No. 1115

Blackfish a la Sanford

Remove the fillets from sufficient blackfish leaving on the black skin; divide each fillet into two pieces. Cover the bottom of a sautoir with butter, chopped shallots, and onions, and chopped mushrooms; lay on top the pieces of blackfish, and a branch of parsley, and moisten with a court bouillon (No. 38), let boil slowly for six minutes, then remove the sautoir on a very slow fire; when done lift out the fish with a spatula, suppress the black skin, and dress it on a dish. Garnish with handsome mushroom heads, oysters, and parsley sprigs; strain the broth, reduce it to a half-glaze, and thicken it with a pint of reduced veloute sauce (No. 415). Finish it away from the fire with butter, lemon juice, and a very little finely shredded chives.

← No. 1114 Blackfish a la Orly Bass, Blackfish & Bluefish No. 1116 Blackfish a la Villaret →

For the Modern Kitchen

A shallow-poached fish with a reduced velouté, in the Delmonico manner: the cooking liquid becomes the sauce, so nothing is thrown away. The hinge is the finish — butter, lemon and chives go in off the heat, or the sauce breaks.

BlackfishBlackfish is tautog (Tautoga onitis), a firm-fleshed Atlantic wrasse still caught by rod but rarely sold in markets. Black sea bass, striped bass, or a thick piece of cod or halibut behave much the same way.
Why the skin stays onThe black skin holds the fillet together through poaching and is removed with the spatula afterwards. Keep it on until the fish is lifted out, then peel it away in one sheet.
SautoirA straight-sided sauté pan or shallow saucepan, wide enough to hold the pieces in a single layer. A 12-inch skillet with a lid works; too large a pan and the liquid over-reduces before the fish is done.
Court bouillonNo. 38 is one of Ranhofer's court bouillons: broadly, water with wine or vinegar, aromatic vegetables and herbs, simmered and strained. It need only come partway up the fish — this is shallow poaching, not boiling.
Six minutes, then off the heatSix minutes, then very gentle heat -- The brief boil only sets the outside; the pan is then moved to a very slow fire, where the fish finishes gently. It is done when the flesh just separates into flakes. Continued brisk simmering makes tautog dry and stringy.
VeloutéNo. 415 is Ranhofer's velouté: white stock thickened with a white roux and simmered down. A pint is generous for a small quantity of fish; half that, or a well-reduced poaching liquid finished with a little beurre manié, will serve if you are not cooking à la carte.
Half-glazeReduce the strained broth until it is syrupy and coats the back of a spoon — perhaps a quarter of its volume. Salt only after reducing.
The oyster garnishPoach the shucked oysters in their own liquor for under a minute, until the edges just ruffle, and add them at the last moment. Anything longer and they tighten into rubber.
YieldEach of the two fillets is cut in two, so one fish yields four pieces; the recipe gives no weight, calling only for 'sufficient blackfish'.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of what he cooked during some thirty years as chef of Delmonico's in New York, and its fish chapters are unusually American: blackfish, weakfish, sheepshead and bluefish sit beside sole and turbot because those were what the Fulton Market sent up. Blackfish — tautog to fishermen, and still called that from Rhode Island to Long Island Sound — was a common, cheap catch on rocky inshore bottom, and Ranhofer gives it a run of treatments in a row, each named for a person or a place in the way of restaurant menus of the period. Who Sanford was is not recorded; the name functioned mainly to distinguish one shallow-poached fillet from the next on a long carte. The method itself is classic à l'étuvée: aromatics beneath, a little liquid, gentle heat, and the liquor lifted into a velouté at the end — the same logic behind sole Marguery and every other white-wine fish sauce of the French repertoire.