No. 2576

Salmon Darne, Decorated

Darne de Saumon Historiee

Cut a darne or thick five-inch slice from the middle of a large salmon after it has been scaled, emptied and cleaned. Lay it straight on the grate of a fish-kettle, salt it over liberally and let it macerate for half an hour. Boil in court-bouillon (No. 38). (It should remain at the boiling point until cooked.) Leaving it in the fish kettle until thoroughly cold, drain off the darne, then remove the skin, wipe the fish, and cover the surfaces with a thin layer of Montpellier butter (No. 582), softened to a proper degree. Slide the darne at once on to a wooden dish foundation covered over with white paper; smooth the butter well, and set it aside in a cool place to harden. Fill the hollow in the center of the darne with a variegated vegetable salad; decorate the top with strips of green butter alternated with mayonnaise, and decorate the sides with a fine relief wreath made of green and white butter, and ornamented with fanciful bits of gherkin, lobster and cooked truffles. Surround the base of the fish with quartered hard-boiled eggs standing upright (No. 2513), alternated with small clusters of chopped jelly or cooked green peas. Serve with a sauce-boat of mayonnaise sauce (No. 606).

← No. 2575 Cold Salmis of Quails a la Balzac Garnishings for Cold Dishes No. 2577 Salmon Sliced and Decorated →

For the Modern Kitchen

This is a centerpiece from the cold buffet, not a weeknight dish: a poached salmon steak used as a canvas for compound butter and garnish. The cooking itself takes twenty minutes; the decoration is the work.

What a darne isA darne is a cross-section steak cut through the backbone from the middle of the fish. A five-inch-thick cut from a large salmon would be a substantial piece, plausibly in the 4-6 lb range and enough for ten or so as part of a cold table, though the original states neither weight nor yield. A whole center-cut section of a farmed side is more realistic today, or scale the whole idea down to a 2-inch steak for four.
"Remain at the boiling point" — don'tThis is the one instruction to disregard. Salmon held at a rolling boil sheds albumin, splits along the flakes and turns dry. Bring the court-bouillon up, then hold it at a bare shiver, 160-175F, and pull the fish at 120-125F at the bone. A 5-inch darne needs roughly 25-35 minutes at that temperature; the original gives no time at all.
Court-bouillonNo. 38 is one of Ranhofer's court-bouillons, of the usual type: water with white wine or vinegar, aromatic vegetables and herbs, brought on before the fish goes in — check the numbered recipe for the exact makeup. Any acidulated aromatic poaching liquid does the same job. Enough to cover the darne completely.
Cooling in the liquidLeaving it in the kettle until cold is deliberate and worth keeping — the fish reabsorbs liquid and firms up so it can be handled and sliced without collapsing. Cool it to room temperature on the counter, then move the whole kettle to the refrigerator; don't leave poached fish sitting out for hours.
Montpellier butterNo. 582 is a Montpellier butter: butter pounded with blanched green herbs and, in the classic version, anchovy, capers, gherkin and hard-boiled egg yolk, sieved smooth. It is presumably also what the decoration means by 'green butter,' though the recipe lists the two separately. Bring it to the consistency of thick frosting — cool but spreadable — or it will tear the fish surface.
The wooden foundationA shaped board or plank, papered over, used so the fish could be lifted and carried to the table intact. A long platter or a rimless baking sheet lined with parchment does the same. Slide, never lift, the darne.
The salt"Salt it over liberally" for half an hour is a dry brine, not seasoning to taste — it firms the flesh. About 1 tablespoon of coarse salt per pound of fish, brushed off before poaching, is in the right range.
Serving temperatureButter decoration means the finished piece has to stay cold. Assemble it as late as possible, hold it refrigerated, and give it no more than an hour on the table before it starts to sweat and slump.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry belongs to a long section on garnished cold dishes — the pièces froides that stood on the buffet at balls and banquets, meant to be looked at for an hour before anyone ate them. Historié means "storied" or "pictured," the same word used for an illuminated initial in a manuscript; here it signals that the fish is a surface to be drawn on, with piped green and white butter, truffle, gherkin and lobster coral standing in for pigment. The whole genre depended on kitchen labor that no longer exists in restaurants: Montpellier butter alone means blanching, drying and pounding half a dozen herbs by hand. Salmon suited the work because a poached darne cools into a firm, pale, flat-sided block that holds a design, which is why cold decorated salmon survived into twentieth-century catering long after the quail salmis on the facing page had vanished.