No. 1202

Matelote a la Talabasse

Mince two ounces of onions, two ounces of leeks, add two crushed cloves of garlic; fry these in some good oil, besprinkle with flour and add half a pound of mackerel, half a pound of sheepshead, half a pound of bass and half a pound of blackfish, all cut up in steaks; moisten to cover with white wine and water, half of each, salt, pepper, cloves and a garnished bunch of parsley; cook on a brisk fire; pound one clove of garlic with a little saffron and two ounces of butter, rub it through a sieve, drain the stock, reduce and thicken it with the garlic butter, adding the juice of a lemon and chopped parsley; dress the fish, pour the sauce over and garnish around with crawfish and croutons of bread fried in butter.

← No. 1201 Matelote a la Mariniere, St. Mande Bass, Blackfish & Bluefish No. 1203 Matelote of Canotiers →

For the Modern Kitchen

A Provençal-style fish stew built on four kinds of Atlantic fish, finished with a saffron-garlic butter that does the work of a rouille. Two pounds of fish total serves four as a main course.

Cook it hard, not gently"A brisk fire" is meant literally: the wine and water should boil vigorously so the oil emulsifies into the broth rather than floating on it. This is the same principle that governs bouillabaisse, and it is the hinge of the dish.
TimingRanhofer gives none. Firm steaks of this size need roughly 8-10 minutes at a hard boil; pull them out onto a warm dish before reducing the stock, or they will fall apart while the sauce finishes.
The fishSheepshead and blackfish (tautog) are regional and rarely at a counter. Any firm, lean white fish works -- striped bass, monkfish, grouper, cod cheeks. Keep the oily mackerel, which supplies most of the character; substituting bluefish is in keeping with the section.
Cut up in steaksBone-in cross-cut steaks about an inch thick, not fillets. The bones give the short-cooked broth its body, and the skin holds the pieces together in a hard boil.
Garnished bunch of parsleyA bouquet garni -- parsley stems tied with thyme and a bay leaf. Remove it before reducing. The "cloves" earlier in the list are whole spice cloves, not more garlic; the number is not specified.
The garlic butterPounding garlic with saffron and butter in a mortar, then sieving, gives a smooth paste that thickens the reduced stock off the heat. A small food processor does it; add the paste in pieces to a broth below a simmer so it emulsifies instead of breaking.
Saffron quantityUnspecified in the original. A generous pinch, about 20 threads, is right for this volume; bloom it in a spoonful of the hot stock before pounding.
Crawfish garnishWhole cooked crawfish, boiled separately in salted water and arranged around the platter. Head-on shrimp make an acceptable stand-in. The croutons should be fried in butter to order so they stay crisp under the sauce.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchen at Delmonico's, and The Epicurean (1894) is a compendium of the French repertoire as it was cooked in New York for American fish. A matelote is properly a boatman's or fisherman's stew -- the word derives from matelot, sailor -- and the classic versions are made with freshwater fish in red or white wine. This one departs from that: saffron, garlic, olive oil and a mixture of sea fish all point to the Mediterranean, and the dish is essentially a bouillabaisse in matelote clothing, with the pounded saffron-garlic butter standing in for rouille. The spelling "Talabasse" appears to be Ranhofer's own; the run of matelotes surrounding it in this section -- marinière among them -- shows how thoroughly the form had been elaborated by the end of the century. The choice of sheepshead and blackfish is the American part of the equation, both being common market fish on the Atlantic coast in the 1890s and both now much less so.