Smelts a la Gondoliere

Ranhofer writes for a brigade with a larder of numbered preparations already made; the whole dish is really a boned smelt, a spoonful of mousseline forcemeat and a green-herb velouté. Assemble the components first and the cooking takes minutes.

• The hinge: bone from the back, not the bellySplit each cleaned smelt along the spine, lift out the backbone with the ribs attached, and leave the belly skin intact so the fish still closes around the stuffing. A boned smelt overcooks in moments, so treat the wrapping and the gentle braise as protection rather than fuss.
• Pike quenelle forcemeat (No. 90)Ranhofer's forcemeat is pounded raw pike, panada and butter, sieved and lightened with cream. Any lean white fish worked in a processor with an egg white and cold cream gives the same result; keep everything refrigerator-cold or the mixture breaks. You need only a few tablespoons for a dozen smelts.
• Fines herbes (No. 385)His "cooked fine herbs" are broadly shallot and mushroom sweated in butter with chopped parsley and other soft herbs, then reduced dry. Cool them completely before folding into the forcemeat — warm herbs will slacken the cream.
• Mirepoix stock with white wine (No. 419)A light braising liquid of diced carrot, onion, celery and a little ham or bacon, moistened with dry white wine and fish stock. Barely cover the parcels; the point is to poach in vapour, not to boil.
• Buttered paper, not parchment out of the boxThe double sheet of buttered paper is a papillote in all but name. Butter parchment generously on both faces so it does not stick to the delicate skin, and twist or fold the ends closed.
• TimingStuffed smelts of 4–5 inches are done in about 8 minutes in a covered pan at a bare simmer; if you braise them in the oven instead, a moderate oven around 350F for 8–10 minutes is the modern equivalent, though Ranhofer gives no temperature. Take them out while the forcemeat is just set — cooked until the flesh flakes freely, smelts go dry and cottony.
• Venetian sauce (No. 555)In the classic repertoire this is a velouté-based sauce sharpened with a tarragon-and-shallot vinegar reduction and finished with green herb butter. Reduce the strained braising liquid to a glaze first, then whisk the sauce into it off the heat so the herb butter does not split.
• Crawfish garnish"Trussed" means the tail curled under and pinned before boiling, so the crawfish holds an arched shape on the plate. Whole cooked crawfish or large head-on shrimp do the same job; the garnish is decorative and can be left off.
• YieldRanhofer gives none. Figure three to four medium smelts per person as a fish course, so a dozen fish and about a cup of finished sauce serve four.