No. 1116

Blackfish a la Villaret

Cook a whole blackfish in a mirepoix stock with white wine (No. 419), drain the stock after the fish is done, strain, and reduce it with the same quantity of veloute sauce (No. 415), adding chopped up shallots; thicken the sauce with raw egg-yolks, cream, fresh butter, and fish glaze (No. 399); strain it again through a tammy and finish with chopped parsley. Range the fish on a dish, garnish around with potato croquettes (No. 2782), and branches of parsley, sending the sauce to the table in a separate sauce-boat.

← No. 1115 Blackfish a la Sanford Bass, Blackfish & Bluefish No. 1117 Bluefish a la Barnave →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade with stocks already made, so the work here is mostly assembling components. The hinge is the finish: once the yolks and cream go in, the sauce must not boil.

The liaisonYolks, cream and butter beaten into the reduced sauce will curdle above roughly 180F. Pull the pan off the heat, temper the yolk-cream mixture with a ladle of hot sauce, return it and hold it below a simmer, whisking, until it coats a spoon.
Mirepoix stockNo. 419 is a wine-based cooking liquor rather than a modern brown mirepoix: white wine with aromatic vegetables and herbs (Ranhofer's mirepoix preparations typically also carry a little lean ham or bacon), moistened with stock or water. Enough to come halfway up the fish is sufficient if you cover the pan.
Velouté and fish glazeNo. 415 is a blond roux sauce moistened with white stock; No. 399 is fish stock reduced to a syrup. Both can be replaced by a light fish velouté made from the strained cooking liquor plus a separate hard reduction of fish stock for the glaze, which is what supplies the depth here.
TammyA tammy is a worsted straining cloth wrung between two people to force sauce through. A fine chinois pressed with a ladle, or a doubled square of muslin, does the same job.
BlackfishBlackfish means tautog, an Atlantic wrasse that was a New York market staple in the 1890s and is now largely a recreational catch with seasons and size limits. Black sea bass, striped bass or a firm-fleshed porgy poach the same way.
Cooking the whole fishA 3-4 lb fish in barely trembling liquid needs about 25-30 minutes, or until the flesh at the backbone reaches 130-135F. Ranhofer gives no time; judging by the flesh lifting cleanly from the bone is the usual test.
CroquettesNo. 2782 is a duchesse-type potato mixture (dry riced potato, yolk, butter) shaped, breaded and deep fried. Fry these last, while the fish drains, so they arrive crisp.
YieldA whole fish of 3-4 lb serves four to six as a main course. Make about 2 cups of sauce; it is served separately, so err generous.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) records the repertoire of Delmonico's in New York, where he was chef for over thirty years, and its numbered cross-references show how the kitchen actually worked: a dish was an assembly of standing preparations, each with its own number, rather than a self-contained set of instructions. Blackfish, the local name for tautog, was abundant off Long Island and appeared constantly on New York menus of the period, which is why Ranhofer treats it at some length while dressing it in the French vocabulary his clientele expected. Names like "a la Villaret" were freely attached to garnishes and sauces in nineteenth-century restaurant cooking, often honoring a patron or a public figure; in most cases, this one included, the reference is no longer traceable, and what identifies the dish is the shallot-scented velouté finished with a yolk liaison rather than any documented person.