No. 1215

Pike Perch or Wall Eyed Pike a la Geraldin

Sandre a la Geraldin

Cut the fish in quarter pound slices, cook in salted water into which vinegar has been added; range the slices on a long dish over a folded napkin, serve separately a garnishing of lightly blanched oysters, drained, dipped in eggs, rolled in fresh bread-crumbs, and fried in lard or oil. The sauce to accompany this fish is a half-glaze sauce (No. 413), into which has been stirred cayenne pepper, and small mushroom heads.

← No. 1214 Pike Perch or Wall Eyed Pike a la Financiere Eels, Pike, Carp & Sturgeon No. 1216 Pike Perch or Wall Eyed Pike a la Royal →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade that already has stock, demi-glace and a fish kettle standing by. Stripped down, this is poached walleye with fried oysters and a peppery brown sauce, and it comes together quickly once the sauce is settled.

The hinge: keep the poaching liquid below a boilWalleye is lean and flakes apart the moment the water rolls. Bring the acidulated salted water to a bare shiver, around 175-180F, slide the slices in and hold them there until the flesh is just opaque, roughly 8-10 minutes for a quarter-pound cut.
"Quarter pound slices"Cross-cut steaks of about 4 oz each, skin on, from a whole dressed fish. Two per person is a main course; figure a 3-4 lb walleye or zander to serve four.
The vinegar waterEffectively a simple vinegar court-bouillon, though Ranhofer gives no proportions and does not name it as such here; something on the order of 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and a tablespoon of salt per quart will do. The acid is generally held to firm the surface of the flesh and keep it white.
Blanched oysters"Lightly blanched" means the briefest turn in hot liquid, only until the edges ruffle, well under a minute, then drained. Any longer and they toughen before they ever reach the fryer; the frying finishes them.
Frying the oystersEgg and fresh crumbs, then 360-375F fat for about a minute. Ranhofer allows either lard or oil, so a neutral oil is as faithful as lard. Dry the blanched oysters thoroughly or the coating slides off.
Half-glaze sauce, No. 413This is demi-glace, espagnole reduced with brown stock until it coats a spoon. A good store-bought demi-glace or a hard-reduced veal stock stands in. Add cayenne off the heat and to taste, and warm small button mushroom caps through in it rather than simmering them to grey.
The folded napkinStandard period service for boiled and poached fish; the linen also soaks up the cooking water that drains off, so the slices do not sit in a puddle. A rack over a warm platter does the same work.
Timing the plateSauce first, then the oysters, then the fish, and send everything out at once. Fried oysters lose their crust within a few minutes of leaving the fat, and Ranhofer sends them out on a separate dish rather than in the sauce.

A Little History

Sandre is the European pikeperch, or zander, a fish Charles Ranhofer would have known from his French training; the walleye of the Great Lakes is its close North American relative and slid neatly into the same repertoire, which is why The Epicurean (1894) carries the French title Sandre a la Geraldin over an English heading that offers the American names, "Pike Perch or Wall Eyed Pike." Dishes carrying a personal name like "a la Geraldin" were the ordinary currency of the nineteenth-century restaurant kitchen, generally honouring a patron, a colleague or an occasion; the specific Geraldin here is not identified in the book, and Ranhofer names a great many such preparations without explanation. What is period-typical is the structure: a plainly poached fish, a rich brown sauce made elsewhere in the kitchen and cross-referenced by number, and a fried garnish sent out on its own dish so it stays crisp. In the 1890s New York oysters were cheap enough to use by the dozen as a trimming rather than a course, and Delmonico's menus lean on them constantly.