No. 1193

Fresh Mackerel, Maitre d'Hotel

Maquereau Frais, Maitre d'Hotel

Split very fresh and well cleansed mackerel lengthwise through the back; remove the dorsal bone, season with salt, and roll in melted butter, or else in oil; broil them for fifteen to twenty minutes on a slow fire turning them and brushing over with a brush dipped in butter or oil. Dress them on a very hot dish and cover with a layer of maitre d'hotel butter (No. 581). After rolling them in melted butter or oil, they may be dipped in bread-crumbs.

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's "broil" means a grill over coals, not an overhead broiler, and his fifteen to twenty minutes assumes whole fish opened out flat. Both need translating before this works on a modern range.

The hinge: freshnessMackerel is an oily fish whose flesh softens and turns rank faster than almost anything else at the counter. "Very fresh" is not decoration here — buy fish with clear eyes, firm flesh and a clean sea smell, and cook it the day you buy it. Anything with a fishy, sour edge should not be grilled plain, where there is nothing to hide behind.
"Broil" and "a slow fire"In 1894 this most likely means a gridiron over settled coals with no flame licking the fish, and "slow fire" means gentle, steady heat; the book gives no temperature. Under a modern overhead broiler, set the rack 5-6 inches from the element rather than directly beneath it, or the butter will scorch before the fish sets.
TimingFifteen to twenty minutes suggests a large whole mackerel opened flat. Ordinary market mackerel of 3/4 to 1 lb, split as directed, will cook considerably faster — roughly 4-5 minutes on the skin side and 2-3 minutes flesh side. The flesh should just part at the backbone line; carried further it goes dry and cottony.
Splitting through the backCutting along either side of the dorsal fin and lifting out the backbone leaves the belly intact, so the fish opens flat like a book and cooks evenly. A fishmonger will do it if asked for a "kite" or back-butterflied mackerel. Leave the skin on: it holds the fillet together on the grate.
Maitre d'hotel butter (No. 581)The compound butter is softened butter worked with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper, with nutmeg in some versions. A workable modern ratio is about 4 oz butter to 2 tablespoons parsley and the juice of half a lemon; roll it in paper, chill firm, and lay coins of it over the hot fish so it melts into a sauce at the table.
The very hot dishThis matters more than it sounds. Butter sauce on a cold platter congeals into grease within a minute, so warm the serving dish in a low oven while the fish cooks.
The crumbed variationFine dry crumbs after the butter or oil give a crust, but they burn quickly over coals. Keep the heat lower and expect a minute or two more per side.
YieldOne split mackerel of about 1 lb serves one generously or two as a course within a longer meal. No quantity is given in this entry.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a complete professional reference, which is why this entry sits in a run of mackerel treatments numbered in sequence rather than standing alone. Maitre d'hotel butter — butter worked with parsley and lemon — was a standard finish for grilled fish and meat in nineteenth-century French service, cheap in labour, made ahead, and used often enough across the book to be carried by a single cross-reference. Mackerel was a cheap and popular fish in the Atlantic ports, landed in enormous quantities and so perishable that London tradition holds it was exempted from the usual restrictions on Sunday street selling; its appearance on a Delmonico's list reflects the French kitchen's willingness to treat an oily, humble fish seriously when it could be had straight off the boat.