No. 1107

Striped Bass a la Mornay

Bass Raye a la Mornay

Remove the fillets from a bass, skin and pare nicely, then lay them one beside the other (the side the skin was on being uppermost) on an oval-shaped raised edge baking pan, covering the bottom with butter and finely sliced onions and carrots; moisten to their heighth with a white wine court bouillon (No. 39), season with salt, and cover the top with a buttered paper; cook in a slow oven basting the fillets frequently. When the fish is done, drain it off and dress the pieces on a dish, covering it with another smaller one to keep it warm. Strain and reduce the gravy, incorporating into it a few spoonfuls of good bechamel (No. 409); when it appears rich and succulent, finish with some parmesan cheese, butter, and a pinch of cayenne pepper; pour this sauce over the fish, dredge grated parmesan on top, and let it bake slightly in a very hot oven or brown the surface with an iron or gas salamander (Fig. 123).

← No. 1106 Striped Bass a la Massena—Whole Bass, Blackfish & Bluefish No. 1108 Striped Bass a la Rouennaise →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's Mornay is a two-stage dish: a gentle wine braise, then a cheese-enriched glaze under high heat. The braising liquid is not a byproduct here — it becomes the sauce, so nothing should be poured away.

The hingeReduce the strained cooking liquid hard before any béchamel goes in. If the wine court bouillon is still thin when the sauce is assembled, the glaze will slide off the fish and weep under the broiler.
Slow ovenRead this as 300–325°F for the braise. The fillets sit in liquid only to their height, not submerged, and want 10–15 minutes for a thick fillet — pull them at 130–135°F internal rather than by the clock.
"Very hot oven" and the salamanderThe finishing blast is 475–500°F, or simply the broiler on its highest setting with the dish 4–5 inches below the element. A minute or two is enough; the fish is already cooked and only the surface needs colour.
Court bouillon No. 39The referenced white wine court bouillon is a wine-and-water bath with aromatic vegetables and seasoning, simmered and strained; the exact proportions are given in Ranhofer's own entry rather than here. Any light fish fumet cut with white wine serves the same purpose.
Béchamel No. 409Bechamel No. 409 -- Ranhofer's bechamel is a butter-and-flour roux slackened with milk or thin cream and simmered until it coats a spoon. Use a few tablespoons only -- this is enrichment, not a blanket.
Buttered paperA cartouche of parchment cut to the pan and buttered on the underside. It keeps the exposed surface of the fillets from drying while allowing some reduction; foil sealed tight will steam them instead.
ParmesanGrate it fine from a block. Pre-grated cheese carries anti-caking starch that turns grainy in a reduced sauce, and the cayenne is there to cut the fat, so keep it to a genuine pinch.
YieldA striped bass of 3–4 lb yields two fillets, enough for four as a main course. Skin the fillets as directed and cook them skinned-side up so the sauce sits on the smoother face.

A Little History

Mornay sauce — béchamel finished with grated cheese, usually Gruyère and Parmesan — belongs to the mid-nineteenth-century French repertoire and its name is generally traced to the Restaurant Durand in Paris, though the attribution is traditional rather than documented. Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York for over thirty years, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a comprehensive record of that kitchen, and his bass chapter is a good illustration of the method: one fish, a dozen different treatments, each named for a person, a place or a sauce. Striped bass was the obvious choice for a New York luxury restaurant — it ran in enormous numbers in the Hudson and along the Atlantic coast and was landed locally, a prized fish on the city's market. The salamander he mentions was a plate of iron heated in the fire and held over the dish to brown it, a tool that later appeared in gas and electric forms.