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Salmon, En Court Bouillon
Finely slice one medium carrot, one onion, two branches celery and one leek; place in a saucepan with two quarts water, two branches parsley, one bay leaf, two cloves, one sprig thyme, one gill good vinegar, one tablespoon salt, half teaspoon white pepper, and boil on the range for fifteen minutes. Lift up with the skimmer, lay on a hot dish with a folded napkin over, remove the bones, decorate with a little parsley greens, and serve with a little melted butter separately.
The text as printed is missing its middle: the court bouillon is built and boiled, and then the fish is suddenly lifted out. The salmon has to be poached in that liquid before the second half of the instruction makes sense.
- The missing stepAfter the aromatics have boiled fifteen minutes, the broth should be strained or left as is, cooled slightly, and the salmon lowered in and poached below a boil. Reckon roughly 8 to 10 minutes per inch of thickness at a bare shiver, until the flesh is just opaque at the thickest point (an instant-read thermometer should show 125-130F for a moist centre).
- The hingeThe liquid must never boil once the fish is in. A rolling boil tears the flakes apart, pushes out white albumin, and dries the flesh. Court bouillon work is done at 175-180F, when the surface only trembles.
- A gillFour fluid ounces, or half a cup, by American measure (an imperial gill is five fluid ounces). Ordinary white wine vinegar is fine; the acid firms the flesh and keeps it pale.
- Branches and sprigs"Two branches celery" means two ribs, "two branches parsley" two stems. Amounts here are forgiving — the bouillon is a flavoured poaching medium, not a sauce.
- Whole fish or steaksThe napkin service and the instruction to remove the bones point to a whole fish or a large centre-cut piece. Two quarts of liquid will cover about 2 to 3 lb of salmon in a narrow pan; wrap a whole fish in cheesecloth so it can be lifted without breaking.
- The folded napkinA linen napkin laid on the hot platter under the fish absorbs the poaching liquid that drains off, so the fish does not sit in a puddle. A folded tea towel does the same job.
- The melted butterServed separately in a small jug. The recipe specifies nothing beyond plain melted butter; hollandaise or a butter sauce with capers is a common modern substitute.
- YieldA 2 to 3 lb piece serves four to six as a main course. The strained bouillon can be kept and reused once for fish or shellfish within a day or two.
Court bouillon means simply "short broth" — short in the sense of quickly made rather than the long-simmered stocks of the classical kitchen. It is a vegetable and vinegar bath built in a quarter of an hour, and its acidity does two things at once: it firms the surface protein of the fish so the flesh holds together, and it keeps the flesh light in colour. Poached salmon presented whole on a napkin, garnished with parsley and sent out with melted butter alongside, was a standard of the late-Victorian and Edwardian table on both sides of the Atlantic, served hot at dinner or cold at a summer buffet under a coat of aspic. The entry has an omission — the fish itself is never put into the pot — but the reason for it cannot be recovered from the page.