No. 1105

Striped Bass a la Maintenon

Bass Raye a la Maintenon

Procure small bass weighing from four to six ounces; cleanse and wash them well; wipe dry and remove the skin on each side; season with salt and coat over with butter; wrap them up in heavy oiled paper, then broil them for fifteen or twenty minutes; unwrap and dress them on a dish; glaze over with lobster butter (No. 580), and surround with oyster bellies and pike quenelles (No. 734). Cover these garnishings with lobster sauce (No. 488), and serve at the same time a separate bowl of the sauce.

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For the Modern Kitchen

A Delmonico's plate built from three other numbered recipes, so the work is mostly in the sub-preparations rather than the fish itself. The fish cooks quickly and is the easiest part to ruin.

The timing is the trapFifteen to twenty minutes will dry out a four- to six-ounce fish even inside oiled paper. Skinned bass of that size are done in about eight to ten minutes over a moderate broiler or grill; the paper should be puffed and browned, the flesh just opaque at the bone.
Sourcing the fishStriped bass at four to six ounces is well under the minimum size limits that apply to wild striped bass in most US waters, so a fish this small is unlikely to be available; farmed hybrid striped bass is sold but usually runs larger. Small whole branzino, porgy, or black sea bass of similar weight are reasonable stand-ins.
The paper wrap"Heavy oiled paper" is best rendered today as parchment brushed with oil rather than waxed paper or foil. Fold and crimp the edges so steam stays in; the effect is to steam the fish in its own butter rather than scorch it.
Lobster butterRanhofer's No. 580 is a compound butter made by pounding lobster shells and coral with butter, then melting, straining and chilling it. Any good lobster or crustacean butter works, and it should be brushed on off the heat so it stays glossy.
Oyster belliesThe soft body of a shucked oyster with the tougher muscle and mantle trimmed away. They need only a minute in barely simmering liquid until the edges ruffle; held longer they turn to rubber and no amount of sauce will hide it.
Pike quenellesNo. 734 is a forcemeat of pike, panada and butter, poached in small spoon-shaped dumplings. Pike is not widely sold now; walleye, pickerel or even a lean whitefish makes the same light quenelle.