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How to Marinade Fish
Place in an earthen basin one small, sound sliced white onion, three chopped parsley roots, half a sound sliced lemon, two cloves, one crushed bay leaf, half a teaspoon ground thyme, one teaspoon whole black peppers, one teaspoon allspice, three tablespoons vinegar, one tablespoon salt and one quart cold water. Mix well; lay the fish in the basin, cover it well with the mixture and let marinade for six hours. Remove, drain it well and place the fish in a sautoire, as hereunder explained. After the marinade has been used place it in a stone jar for further use, as in a cool place it will keep in good condition for two weeks.
A short-brine and aromatic soak meant to firm fish and season it before it goes into the pan. Two things in it need attention: the length of the soak and the instruction to keep the used marinade.
- Do not save the marinadeLiquid that has held raw fish for six hours carries whatever bacteria the fish carried, and two weeks in a "cool place" is not refrigeration. Discard it after one use.
- Marinate cold, not merely coolSix hours at room temperature is well outside safe range for raw fish. The basin belongs in the refrigerator, below 40F, for the whole time.
- Six hours is for firm whole fishThick steaks or a whole firm-fleshed fish can take several hours in this dilute brine. Thin fillets of sole, flounder or trout will turn soft and taste flatly of vinegar; 30 to 60 minutes is plenty for them.
- Earthen basinThe point is a non-reactive vessel. Glass, glazed stoneware or stainless steel all work; aluminium and bare cast iron will react with the vinegar and lemon.
- Parsley rootsMost likely Hamburg parsley, the fat white root sold in Eastern European and some farmers' markets, rather than the leafy kind; the term was also used loosely for the roots of ordinary parsley. Substitute a small parsnip or a piece of celeriac plus a few parsley stems.
- SautoireA straight-sided shallow sauté pan, not a casserole dish. The fish was drained and cooked in it directly, so pat it thoroughly dry or it will steam rather than brown.
- Whole spicesA teaspoon each of black peppercorns and allspice berries will not release much in six hours of cold soaking. Crack them lightly first, and strain the drained fish free of loose spice before it meets hot fat.
- QuantityOne quart of liquid and a tablespoon of salt suit roughly two to three pounds of fish. Scale the brine up rather than crowding more fish into the same quart, since the fish must be covered.
Marinade comes through French from Latin marinus, 'of the sea', from mare, sea — and in professional kitchens of the nineteenth century it named exactly this kind of acidulated, aromatic bath rather than the flavouring soaks we now put meat in before grilling. For fish it may well have done double duty: the vinegar and salt would have firmed flesh that had often travelled a long way on ice, and the onion, bay, thyme and allspice are often said to have covered whatever staleness remained. The list of aromatics here is essentially a cold version of the court bouillon used for poaching, and the frugal closing instruction to bottle the used liquid for a fortnight reflects a period when a quart of spiced vinegar represented real cost and refrigeration meant a cellar or an icebox.