No. 1306

Canadian Turbot a la Mercier

Turbot Canadien a la Mercier

A turbot having a dark skin on both sides and the shape of chicken halibut; when dressed and clean, split it through the back, butter a small raised-edged dish, a little larger than the fish; cover the bottom with shallots, mushrooms and parsley, all finely chopped, and lay the fish on top, season and moisten to its height with a good cold court bouillon with white wine (No. 39); let the liquid boil for ten minutes over a moderate fire; cover it with a sheet of buttered paper, and finish cooking in a slack oven, basting it frequently. After removing besprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve it on the same dish surrounded with cysters a la Villeroi (No. 698).

← No. 1305 Canadian Turbot a la Houston Sole, Flounder & Turbot No. 1307 English Turbot with Caper Sauce →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's method is a shallow braise: the fish sits on a bed of aromatics, is barely covered with wine court bouillon, and finishes in a cool oven under paper. The hinge is the oven temperature — a slack oven means low, and this dish is ruined by heat that boils the liquid around the fish.

What the fish is"Canadian turbot," dark on both sides and shaped like a small halibut, is Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), not the European turbot of No. 1307. Any firm flatfish of 3–5 lb works; a whole halibut section or thick flounder fillets will take the same treatment.
Slack ovenA slack oven is 275–300F. The liquid should quiver, never boil, once the dish goes in; boiling drives the flakes apart and squeezes out moisture.
The ten-minute stovetop startThe recipe has the court bouillon boil for ten minutes over a moderate fire before the dish goes into the oven; no reason is given for it. Watch it: on a modern burner the liquid will boil far harder than on a coal range.
Court bouillonNo. 39 is Ranhofer's white-wine court bouillon; its proportions and aromatics should be taken from that entry rather than assumed. The recipe is explicit that it goes onto the fish cold.
Buttered paperParchment cut to fit the dish and buttered on the underside is the modern equivalent — a cartouche, laid directly on the surface, not a lid. It keeps the exposed flesh from drying while allowing the liquid to reduce.
DonenessIgnore the clock and check the thickest part against the backbone: 130-135F, or flesh that lifts cleanly from the bone. The recipe gives neither weight nor time, so timing must be judged by eye.
Oysters à la VilleroiNo. 698 means oysters poached briefly in their own liquor, coated in a thick reduced velouté (sauce Villeroi), chilled until set, then breaded and fried. Poach the oysters only until the edges ruffle, 30 seconds or so; a long simmer turns them to rubber.
The dish itself"A small raised-edged dish" is a shallow gratin or oval baking dish that goes from stovetop to oven and then to table, only slightly larger than the fish so the liquid comes up its sides. Too large a dish and the court bouillon will not reach the fish's height.
YieldThe recipe gives no yield or fish size; a fish of about 4 lb would serve roughly six as a main course.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) was Charles Ranhofer's summation of some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this recipe shows the house habit of naming dishes for patrons and public figures — Honoré Mercier was premier of Quebec from 1887 to 1891, which fits the "Canadian" fish. The fish is generally identified as Greenland halibut, landed off the Canadian Atlantic coast and sold in American markets as turbot, a name it still carries in Quebec; Ranhofer treats the European turbot separately in the recipe that follows. The technique is a shallow braise in the French manner: a bed of shallot, mushroom and parsley beneath, wine-based liquid to the fish's height, and paper on top. Oysters were cheap and abundant in New York at the time.