No. 2589

Sliced Sheepshead with Jelly

Tranches de Sheepshead a la Gelee

Cut off two fine slices of raw sheepshead, salt over and leave to macerate for one hour. Fry in butter or oil a root and a minced onion; add root mirepoix with aromatics, parsley and a clove of garlic; moisten with white wine court-bouillon (No. 39), having plenty of it so as to cover the fish well, and boil the liquid for an hour, then strain. Put the slices of sheepshead into a deep earthen dish, suitable to be placed in the oven, cover over with the marinade stock and then with a strong paper; allow the liquid to boil up once before pushing the dish into a slack oven to cook the fish slowly for twenty minutes. After taking it out drain off the slices, remove the skin and lay them in a deep serving dish; strain the stock, lift off all the fat from the surface and mix in with it the same amount of very thick aspic jelly (No. 103) and a dash of good vinegar; pour this into the dish containing the fish and decorate the top with thin slices of lemon. After the jelly has become hard serve the fish accompanied by a sauce-boat of grated horseradish, mixed with a little good cream.

← No. 2588 Salmon, with Montpellier or Cambridge Butter Garnishings for Cold Dishes No. 2590 Shells of Capon with Jelly →

For the Modern Kitchen

A cold-buffet dish from Ranhofer's Delmonico's kitchen, built in three stages: a heavily aromatic court-bouillon, a gentle oven poach, then setting the strained liquid as jelly around the fish. The hinge is the oven: a slack oven and a covering of paper keep the liquid below a simmer so the slices stay intact.

Slack ovenA slack oven is generally taken as somewhere around 250-300F. The liquid is brought to a boil on the stovetop once, then the dish goes into the oven so the fish barely trembles for twenty minutes. Check with a thermometer rather than trusting the clock; standard guidance for fish is 145F internal, and since this is cooled and served cold in jelly it is worth cooking it through.
SheepsheadThis is the Atlantic sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus), a porgy relative that was a staple of nineteenth-century East Coast menus and is now mostly a regional catch. Black drum, scup, sea bream, or a thick-cut striped bass or grouper steak all behave the same way in aspic.
"A root and a minced onion""Root" here most likely means carrot, though Ranhofer uses the word loosely for carrot and turnip; "root mirepoix" is the usual carrot, onion and celery with a bay leaf. The unnamed aromatics would typically be thyme, bay and a few peppercorns, alongside the parsley and garlic the text does name.
Court-bouillon No. 39A white wine court-bouillon of this type is broadly water and dry white wine with sliced carrot and onion, parsley, thyme, bay, salt and pepper. Make enough to cover the fish generously, since the recipe has it boiled for an hour before use and it will reduce.
Aspic No. 103The cross-reference is to Ranhofer's strong aspic jelly; whether it is fish-based is not specified here. In a modern kitchen, clarify the poaching liquid and bloom powdered gelatin into it, about 2 to 2.5 teaspoons per cup, so that it sets sliceable rather than merely soft. The stock is already fairly reduced, so taste before adding more salt.
Cover with strong paperA round of parchment cut to the dish and pressed down onto the liquid. It keeps the exposed surface from drying and blocks the direct radiant heat; foil crimped over the rim does the same job.
Salt and macerateAn hour of salting is a dry brine. It firms the flesh so the slices hold their shape through poaching and can be lifted whole. Pat the surface dry before the fish goes into the liquid.
Setting and servingChill at least four hours, and overnight is better; the jelly must be fully firm before the lemon slices are cut through. Two slices serve two as a first course. The horseradish cream is grated fresh horseradish folded into lightly whipped or heavy cream, made the same day so it does not turn bitter.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its long chapters of cold dishes reflect a period when a formal buffet was judged partly on the clarity and firmness of its jellies. Sheepshead was a genuinely fashionable New York fish in those decades, common enough in the Fulton Market to appear on Delmonico's cards and in the city's fishing lore, though it later slipped out of northern menus for reasons that are not well established. What is distinctly French about the treatment is the economy: the same court-bouillon that flavors and cooks the fish is strained and degreased, reinforced with aspic and a little vinegar, and returned as the glaze, so nothing of the aromatic infusion is thrown away. The horseradish and cream on the side is the northern European note in an otherwise Parisian construction, and the kind of pairing Ranhofer used freely for cold fish.