No. 1221

Pompano a la Carondelet

Cut four fish into quarter of a pound slices, boil them in salted water containing thyme, bay leaf, parsley branches and vinegar; at the first boil remove them from the hot fire to let quiver on one side of the range for fifteen minutes; when finished, drain and suppress the skins, keeping the meat as whole as possible. Fry a medium sized onion in butter, dust with curry powder and moisten with court bouillon and white wine (No. 39); thicken this stock with thick bechamel (No. 409), and reduce it properly; stir in egg-yolks and fresh butter, then strain the whole through a tammy. Dress the fish; pour the sauce over and surround either with fried milts or mussels a la villeroi (No. 698).

← No. 1220 Pompano a la Anthelme Pompano, Snapper & Other Fish No. 1222 Pompano a la Duclair →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes a brigade and a set of numbered base preparations, so most of the work here is in the cross-references. The dish is a poached fish with a curried béchamel finished with egg yolks and butter — straightforward once the parts are laid out.

The hinge: the yolks must not boilOnce the egg yolks and butter go into the reduced sauce, keep it below a simmer. Bring it up and the yolks curdle, and no amount of straining through the tammy will bring it back smooth.
"Let quiver"Ranhofer's term for water held just below a simmer, with only an occasional bubble. The fish comes to a boil, then moves to the cool side of the range to finish in falling heat.
Fifteen minutes is too longQuarter-pound slices of pompano are cooked through in about six to eight minutes of gentle poaching. Fifteen minutes on a coal range with heat bleeding away is not fifteen minutes on a modern burner; judge by the flesh turning opaque and parting at the bone.
Court bouillonThe thyme, bay, parsley and vinegar in salted water is itself a court bouillon; for the sauce Ranhofer directs the cook to moisten with court bouillon and white wine, referring to his No. 39.
Thick béchamelThick béchamel -- No. 409 is Ranhofer's béchamel; here it is wanted thick, stiff enough to coat heavily. Ordinary pouring béchamel will need reducing further.
TammyA tammy cloth is a fine worsted straining cloth, worked by twisting the sauce through it. A fine chinois pressed with a ladle, or a conical strainer lined with muslin, does the same job.
MiltsThe soft roe (sperm sacs) of male fish, floured and fried. Rarely sold now outside specialist fishmongers; the mussels à la Villeroi — poached, coated in thick sauce, chilled, breaded and fried — are the practical alternative.
Curry powderCommercial curry powders of the period were generally milder and more turmeric-forward than a modern hot Madras blend, which will overwhelm pompano; use a gentle blend and dust rather than spoon.
YieldFour whole pompano cut into quarter-pound slices serves eight to twelve as a course in a long menu, or six to eight as a main dish.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's summary of some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its fish chapter reflects a kitchen that could get Gulf pompano on ice by rail — a fish New Orleans cooks had long prized and northern restaurants treated as a luxury. The name gestures at Louisiana: the Baron de Carondelet was Spanish governor of the province in the 1790s, and his name attaches to a canal and a principal street in New Orleans, though no documented connection ties the dish to him. The curried cream sauce is characteristic of the period's grand service, where curry powder functioned as a warm aromatic tint in a French sauce rather than as the basis of an Indian dish; pairing it with fried mussels à la Villeroi gives the plate the contrast of soft and crisp that Ranhofer builds into his composed fish courses.