure roughly 8-10 minutes per inch of thickness at the thickest point, regardless of total weight.
• "Boiled" means poachedNineteenth-century fish cookery used "boiled" loosely for anything cooked in liquid. A true rolling boil shreds snapper and clouds the liquid. Hold the water at 160-175F, barely trembling, with the fish fully submerged.
• The liquidThe original gives no liquid at all; salted water is the likely assumption, and period fish cookery often adds a spoonful of vinegar or lemon juice to firm the flesh and keep it white. A court bouillon of water, wine, onion, bay and peppercorns is closer to what the sauces want.
• Wrapping the fishA whole snapper cooked loose will fall apart when lifted. Wrap it in cheesecloth, leaving long ends as handles, or set it on the rack of a fish kettle. This is the step the original takes entirely for granted.
• Size and yieldWhole red snapper come to market at a wide range of weights, commonly a few pounds up to ten or more. Allow about 3/4 lb of whole fish per person, so a 4 lb snapper serves about five.
• Tomato or mushroom sauceThe recipe assumes sauces given elsewhere in the book. Either is best made with a cup of the strained poaching liquid in place of some of the stock.
• ServingDrain the fish thoroughly on the cloth before plating, or the sauce will slide off in a watery pool. Skin and lift the fillets at the table if the head and tail are to be shown.